Not having a style can be a good thing - preconceptions about a design approach can often restrict the potential of each new project to find a unique voice. A good design response originates from seeking the unique qualities of each opportunity and exploring where the possibilities might lead you.
Amrita Dasgupta is a practicing architect and visual designer who believes in the transformative power of good design and its ability to transcend borders.
A founding partner of award-winning multidisciplinary Studio Code in New Delhi, Amrita is a LEED 2.1 Accredited Professional with over 19 years of experience. She has studied and worked in New York, New Delhi and Philadelphia on published projects in architecture, landscape, urban design and communication design. Her Architectural experience spans environmentally responsible large buildings and institutional campuses through Interior architecture for offices, residences and studios. She also heads the Branding projects at CoDe around identity and environmental design.
Amrita currently teaches Housing / Large Scale Buildings in the B.Arch. program at the Sushant School of Art & Architecture (SSAA) in Gurgaon. She has previously taught at the Parsons School of Design (ISDI) Mumbai, the University School of Architecture and Planning, Delhi and the Masters Programs at SSAA and SSD. Amrita has also taught, juried and lectured classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Parsons School of Design, NYC, the Indian Institute of Art and Design, Delhi and currently lectures and visits various colleges of design and architecture in India.
Her academic film and installation works have been published in the Metropolis Magazine and exhibited at the Rockefeller Center. Amrita is also the co-author and illustrator of a children’s book on architecture “From Pillars to Palaces” published by Pratham in 5 different languages. She is an avid travel buff, a hugger of trees and people, and loves cooking and the written word.
Bachelor of Architecture – Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, 2000
Master of Technology / Master of Fine Arts (Design and Technology) – Parsons School of Design, New York City, USA, 2003
I am interested in the complex relationships between cultural values, lifestyles, social systems, mass-media and form. What we design and build is not just an indication of who we are but who we aspire to be.
Rajiv Bhakat is a practicing architect and urban design over 19 years of experience. He is the founding partner of Studio CoDe, an award winning multi-disciplinary design firm in New Delhi. He has worked in the US and India on a variety of architecture and urban projects of various scales including very large mixed use urban complexes, office and residential towers and complexes, a hotel, small institutional projects, several office interiors and many private residences.
With a special interest in lifestyle patterns, Rajiv’s work and interests merged successfully with several large scale urban-architecture projects which dealt with the public-private cleave.
Rajiv has taught, juried and lectured at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia University and the Parsons School of Design. His areas of academic study and interest include the ‘cultural identity within and derived from cinema’ and ‘housing and lifestyle - controls and relationships.’
Rajiv is also the co-creator of “Paradiso” a graphic novel series about a post-apocalyptic world published by Image Comics.
Rajiv currently teaches at the undergraduate and graduate programs at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi and has previously taught at the University School of Architecture and Planning (USAP), New Delhi. He is on the advisory board of the Sushant School of Art and Architecture. He lectures and visits various colleges of design and architecture in India.
Master of Architecture - Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,2002
Bachelor of Architecture – Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, 2000
I am interested in urban regeneration of cities for improving quality of life for the people with a focus on ecological sensitive design for creating synergy between natural systems and the built environment. I believe in interventions as catalyst for positive urban change.
Architect-Urban Designer Vikas Kanojia has a professional experience of 20 years. His urban design and master planning expertise include both green field and brown field projects with varied scale, context and complexity. His significant urban design and master planning works include; urban renewal & redevelopment schemes for old industrial townships, self-sustaining SEZ’s for major IT companies, Institutional campuses and a master plan for a new Sub-Urban Town. His involvement has been from project feasibility analysis through the execution of the master plan which includes design, coordination and execution of significant architectural buildings, physical & social infrastructure, traffic & transportation network and the urban landscape in a phased manner. He has been a team member for the preparation of an urban design strategy report for the Delhi metro corridor along Aurobindo marg for Delhi Urban Art Commission.
