Ambika Roos Portfolio 2011

ambi

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2011

statement

The intersection between the aesthetic and the social, the conceptual and the pragmatic, design and politics, and an interest in the relationship between art and international development all drive my current work. My interest in layers of color, pattern, and texture derive from experiences in India and, more recently, Central America and East Africa, where I was immersed in the sensory warmth and vibrancy of cultures rich with artistic traditions. These experiences have translated into my work, initially in a purely aesthetic sense, and then into my current interest in understanding the social and cultural implications of design

I have had the opportunity to work at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Interface Studio Ar-chitects, and Estudio Teddy Cruz. These are organizations with an ethic of socially conscious design, dedicated to working in traditionally overlooked areas to use design as a tool for civic engagement, urban revitalization, and community development. I have also been fortunate to study both at Brown University, learning the sociological and international implications of the built environment, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture, honing both con-ceptual and technical design skills. These experiences led me to coordinate “A Better World by Design”, a student-run conference convening over 1000 people at Brown and RISD that highlighted innovative solutions to environmentally and socially sustainable design.

The work presented here represents a broad range of interests, from architecture and design, to textiles and printmaking. My aesthetic sensibilities have matured from my earliest work to the most recent, but an overall emphasis on intricacies of pattern plays between media, and explorations in texture remain constant, and guide my ambitions to focus my work toward socially relevant design.

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This portfolio displays linkages between architecture, drawing, textiles, and printmaking. The intersecting circles of varying sizes and texture in my logo, forming a cohesive unit, are a symbol for the diverse range of experiences and interests reflected within these pages.

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architectural projects0 White Cube Exercise (GSD Career Discovery)1 Project CCC (GSD Career Discovery)2 Project WB/DR (GSD Career Discovery)3 Project MIX 2 (GSD Career Discovery)4 Urban Corridors: A Retreat (AA School)16 Estudio Teddy Cruz Casa Familiar Project

textiles28 Handwoven & Sewn Bag28 Hand-Dyed & Woven Scarf29 Print on “cloth” series30 The Fabric Workshop Internship Project 1

printmaking34 Untitled Monotype 1 35 Untitled Monotype 235 Untitled Monotype 335 Untitled Monotype 435 Untitled Monotype 536 Alaskan Bear Series37 Teddy Bear Series38 Paper Quilt39 Vegetative Series

graphics + drawing18 Sketchbook designs19 CD cover20 AIDS Relief International website21 Better by Design posters22 Art Major Poster Composite23 Paisley Portrait24 Violin25 Egg Cutter

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White Cube ExerciseJune-July 2008, Harvard GSD Career Discovery Program (5x5 in)

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Floor plans

Axonometric Drawings

PROJECT DUPLEXJune-July 2008, Harvard GSD Career Discovery Program

Design for 2 family house, set over a parking lot

Principle1Hide the parking lot from street view—driveway is angled to diminish views through to the parking lot

Principle2Shapes created from this angled parking lot are rotated around each other. Interstitial spaces between the houses are used for circulation

Interstitial space = circulation

floor 1 floor 2 floor 3 floor 4

Principle3Separate the plot of land not by fam-ily, but by public and private space. Both families occupies two stories of “public space” on the right, and two stories of “private space” on the left

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PROJECT CCC June-July 2008, Harvard GSD Career Discovery ProgramRedesign of an outdoor element of the Carpenter Cen-ter, by Le Corbusier. The existing lobe is dark and un-used. I used a grid drawn from the existing grids of columns, brise soleil, lines from columns to entryway, and curve of the lobe to derive a new pattern of space that is more inviting and but that still respects Corbus-ier’s original plans. Each new space contains benches either promoting or discouraging social interaction to create three new spaces for conversation or seclusion.

