Riya's Riyaaz

The first master's design studio was based in the Dayton neighborhood in Newark. We were put into teams by Justine Shapiro Kline, our studio professor and assigned topics based on our preliminary research interests at the beginning of class. This is the first time I would know the meaning of team effort. Apart from the group work, there was important base work to be done for the class, for which students volunteered happily.  We began by modelling our site on GIS(Geographic Information System) and Rhino, two software's that I was unfamiliar with but eventually got a hang of. The semester was structured in a way that we get plenty time for research in the beginning, create a narrative for our future goal, work at a larger scale to understand the context of the site, which would transition into familiarizing ourselves with the site, discussing various stakeholders and precedents; the knowledge of which would help us design and work towards our stated goal. Our group - The Data an

 Is being indifferent boring? D oes it seem rude?, when I say, "No longer do I care about human life". Humans forget that we are a part of a larger universe, so large that from far far away we are the size of atoms, invisible to the naked eye. We are fighting over issues of land, boundaries, resources and using war as means of power over our intellect. It is beyond me, what this human mind is capable of, beautiful and pure evil at the same it. For some context, I am thinking of Global Warming, of capitalist and communist countries, of people in Afghanistan and Palestine, of animals and sea creatures, of religion and science; of my own hypocrisy and tied down hands.  Is technology genderless? While I have always been asked  asserted the question, "tu toh ladki hai tuje thodi cricket k bare me pata hoga (You are a girl, you wouldn't know anything about sports)" or your brother being favored over you, for a software related question by your Uncle(not because he is

Everyday I find myself spending "just a little more" time on Instagram. How that "little more" eats up a major lot of my day, is a mystery. This is true for many users across the globe. We are seduced by images one after another. Our mind is engulfed into Meme culture, Celebrity gossip, Tik-Tok videos, Instagram reels and new trends of the social media universe. We can not stop scrolling. There is always time for just one-more-post, or is there? How many things can you remember at one glance? As I come across more interesting people/pages on Instagram to follow, these days, I find it is hard to catch up with every event. By the time I have finished watching 30 Instagram stories, I can hardly remember whose story I saw first and for the matter, what was the content of it? How am I suppose to remember the content of 300 people that I follow? I am fortunate to have lived in the pre-mobile era because it provides me a strong base for an argument, a comparison between th

Do you go back & read what you have written before? Is confrontation a sin? Does a person have the same handwriting forever? Do people really SEE your Instagram stories? Will social media be a thing in next 10 years? Do we overestimate ourselves? Is my voice heard? Do all women feel the way I do? Is family important? Shouldn't we question the institution of the family? Is it important for 40 or just 10 people to know and respond? Hum jo karte hain, uska kya matlab hai? (What is the meaning of what we do?) Is being opinionated a problem? Does that make me rude? Is self awareness not important?  - What am I eating, drinking, wearing? Where is it coming from? Does any one not care about what they give back to nature? -  What are my rights? Why did no one ask me to read the Indian constitution in school? Do people think THIS way? Am I a modernist under the false self claim of a contemporary? Am I a commie under the hood of a capitalist wanting to be a socialist? Am I a good person?

The lockdown came with a surprise, dropping economy and lack of job opportunities and illness. I was in the same pool as fellow newly bud architect friends. Either quitting jobs or tired of them or still looking for one. If that weren't enough, it also brought a huge change.  Now in the 1 BHK house; where it seems Dad only came home for evening news and a good night's sleep; his presence became unavoidable. Suddenly the space in our 1 BHK fell short, accommodating two of dad's P.C. for WFH(work from home) in the living room, and welcoming his assistant everyday. His tiny office space pushed Maa and us siblings in the confines of our kitchen and bedroom. Privacy was always an issue. Indian parents have their own ways of intervening in your life whether you have your own room or not. I have found my ways around it, however how much stays private (let's not think on it).  I suppose the lockdown turned us all into chef's, if that's not an overstatement. There was no

As I was going through my phone gallery, I noticed I have clicked pictures of admired the sky more, in the four months of lock down, than in the eight years that I have lived here.