Algorithmic Planning

One Line Summary

Documentation of work done in Smargeometry 2014 in Hong Kong in the Design Space Exploration Cluster.

Description

We worked in the workshop on LUCI (lightweight urban computation interchange system) designed to bring the advantages of content co-ordination system to planning agents by the means of an open source middle-ware.

To demonstrate the use of LUCI, the district Rochor in Singapore was re-planned completely.Necessary data on the street network was taken from Open Street Map and information about neighboring structures was available from FCL, Singapore. LUCI system was used in combination with an evolutionary multi-criteria optimization method (EMO) for creating road networks with defined centrality characteristics, such as integration or choice for defined locations.

Time

July 2014

Collaborators

Reinhard Konig, Matthias Standfest, Lukas Treyer, Ashris, Daniel Fink, Lam Chung Fai, Si Kwan

a. 3D View of the plan b. Building Layouts c. Series of Street Networks d. Field for User Input

LUCI sets up the entire process of urban planning workflow by automating the plan to 3D generation process based on the user inputs.

User inputs are translated to urban planning parameters via internal optimization done on LUCI. Several processes are optimized in this process. For example, the animation here illustrates the isovist calculation.

Isolvist calculation in the plan

Isovists are diagrams that display the regions in a plan visible from a given vantage point. Regions which don't have enough visibility are prone to crimes and hence isovist analysis lets us detect potential crime prone areas.

Multi Criteria Optimization

Through a series of optimizations, plans are generated which the urban planner can choose from.

UI I developed to control the LUCI application.

I made the UI/UX user control to be displayed in the workshop on Processing that generated a csv file on submitting that went directly to LUCI for automated plan updation.

Radar plot of the user data.

The user data could be plot on a radar plot through another Processing sketch that gets activated on submitting.

The entire set up by my cluster on the final day.
selected projects
All  |  Web/Programming  |  Data-Viz  |  Electronics  |  Research  
other projects

Automated Site Analysis by Method of Overlay | Link

I devised a numerical method to automate the (really boring) process of zoning a site for an architectural project by taking into account climatological and toplogical input from the architect.


Alumni Class Gift, IIT Kharagpur | Link

I designed a 15 feet tall structure dedicated to the Alumni Batch of 1972 of IIT Kharagpur. The designed evolved through a series of sketches and initial walkthrough renders.

internships
ETH Zurich, Switzerland, May - Aug '15

I interned under Prof. Gerhard Schmitt at the Chair of Information Architecture. I implemented machine learning to create tools that enable architects to design spaces with greater control on the cognitive response of the user.

Based on my performance and enthusiasm, I was offered a research project at Bauhaus University, Weimar.

Witworks, Bangalore, Dec '15 - Jan '16

I was the Product Design intern at Witworks, a tech startup founded by alumni of my university in Bangalore. I worked on their second product called 'Blink', an IoT wearable that provide access to services on-the-go.

Through the branding campaign and media content, I helped increase the brand visibility and social media outreach to 16k Facebook followers.

Fablab CEPT, Ahmedabad, May - Aug '14

As a maker intern, I developed 'The Musical Facade', a dynamic screen that responds to music with motion. I did hands-on programming, electronic design, digitial fabrication to materialize my ideas into things.

I got accepted to the Smartgeometry 2014 based on my work at FabLab, being the youngest international delegate at the conference.

conferences
Smartgeometry 2016, Sweden, 4 - 9 Apr

I was selected in the '20,000 Blocks' Cluster headed by DU Darmstadt at Smartgeometry 2016. We worked on a gamified architectural platform to allow non-architects be an active part of the design process while having fun.

Smartgeometry 2014, Hong Kong, 14 - 19 Jul

In the 2014 edition, I was part of the 'Design Space Exploration' Cluster headed by ETH Zurich. We worked on devising algorithms that automated urban planning by taking subjective user input into consideration.

competitions
GES 2017 Hackathon

I was the Winner at Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 Hackathon organized by Gupshup. I built a Messenger chatbot that helped people find their missing items by pairing them with people in a 7 kilometer radius zone who have reported a found report to the bot matching their description. Source can be found here.

GE Edison Challenge 2016

My team 'Trafix' was the Finalist ( Top 10 in India ) in the GE Edison Challenge 2016. We built an app prototype that uses gamificiation to make following traffic rules fun. Trafix uses route planning algorithms on crowdsourced data to predict traffic congestion and plan individual trips in a way that optimizes the overall traffic.