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PROJECT MIX June-July 2008, Harvard GSD Career Discovery Program

Design for a mixed use cultural space along the Charles River in Boston, MA. Gallery exhibition space, classrooms, retail, and audi-toriums all fit into three towers. Wrapped around them, in a design derived from interlocking patterns, are artist’s residences. These areas for artist residences also serve as circulation paths, forcing visitors to interact with the artists as they move from tower to tower. Elevations and model are marked in green to indicate the artist space & circulation wrapped around the towers.

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URBAN CORRIDORS: a retreatSpring 2010, Architectural Association School of Architecture

Spring 2010, Architectural Association

As we walk through the city, it often goes by in a blur, gray, cold, unfeeling. This project asserts that these problems lie not with the city itself, but instead with us and our way of looking at it. The city is vibrant, exciting, spectacular. It is up to us to see it this way, to peel away the dull varnish covering our senses to reveal the extraordinary.

In architectural terms, this project tries to do just that, with a series of perforated and highly layered corridors, designed to lace through the city with varying visual and physical links. The project forces us to see exciting new perspectives by highlighting views that our jaded senses would otherwise gloss away. It creates a new mode and axis of movement, allowing an individual to experience the unexpected and transcend the mundane through moments of visual clarity in which the vibrancy and complexity of the city are celebrated

Plate 1The areas of the city highlighted in white are the views that are emphasized by the shifting space of the corridor. The bright moments of light represent an escape and a new way to see the city.

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Plate 2Views from within the four walls of the corridor are highlighted through varying degrees of transparency of the material..

The drawings are an indexical exploration of different ways in which the city can be highlighted at different moments. They are intended to be prototypical. The plates are all either very site specific, or are highly fictionalized, creating a collage of elements throughout the city.

This prototype follows a progression, starting with being most open and visu-ally connected to the city, and ending with only the ceiling being transpar-ent and all other visual links obscured. This progression would not be found all connected, and in one place. Instead, different moments of it could be found in various parts around the city, depending on the context.

The ways in which people interact with the corridor also changes depending on where the frame lies. In some areas, people walk by, while in others they may be tempted to sit or lie down or press up against the wall of the corridor to better see the unexpected view.

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1 COVENT GARDEN2 CARNABY STREET3 HOLBORN4 EUSTON5 ISLINGTON6 RUSSELL SQUARE7 BAYSWATER8 SOUTH KENSINGTON9 ST PAUL’S10 COVENT GARDEN

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Plate3Prototypical progression is condensed into several hierarchical elements that have varied levels of perforation. At the top, the space in dark gray is darkest, least perforated section of the corridor. This continues in a progression of transparency and perforation downwards, reaching the parts in light blue, which represent the most transparent areas that will provide the frame.

Plate4Focus on three moments within prototypical progression:

The first segment is very visually connected to the city, highlighting everything that occurs from eye level to foot level. In order to focus attention onto these areas, the ceiling is obscured. Areas in the city that might be highlighted by such a segment would include facades of buildings, or other large scale elements. (refer to picture number 2 of 10 from Plate 2)

In the second segment, the area being obscured has leaked down from the ceiling, obscuring all but the area at eye level, and torso level. This highlights, say, the tops of doors of build-ings, details such as cornices, as well as the material making up the building (the pattern of bricks, etc.). (refer to picture-number 5 of 10 from Plate 2)

For the last segment, only areas shown through the creases in the corridor are highlighted, bringing the line of sight upwards and downwards. The scale of what is viewed becomes com-pressed and more detailed. The top of buildings intersecting the sky, as well as the materiality of the ground are drawn attention to. (8 of 10 from Plate 2)

The plate shows the progression between the planned hierar-chies of transparency(from Plate 4), to shifting space, to skin, to folded axonometric

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TRANSPARENCY HIERARCHY

SHIFTS IN TRANSPARENCY

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Plates5-7Physical links to the city occur in tandem with visual ones. In areas that are designed to obscure a view, such as the dark gray ceiling in Plate 8, the space becomes compressed and highly layered. However, even in areas dark and layered, visual links are never completely taken away. The space glows with shift-ing shafts of light.

