Browsing by Author "Nautiyal, Divya"

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    Fire in the Library: A Conversation with the 2016 IAWA Group
    Kavousi, Shabnam; Mego, Steffany; Nautiyal, Divya; Stiles, Clarissa; Stone, Lisette; Veillard, Marilou (Virginia Tech. University Libraries, 2016-10-21)
    Launched this Fall, the IAWA Group is a Special Study led by Prof. Paola Zellner with students interested in actively collaborating in the mission and goals of the IAWA. Supporting the research projects of the recipients of the 2016 Milka Bliznakov Research Prize, the IAWA Group will introduce treasures uncovered during this initial stage.
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    Negotiating Boundaries - Exploring the Existential Experience of Architecture
    Nautiyal, Divya (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-26)
    Negotiating Boundaries is an effort to investigate and explore multisensorial environments. Throughout history, architecture is and has always been predominantly visual in nature. The visual dominance of architecture has often been critiqued by philosophers and architects. The thesis presents an argument that all senses " haptic, auditory, olfactory and vision, collectively contribute to experience a space. The thesis is a qualitative approach towards studying the significance of this existential experience of architecture in the built environment. The privilege of the sense of sight over the other senses and its bias in architecture cannot be neglected. Therefore, the experience of the visually impaired or blind has been used as a challenge to study these non-ocular centric spaces. Pallasmaa beautifully puts, Vision reveals what the touch already knows. We see the depth, the smoothness, the softness, the hardness of object; Cézanne even claimed that we see their odor. If the painter is to express the world, the arrangement of his colors must carry with this indivisible whole, or else his picture will only hint at things and will not give them in the imperious unity, the presence, the insurpassable plenitude which is for us the definition of the real. The live encounter with Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater weaves the surrounding forest, the volumes surfaces, textures and colors of the house, and even the smells of the forest and the sound of the river, into a uniquely full experience. The thesis presents a case to defend that architecture is not merely a series of visual scenes but has a fully embodied material and spiritual presence.4 Architects and Philosophers whose studies and explorations remain relevant to my interest are Juhani, Pallasmaa, Peter Zumthor, Louis Kahn, Steven Holl, and Carlo Scarpa amongst many others. Juhani Pallasmaa in his book, The Eyes of the Skin writes, "An Architectural work is not experienced as a series of isolated retinal pictures, but its fully integrated material, embodied and spiritual essence. It offers pleasurable shapes and surfaces molded for the touch of eye and other senses, but it also incorporates and integrates physical and mental structures, giving our existential experience a strengthened coherence and significance.
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    Russell County Fairgrounds Commercial Building Conceptual Improvements and Master Tree Planting Plan
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Jones, Kevin; Williams, Daphne; Dasgupta, Archi; Nautiyal, Divya; Stroud, Patricia; Thomas, Andrea (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2016-08)
    Russell County, with a population of around 28,300, is considered “The Heart of Southwest Virginia.” The +/- 13-acre fairground site is located in Castlewood on Donnie Dean Drive. The fairgrounds highlight the Appalachian region’s heritage with its scenic rolling mountains as a backdrop. In sharp contrast to the beautiful views, the fairground buildings are outdated and in dire need of maintenance and upgrades so that they can continue to serve the changing needs of the community. The Commercial Building of the fairgrounds acts as the central venue for indoor activities such as beauty pageants, wrestling, music, arts and crafts, commercial vendors, political rallies, Boy Scout meetings, agriculture expos, and a community meeting place. The Russell County Fair Association (RCFA) and the Community Design Assistance Center at Virginia Tech worked together to develop a conceptual design to resolve these issues by developing concepts to upgrade the Commercial Building, the adjacent landscape, and a master tree planting plan for the entire site. This work was made possible, in part, through a $6,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. CDAC’s proposed concept for the Commercial Building expands the capabilities of the facility which can support economic growth for the fairground and Russell County.