His architectural project has focused on the design and execution of small to large scale projects all over India. He has special interest in ‘Buildings for Science’. He has designed and executed R & D centre’s for paper and biotech labs, Pharmaceutical plant with API labs and Healthcare centres. His office and retail projects range from a convenient shopping centre to a large scale commercial development. Projects under his leadership in the category of ‘corporate offices’ has been honoured by the ‘The Economic times and Saint Gobain – Smart Green award’ and ‘IIID Design excellence award, North Zone’ for innovative use of material, sustainability and crafts integration. His residential projects range from a low-cost house built on Laurie Baker construction principle’s to a luxury high-rise residential group housings. He likes researching on innovative methods of design and construction technology for housing.
Vikas is presently the chairman at the Institute of Urban Designers India - Delhi NCR chapter. IUDI-DNCR is speer-heading various urban design programs under his leadership. He has been academically associated with School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi and Sushant School of Art and Architecture (SSAA), Gurgaon as a visiting faculty in the Architecture and Urban Design department. He has juried and lectured at various institutions across India on subjects such as urban renewal, planning and design of new towns, local area plans and urban infrastructure. He enjoys playing cricket and travelling at leisure.
Master of Architecture (Urban Design) - School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, 2004
Bachelor of Architecture – Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, 2000
We design physical and digital spaces for people to live, work and play in.
The unique is overshadowed by mass products. We live in a neo capitalist, neo liberal economy driven by choices. Our markets are flooded by designs for the many which are variations of themes derived from financial, legal and fabrication based controls customized for individual consumers. Conformist decorated boxes are in demand. Chic ubiquity is everywhere.
Studio CoDe understands and accepts the conditions of the contemporary world and dares to think outside the box. We challenge convention and rethink the normal. We place our designs in a beautiful, ordinary world and accept the conditions of the commercial. This approach makes us unique – we are a design firm which thrives in the challenges of the quotidian.
Our designs un-mass. Studio CoDe is un-mass.
Initiation
A partner of the firm initiates the project with the client based on expertise and availability. The partner creates and visualizes the primary project vision based on the brief and discussions with the client. The vision may be a sketch, a metaphor, a graphic, a case study or a concept based on the brief. The vision is a clear direction, a visual partee or a goal – a definition of the heart of the project. The partner remains the primary client contact and interface for the project.
Design brief analysis and schematic design options are created based on the design brief and project vision. The schematics are rough designs which help the client select a design direction, understand design implications and practical choices.
An internal team is selected to work on the project, led by the partner. The selected schematic design is developed and refined based on client feedback. Usually several stages of refinement are required until there is final design sign off.
The internal team creates construction documents based on the final agreed upon design. These are submitted for construction under the supervision of the partner. Checks are done about whether the designs to be executed adhere to the original design vision.
Design brief analysis and schematic design options are created based on the design brief and project vision. The schematics are rough designs which help the client select a design direction, understand design implications and practical choices.
An internal team is selected to work on the project, led by the partner. The selected schematic design is developed and refined based on client feedback. Usually several stages of refinement are required until there is final design sign off.
Although we are over a billion individuals, with distinct likes, dislikes, needs and wants, our spaces all look like variations of each other. Buildings, cities, houses, offices and brands are mass products designed as reactions to populist consumer choices rather than crafted to a specific requirement and intent.
In our work, we try to look at each project deeply to understand what it wants to be - the world of possibilities that exist within the given framework and limitations. Regardless of typology, our designs challenge convention and rethink the normal. We place our designs in a beautiful, ordinary world and accept the conditions of the mass market.
This approach makes us unique – we are a design firm which thrives on the challenges of the everyday.
Amrita Dasgupta is a practicing architect and visual designer who believes in the trans...
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Rajiv Bhakat is a practicing architect and urban design over 19 years of experience. He...
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Architect-Urban Designer Vikas Kanojia has a professional experience of 20 years. His u...
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