Colors correspond to the varying levels of perfora-tion outlined in Plate 3. Plate 6 corresponds to the first segment in Plate 4, Plate 7 corresponds to the second segment, and Plte 8 corresponds to the third segment

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Plate9The corridor celebrates the city not only by highlighting parts of it but also by creating a fictionalized reconstruction of London. The space acts as a device for encapsulating the fragments of the city through a language of framing, transparency, and reflection.

This plate stitches together different views of the city so that passerby now come to appreciate the intricate little details of the sidewalk, textural qualities of the façade, and so on. Nevermore will the pedestrian be allowed to walk head down, mind elsewhere, blind to the wonders of the city around them.

Plate8A fictionalized version of the city stitches together various moments in different parts of London that could be highlighted by each of the three moments in the corridor. The city is unfolded and fragmented only to be stitched together by the device of the retreat.

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Plate10Photos of 3D printed SLS model

Plate12The thinner areas city are also those that are most transparent and that would highlight certain views. The entire image displays how the project is a celebration of the city—views are reflected around inside, mirrored and refracted in the perforations and layerings of the space.

Plate11The corridor flows through the city and is viewed from the outside

Plate13The corridor is inserted into the urban fabric. It is always pres-ent in the city, snaking through various areas as needed to help people appreciate their city once more. Depending on the context, all four walls of the corridor might not be needed—at some moments, perhaps just the floor would exist as a walkway to delineate the space.

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Estudio Teddy Cruz: Casa Familiar ProjectSummer-Fall 2010

As a design intern at ETC, I collaborated with Teddy Cruz on design development of the Casa Familiar Project, contributed to design of graphic posters, and coor-dinated the design and fabrication of the models for Small Scale Big Change exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art (for which I was credited). The exhibition and model was featured and favorably reviewed in The New York Times

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Sample Sketchbook pieces2007-2010 (mixed media, 5x7 in)

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CD Cover design2005 (marker, 12x36 in)

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AIDS Relief International website designwww.aidsreliefinternational.org

I am a cofounder and Board member of AIDS Relief International, an NGO founded by Brown students

The project is a 501c3 registered nonprofit that works to address the needs of AIDS patients in Mumbai, specifically targeting the nutritional deficiencies that accompany the disease and that remain for the most part unaddressed by government and local programs.

AIDS RELIEF INTERNATIONAL

WHO WE ARE ISSUES PROJECTS NEWS SUPPORT US CONTACT

home | site map | contact us

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

RECENT NEWS

April 14 | "Juniors' AIDS relief organization to launch pilot program in Mumbai"read more

April 7 |"Fortifying kids to battle AIDS"read more

We are closing in on the launch of our pilot program that will focus on supplementing the nutrition of HIV positive children receiving antiret-roviral therapy (ART), which will increase the effectiveness of the medication they are receiving. We will be holding an event on March 31 from 2 pm to 4 pm in the Sion Hospital reception room in Mumbai to mark the beginning of the program.

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April 1 2010| "Special diet for HIV+ kids from June" Hindustan Timesread more

April 1 2010| "HIV + kids to get dietary aid" Times of Indiaread more

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1| Connect patients with treatment

2| Provide nutritional supplements to severely malnour-ished HIV/AIDS victims

3| Teach patients how to maintain a healthy diet within their means

4| Work with governments and NGOs to incorporate nutritional counseling into their AIDS relief programs

goals

AIDS Relief International aims to support the children, women and men around the world living with HIV and AIDS. We will fill the gaps in the national governmental efforts of AIDS prevention, detection and treatment by strengthening support networks for sex workers, connecting patients to medication and treatment and supplementing nutrition of malnourished children that suffer from AIDS. Through these measures we hope to improve the lives and the environment of these individuals.

mission




MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

RECENT NEWS




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DONATE

AIDS Relief International was co-founded by seven students from Brown University who currently comprise the Board of Directors.

