I followed my passion for Physics through the Astronomy Club; and when I visited Jantar Mantar and the Planetarium I felt that Cosmic wonders, Geometry, and our capacity to be moved by scientific discoveries were deeply intertwined with where and how we experienced them. Somewhere between that realisation, studying Architecture and Psychology I resolved to pursue Empirical research in Aesthetics and Design.
Amongst others, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and the Conscious Cities movement are a testimony to the budding domain of scientific and objective research in Design. Being able to visit Salk Institute for Biological Science, in La Jolla, California for ANFA 2018 Conference and present a part of my research on Emotions and Creativity in Music and Architecture was professionally and academically quite reassuring.
Psychology & Neuroscience
From Creative Curiosity to
Scientific Inquiry
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As a teenager with a husky voice and dangerously infectious enthusiasm, my experiments with singing on stage gave me a lot of confidence. But it was really in DPS Dwarka, that I found the right atmosphere and support system to actually evolve as a vocalist; opportunities were endless! In the year 2011 alone, I’d been on stage nearly sixteen times only to pause for my 12th board exams and winning the ‘Best Singer’ award on Graduation Day.
Last year I picked up a Violin and started taking Western classical and Music Theory lessons. This coincided with my internship at Music, Culture, and Cognition Lab; with my tacit knowledge in music and psychology, I have been able to understand theories of creativity, aesthetic perception, and appreciation well enough to devise experiments to investigate ‘how architecture affects the musical mind, musical performance and creativity’.
Music
From Singing Music to
Aesthetic Musings
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Rangoli Art had been an integral aspect of my school’s plan for engaging us in collaborative and creative activities during festivals. Participating in many inter-house and inter-school competitions did introduce me to a system of creating art with others which is entirely different than working alone. Years later, I tapped into those lessons during group work in our Architectural Design studios, and now at Music, Culture, and Cognition Lab as well.
Elvish Imagination complemented my penchant for complex and holistic ideas that evolved into a mature sense of space-making for psychologically sensitive multisensory experiences. Looking at Architecture through as a matrix of spatial, cultural, and psychological parameters has become the foundation of my design thinking.
Architecture
From Art to
Architecture
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After a particularly captivating performance on stage as one of the four parrots in the class play, I was cast in an Ad-Mad Skit in the seventh grade. Soon enough, I shed my green feathers and cawed a few catchy phrases and jingles, winning many inter school competitions. Especially in the ninth grade, the Library became my favourite haunt - preparing for the Zonal Debating tournaments were particularly instrumental in honing my orating skills and rhetoric. My first attempt at architectural argument ‘Perfection in Absentia - The Most Authentic Inheritance’ won the second place at InSpirit Journalism 2015, MSRIT.
Amongst others, writing the Epilogue ‘Dialectic Dialogue at Daedalus’ for MNLU Architectural Design Competition Brief and being appreciated by Honorable Justice RC Chavan and Ar. Paramjit Singh Ahuja was the most rewarding accomplishment.
Analytical Writing
From Ad-Mads & Debates to Nuanced Dialectics
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I started dramatizing Rhymes in Montessori and Primary school; Fire and Ice by Robert Frost and 'The Brook' by Alfred Tennyson introduced me to a new way of looking at words. Gradually my verses evolved into complex and sometimes even dark, satirical narratives that got published in school magazines, NIE edition of Times of India, and were appreciated at competitions.
In college, I headed the Journal Committee that delved into 'Ideogeny - Psychoanalysis of Architectural Ideas'. Almost every Architectural Design project started with a verse! Recently, along with Padmashree Satya, Shreya Swamy, and Madhusudhan Raman, I created 'Valyrian Times' a creative tabloid in the aftermath of Game of Thrones season 7; we sold nearly 300 copies at Bangalore Comicon'17.
Poetry