Evolutionary tools in model making have enabled the translation of concepts of abstraction and coexistence from nature to built environments. NUDES, a Mumbai-based contemporary practice thrives on this process of model-making, while acknowledging the extent of design articulation that is possible with the implementation of these tools.
Architectural models, historically, are approached as tools that guide design thinking. Apart from their role in the essential act of communicating design, they have evolved over time to represent conceptual underlays in the design process. The fascination of Nuru Karim, Founder and Principal, NUDES with modelmaking processes goes back to his undergraduate years. The practice of creating three-dimensional objects at NUDES is intrinsically connected to the design processes that generate buildings and ideas. The studio, that spans their practice across diverse spectrum of architecture, urbanism and public art, employs the idea of evaluating design through perceptions and imaginations at the human scale through these models.
The philosophy of the practice is embedded in learning from natural systems. The objective is not just to go back in time or to romanticize the natural, but to learn new efficiencies from certain phenomenon such as the intricate nature of termite mounds and the patterns of natural colonies in order to understand and assimilate fundamental principles that could potentially help to build sustainable environments and that have the ability to continuously rejuvenate. The architect is convinced by the potential of digital environments to impact our lives and today, more than ever, we can relate to the virtual world as the new frontier of architectural experimentation.
Advanced parametric mechanisms are not just about ‘form finding’ or a ‘fancy of form’. Instead the form provides the data to guide the process of design and the form is the result of the way resolution of the ‘parameter’ works. Data is in the format of streaming values and codes which are a function of parameters and algorithms. This inherently records every input as a design history which can be retraced in an editable format, thus giving the designer control to retrace and remodel the coordinates in order to influence a localised or global change in value therein enabling immediate feedback upon modification to the design.
Exhibitions, for Nuru Karim, are a platform to convey this idea of space-making with advanced tools. He perceives exhibitions as engines of research, designed to encourage newer ideas and perspectives of examining space and spatial experiences. These exhibitions showcase models developed to aid his research in space making. They are also initiatives aimed at blurring the boundaries between architecture and art. In this context, NUDE MODELS, is a solo art exhibition comprising five years of research work on design, and models of spatial investigations as art, discussing space and human scale on different levels of contrasting visual media. These models address qualitative aspects of modularity, spatial hierarchy, and harmony. They attempt to instigate an informed dialogue on concepts of sustainability and climate change through its presence in the public domain.
The tool is not a commodity but a propeller of new ideas that will help harness new building systems. The design and construction guided by border-mark technologies will help articulate effective use of resources that sharpen design concepts and empower space making by research in nature. These tools are eliminating the myths of standardised attributes and orthogonality as a recurring design solution. The intelligence of technology is not limited to serve the demands of the elite, but designed to comprehend thinner frails of our social systems⊗
NURU KARIM, Founder & Principal Nudes received his Masters in Architecture and Urbanism from the Architectural Association (AADRL) London, United Kingdom in 2006. His undergraduate studies include travel and education in the metropolis of Mumbai (KRVIA Gold-Medalist) and Montreal (McGill University). He has worked with Zaha Hadid Architects in 2005 on a host of institutional projects both in competition / schematic design and design development stages.
NUDES operates within the realm of cross-disciplinary cultures of art, architecture and computational design powered by digital “making” tools addressing larger networks of social, cultural and environmental . Nuru Karim has achieved critical recognition both for its built work and in competition in addition to several design awards including a nomination for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2013 cycle. He has also recently won the World Architecture Community Awards, designed category. He is also a TEDx speaker 2019 and has presented his work and research on national and international platforms.