Gaurie Tilak, '11, CEOxxxxxxxxxxx

Allison Glasgow, '11, VP of FundraisingAllison is a senior concentrating in Neuroscience and Italian Studies at Brown University. While passionate about medicine and health care with plans to become a doctor, she also has interests in the creative arts, pursuing dance and writing in her spare time.

Lauren Krumeich, '11, CFOxxxxxxxxxx

Monique Morales, '11xxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel Rieder, '11Rachel is entering her senior year at Brown University where she is studying International Relations and Human Biology. After visiting India this past Spring she was inspired by the people there as well as their overwhelming appreciation of life. She has always been interested in public health and is thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to ARI.

Ambika Roos, '11Ambika is entering her final year at Brown, and is concentrating in Architectural Studies and International Relations. She is interested in the politics, health, and culture of urban environments in the developing world and in easing poverty through innovative, grassroots solutions

Cara Smith, '11xxxxxxxxxx

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Harish Pathakhas been a professor and a Department Chair at two of the most renowned medical schools in Mumbai and he is currently on a three year deputation as the director for the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS). He oversees all treatment, prevention and education efforts funded by India and foreign governments in Mumbai, which totals millions of dollars each year.

INDIA TEAM

Brinelle D’ouzais a professor at the Tata Institute for Social Sciences who is responsible for creating the educational infrastruc-ture in 40 universities in India to establish AIDS counseling programs with a $19 million grant from The Global Fund.

Kavita Mahajanis a dedicated hands-on-expert on field conditions of AIDS victims. She is also a renowned poet and author who has been recognized with an impressive array of national and life-time achievement honors.




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RECENT NEWS




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DONATE

A large proportion of HIV/AIDS patients are malnourished and, as a result, their bodies are unable to process the medication. Patients that are suffering from malnutrition are more susceptible to opportunistic infections, even if they are receiving antiretroviral therapy. Good nutrition is crucial for HIV positive people, especially children, because a diet rich in energy, protein and micronutrients helps to strengthen the body's immune system, increase energy levels and maintain a healthy body weight.

Thousands of children in Mumbai are receiving daily ART and most of these children are also chronically malnourished. Even before their HIV status worsens, many children with HIV are nutritionally deprived because of their poverty. Children with HIV are more likely to be malnourished because of reductions in appetite, increased use of calories to fight infections, an increased metabolic rate and decreased intestinal absorption of micro-nutrients, (Reynolds, 2009). In ways not totally understood, ART is rendered less effective for patients who are simultaneously suffering from malnutrition. In part this is due to changes in absorption of drugs (Ivers, 2009). In order to maximize benefit from the drug protocol, their chronic malnutrition needs to be reduced.

HIV-infected children receive daily ART that costs fifteen dollars per day. To supply this same child with suffi-cient nutrition, it would cost less than ten cents per day. (MDACS) Without these ten cents, the fifteen-dollar ART is less ineffective and compliance may be poor. Although poverty is certainly a barrier, some families would be able to provide basic nutrition with proper nutritional and financial guidance (MDACS)

NUTRITION

In Mumbai, India, there are plenty of funds to purchase drugs for every HIV positive person that requires them, but there are no funds to deliver the drugs to the patients. Most patients are unable to spend several hours needed to travel to one of the main government hospitals to pick up the medication. As a result, many people forgo medication that is crucial to their health and available to them for free.

Funding agencies for AIDS prevention and control impose severe operational limits to prevent fraud. However this prevents hospitals from providing crucial services to patients. We plan on building an agile collaborative organiza-tion that will be able to address these structural deficiencies while maintaining tight oversight.

TRANSPORTATION

HIV-infected children who are also suffering from malnutrition mostly fall into two groups — children that have been orphaned by AIDS and are living with relatives that don't have the resources to care for an additional child or children of single mothers that are unable to find employment because of their gender and HIV status. The first type of family typically earns enough income to own luxuries such as furniture and television sets. However, most of these people would have to reallocate their budgets to support another child. With proper counseling, these families would be able to afford proper nutrition for their children.