Tata Social Entreprise Challenge 2016

I was the Quarter Finalist ( Top 40 in India ) at Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2016 for 'Pullypal', a social initiative that focuses on generating employment through rural tourism. Pullypal offers a unique experience to travelers who wish for a more immersive cultural and social experience in their travel.

featured
Inspiring Minds, IIT Kharagpur

Spring Fest, IIT Kharagpur launched a series called 'Inspiring Minds' featuring students and alumni who are an inspiring role model for the student community and I was honored to be included in the list ^_^

Internshala Remarkable Internships

My blog about my experience at ETH as a research intern got selected as a 'remarkable internship' by Internshala, India's largest portal for student internships.

tools

[ WEB DEVELOPMENT ]

HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Node, Express, Mongo, Handlebars, socket.io

[ CREATIVE PROGRAMMING ]

Processing, OpenFrameworks, p5js, threejs, d3

[ PROGRAMMING ]

Python, Javascript, C, C++

[ MACHINE LEARNING ]

Tensorflow, R, MATLAB

[ DESIGN ]

Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Rhino + Grasshopper

[ PHYSICAL PROGRAMMING ]

Arduino, Raspberry Pi

You can check out the other things I do here.

[ PERSONALITY TYPE ]

My Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI) is INFP [Introvert | iNtuitive | Feeling | Prospecting]. The favorite people I share my type with are Kurt Kobain, Bill Watterson, Lana Del Rey, and Calvin. You can find yours here.

[ FILM MAKING | PHOTOGRAPHY ]

I make movies about things that strike a chord with me. 'Sweeten' is both about nothing and many things at once. I made it on my visit to Sweden, and hence the pun. 'Melancholic Times' is shot in the ancient city 'Hampi'; it captures moments of contrasting inner peace and turmoil. I also make not-so-serious videos, mostly Indian college-centric ones under the banner of 'Spectecool' (34k+ views). While at it, you may also like to see me being kicked out of my comfort zone performing stand up comedy over here. I click pictures of pretty places here.

[ WRITING ]

I pen down my thoughts on issues I care about on Medium and answer questions that I think will be of use to others on Quora. Some articles that I like are: The Open Cage: Modern Day Slavery and Religion 2.0.

My article on consumer behavior titled 'The Irrational Consumer' was published in Economica, the publication on economics and public policy by Economics Club, IIT Delhi.

Questions I've answered about architecture: What are the most well architected buildings in the world?, , What career paths combine computer science and architecture?, What is the difference between a 'space' and a 'place' in architecture?

and some general ones: Why is money not the most important thing in life?, What is a paradigm shift?, Why are some languages written with straight lines while others with curved lines?, How can I visualize 4D shapes in my mind?

[ SOCIAL CAUSE ]

I am part of the LGBTQ support group in my campus called 'Ambar' which is trying to sensitize the student community about gender diversity and make the campus a better place for all students irrespective of their orientation.

[ DEBATING ]

As the member of the Debating Society, I have represented IIT Kharagpur in four national tournaments: National Law University Asian Parliamentary Debate 2012, IIT Bombay British Parliamentary Debate 2013, IIT Delhi Asian Parliamentary Debate 2013 and Kalinga School of Law Asian Parliamentary Debate 2012. I am also the Winner of the National Level Debate at Spring Fest 2015 that had 300+ participants. I was the Director of Communications at Model United Nations too in 2013.

[ LEADERSHIP ]

As the Executive Editor of The Scholars' Avenue, the campus newsbody of IIT Kharagpur, I am responsible to launch new projects and ensure their execution. I mostly take up creative assignments such as 'The Happiness Project', 'The Marauder's Map', 'The KGP Society Periodic Table', 'KGP: Year in Review' and such. Under my leadership, the media body has seen a rise in the Facebook followers to 36k+ and monthly readership to 10k+

[ !ARCHITECTURE? ]

I have a love-hate relationship with Architecture. To me, Architecture is a field which in its essence is as surreal as poetry or music but has been reduced to the stature of make-up for real estate. I think Architecture is more about the soul and the mind than about buildings. I do not inted to pursue the field in the way it is practiced, but I do value the impact of the architectural design process in all of my works. For my undergrad thesis (to be completed by July 2017), I am designing the 'Centre for Emotional Technology and Artificial Intelligence' that shall embody everything I have learnt and wish to give back to architecture.

resume
Thank you for your time. You can find my resume here.

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