Abhinay H Satam + Shristi D Rawat

HIGHLY COMMENDED

‘A paradigm shift’

‘A paradigm shift’ explores transitions between the past, present and future through tone, texture, light and simple geometric forms. 

The ‘past’ covers most of the tapestry design – from afar, it appears to be simple solid black, but when viewed up close, layered textures of watercolour, oil paint, charcoal and pastels are revealed. Symbolic to history, the closer the viewer moves to the tapestry, the more detail they see. Spanning almost the entire length of the longest wall in SITE 3: Top Floor Gallery, the gravity of this tapestry design intends to make the viewer feel as if they are travelling through time, falling into a black hole or advancing in motion.

Intersecting with the ‘past’ and the ‘future’ is a fine horizontal line that represents the ‘present’. It intends to remind us how fragile and fleeting each moment is before it becomes a part of the past. In the centre of the design, a fluorescent window presents a portal to the bright ‘future’.

Together, these elements result in a tapestry design that intensifies a finite void’s architectural properties (SITE 3: Top Floor Gallery) by presenting an infinite solid (the tapestry). The architects chose high contrast elements to create an indirect architectural feature as the dark areas of the tapestry design enhance the space’s lightness. 

Shristi Rawat and Abhinay Satam are recent architectural graduates living and working in Mumbai, India. They both studied architecture at CTES College of Architecture, Mumbai and graduated in 2020. As part of their bachelor's degree, they undertook internships at SP Associates (Juhu, Mumbai) and ENCON (Vasai, Mumbai).