We hope , through proper nutritional counseling and education, to help families allocate their income and choose foods that will help their bodies absorb their treatment to the maximum extent possible.

COUNSELING

If you would like more more information about HIV/AIDS, its presence in India, and the role of nutrition, please visit the following sites:

Health Profile: India - World Health OrganizationHIV Nutrition and Health - Tufts UniversityLiving Well with HIV/AIDS - UN Food and Agriculture Organization

FURTHER RESOURCES

ISSUES




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This project proposes to increase the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV-infected children in Mumbai, India by providing inexpensive nutritional support and counseling. Thousands of children in Mumbai are receiving daily ART and most of these children are also chronically malnourished. There is significant evidence that ART is most effective in well-nourished populations. The project will combine family nutritional and financial education with food supplementation utilizing a pre-established network of contacts with HIV-AIDS health care providers.

We are working with vulnerable patients identified by health care providers at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital), in Mumbai. The project has two components: nutrition supplementation for the HIV-infected child and family nutritional counseling. Our objectives for the summer are to hold initial nutrition coun-seling sessions with patients in the pilot program and to make sure the resources provided by AIDS Relief Interna-tional are being used appropriately.

Malnutrition cannot be corrected overnight. Although we plan to hold intensive counseling sessions with families to help them identify affordable sources of food and rework their budgets to cover these expenditures, their children will not become healthy immediately. For this reason, we will deliver nutritional supplements to the HIV infected children in our program who are malnourished. Their parents will also receive the supplement if they are receiving ART and their doctors have expressed concerns with their diets, although few adults have this problem. The supplement we will provide is called “Nutri-Mix,” which is a dried, inexpensive powder, made from ingredients found in regions surrounding Mumbai. This supplement has been tested and specifically formulated for individu-als receiving ART, its use of local ingredients is one reason why it costs only ten cents per day to provide a child with sufficient nutritional supplementation to make ART effective (CFBP Consumer Education and Testing Centre, Ref No. CFBP/208-2009/932/08).

The nutrition regimen itself will be evaluated after six months. Enough time needs to elapse in order to see an impact. The doctors at Sion Hospital have been treating these children for years and have extensive information about their medical history and current measurements such as weight and height. In order to gauge the children’s process on the regimen, we will receive monthly updates from Dr. Pallavi Laddha, the lead physician at Sion Hospital, and Dr. Bhami Shah, the chief child nutritionist at the center, who have already pledged their support for our project. Through these measures we can continue to improve the program.

MUMBAI PILOT PROJECT

Our pilot project in Mumbai proposes to increase the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV-infected children in Mumbai, India by providing inexpensive nutritional support. Thousands of children in Mumbai are receiving daily ART and most of these children are also chronically malnourished. There is signifi-cant evidence that ART is most effective in well-nourished populations. The project will combine family nutri-tional education with food supplementation.

The Indian government receives money from the Global Fund, Gates Foundation, and foreign governments to provide treatment for individuals living with HIV who have reached a low point in their CD4 count, an indirect measurement of their immune function. Right now approximately 50,000 adults and children qualify for ART from the government, but only 15,000 of those people are receiving treatment.There are factors that limit accessibility to the available treatment. Accessibility to clinics is one important issue in a sprawling city of 14 million persons, many without private transportation or money for public transport. A second, serious issue is the nutritional status of HIV-infected children.

In rural India there are programs that help AIDS patients grow their own food, similar to the approach taken by Gardens for Health. However, farming or gardening in the slums of urban Mumbai is not possible. These slums, originally multiple islands, are built on filled land that is not agriculturally sound. As the population expands, more land is reclaimed, including portions under the sea that were previously used as landfill. ead more

PROJECTS




MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

RECENT NEWS




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DONATE

April 14, 2010|"Juniors' AIDS relief organization to launch pilot program in Mumbai" The Brown Daily Herald

AIDS Relief International, a nonprofit organization started by seven Brown juniors that seeks to support people living with HIV and AIDS, is currently developing a pilot program in Mumbai, India. Led by Harish Pathak, the director of the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society, the pilot program will bring nutritional supplements to children currently undergoing antiretroviral therapy to fight HIV.Antiretroviral therapy "is really important, but people tend to overlook malnutrition and how it affects..." read more

PRESS RELEASES

April 7, 2010|"Fortifying kids to battle AIDS" Today at Brown

An economics and biology undergraduate is making an international impact in the field of HIV treatment. Gaurie Tilak '11 is starting a pilot program to provide a nutritional supplement to children in Mumbai who are HIV-positive. The added nutrition will increase the chances that antiretroviral therapy will be successful. "There was all this potential to do more for their health by filling in the nonmedical..." read more

June 1, 2009|"Teens from US unite to fight HIV in India"indianexpress.comread more

May 31, 2009|"US students on mission to fight AIDS" The Times of Indiaread more



April 1 2010| "On cards, nutritional support project for HIV-infected kids in city hospital" indianexpress.comread more

April 1, 2010| "Not the Brits, Tilak's kin to take on HIV" MumbaiMirror.comread more

June 1, 2009|Maharastra Timesread more

July, 2010coming soon!

NEWSLETTER

September 2009| read more

March, 2010Welcome to the AIDS Relief International website! We are closing in on the launch of our pilot program that will focus on supplementing the nutrition of HIV positive children receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), which will increase the effectiveness of the medication they are receiv-ing. We will be holding an event on March 31 from 2 pm to 4 pm in the Sion Hospital reception room in Mumbai to mark the beginning of the program.If you are interested in learning more about the program, the event or the organization or would like to help us we reach our $10,000 fundrais-ing goal please email [email protected] or check out our donation page.

NEWS

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A BETTER WORLD BY DESIGN



Sample poster designs for A Better World by Design

A Better World by Design, a student run design con-ference I have coordinated since 2009, brings a global community of innovators to Providence, Rhode Island, to reach across disciplines and unite under a common goals of social responsibility and environ-mental sustainability. Presenters share innovative solu-tions, workshops teach creative skills, and discussions reframe perspectives. A Better World by Design is an immersive experience that deepens our understand-ing of the power of design, technology, and enterprise to reshape our communities and sustain our environ-ment.

A Better World by Design is run in collaboration between Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design. Speakers have included Stefan Behnisch, Teddy Cruz, Kigge Hvid, Charles Renfro, Cameron Sin-clair, Jaime Lerner, Lisa Gansky, and Vivian Loftness. The 2010 conference attracted over 1000 attendees from a global audience.

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Art Major Poster (and samples from original pieces)June 2007 (mixed media, 12x18 in)

Paisley portraitSeptember 2007 (marker, 18x24 in)

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<<Violin May 2007 (pencil, 12x20 in)

Egg Cutter October 2006 (pencil, 12x18 in)

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<<Handwoven & Sewn Bag (textural detail)May 2004 (cotton, 6x3x8 in)

<<Hand-Dyed & Woven Scarf (textural detail)June 2003 (wool, 8x48 in)

^^Print on “cloth” seriesNovember 2008 (Silkscreen, digital photo 3x3 ft)(Silkscreen on fabric 1x4 ft)

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Fabric Workshop Internship Project March 2006 (silkscreen, 1x12 m)

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Fabric Workshop Internship Project summer 2009 (silkscreen, 1x12 m)

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Untitled 1-3 September 2008 (Monotype, 18x24 in)

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Alaskan Bear February 2008 (Lithograph and watercolor 8x6 in)

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Teddy Bear SeriesOctober 2008 (Silkscreen, 18x24 in)

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Vegetative Series October 2008 (Collograph, 10x24 in)

<<Paper QuiltNovember 2008 (Linoleum Block, Silkscreen, Monotype (4x4 ft)

Documents

Ambika Roos Portfolio 2011