SENTHILKUMAR DOSS

PLAY ARCHITECTURE,BANGALORE
SENTHIL KUMAR DOSS

Bachelors in architecture, regional engineering

college - (nit) Trichy, Tamilnadu, India.
Senthil Kumar Doss, founder and principle
architect at play architecture, Bangalore.
Senthil doss accomplished construction of major
housing projects at auroville, and then on moved to
Bangalore, as an associate architect till 2005.
 Founded 'play architecture' an avant-garde
practice at 2005 has produced notable and widely
published works in many leading Indian
architectural magazines. in addition to practice and Ar. Senthil Kumar Doss
academics(as faculty at R.V College of Engineering,
Bangalore), Senthil has conducted guest lectures,
design and material workshops, at various “DARE TO DREAM, MORE
organizations in India. DARING TO DO.”
A student of martial arts with quest for writing,
Senthil Doss has very recently ventured in to
research trying to understand and establish
relationship between architecture, structure and
martial arts.
PROJECT FACTS
Design team: Play Architecture, Bangalore
Team: Senthil Kumar Doss (Principal Architect, Founder), Deepak Ramadasan
(Senior Associate Architect, Partner), Mahesh Pandian (Senior Associate
Architect, Partner), Guru Prakash, Deepan, Dinesh, Periyasamy, Sreevanth,
Archana, Prathiksha.
Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Principal Management & Technical Consultants: Anvil Projects LLP, Chennai
Structural Consultant: Manjunath and Co, Bangalore
Auditorium Consultant: I.N. Basu and Associates, Delhi
Electrical Consultant: Poorna Engineering, Bangalore
Plumbing / Fire Fighting Consultant: Bays Consultants, Bangalore
HVAC: E frame works, Bangalore.
Typology: Contemporary form with structural features
Site area:
Project cost:
Year of completion:
Awards received:
Publications of project:
SITE PLAN BASEMENT PLAN
STILT FLOOR PLAN GROUND FLOOR PLAN
FIRST FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLAN
 ARCHITECTURAL SECTION

Circulation
diagram showing
4 different type of
users movement
pattern

THIRD FLOOR PLAN

CIRCULATION
SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

SECTION - A
ZONING STUDY

PROGRAMMATIC SEGREGATION
Program Nature created ‘threshold’ between 2
different typologies of functions.

POROSITY
Based on the Sun path most of the large opening exposed
along East and North. BYE LAWS
Culture as architecture
Inspiration from Tamil culture of
kolam – a Tamil cultural act
symbolizing idea of threshold,
An act that draws thin line
between the inside and outside
of geometry acts as a pride which
connects body and mind. Kolam
helps to improve mental
discipline and concentration,
providing an opportunity for
solving problems to be faced in
our life.
DESIGN CONCEPT
Myth as architecture
Rock cut temples and relief
sculptures sets the historical
and architectural aura.
Butter ball is a giant
balancing rock perched on a
smooth slope, seemingly
defying all laws of physics.
The rock’s awkward position
making it an interesting
backdrop.
Interface as architecture
The ancient paintings and
sculptures on horizontal and
vertical surfaces of temples , act as
a tool to communicate between
various ages of life. As
commercialization gained
prominence,these get transformed
as banners/posters/ bill boards
which gets people attention.
Today digital communication act
dynamic and highly temporal to
every needs, probably a
reminiscence of the past.
Conceptual sketches and ideas which get evolved into the built form

In Chennai, driving through a traffic is getting a problem,

but if a giant white stone held by a huge grid structure
has come up, you might just decide to leave early and
spend some time gazing at the new monument in the city.
The idea of "butter ball" with techniques inspired
by kolam - an intriguing experiment with tools from
the South East - intending to emulate the strong notions
of South Indian culture that people have.

DESIGN CONCEPT
MODEL VIEWS
view of gym View to swimming pool

view of auditorium Exterior façade with a butter ball effect and structural
elements.
 ‘A free mind is a fertile garden. In this
garden we sow seeds of dreams,
imaginations and reap beauty.’

Projects at Play Architecture thrived on geometric queries affecting

space and form, the introduction of digital mediums further
intensified the design process, adding more layers and new aesthetics. Mainly
contemporary architectural style is followed with the complicated curves and
forms which are used by digital medias in turn resulting in designs having
maximum perfection.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
Use of pragmatic design tools incoorporating Rhino, sketchup, 3ds max, lightroom, CATIA,
Adobe photoshop,Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, Revit, BIM modelling softwares.

DESIGN TOOL/SOFTWARE TOOLS

 The works of Play Architecture is being recognised in the industry for unique .efficient design
and even more for our capability to execute projects to finer details.

DESIGN METHODOLOGY
Play Architecture’s proposal for the South Indian Artiste’s Association (SIAA) will be the first of its kind
artistes’ recreation center to be built in the city of Chennai.The design culminates the efforts of Tamil
Film artistes to uphold the rich history and culture of Tamil Cinema and will stand as a milestone in
SIAA’s career.
The SIAA is a union for film, television and stage actors in Tamil Nadu. Since its inception in 1952 as a
charitable trust fund, the union has been pensioning retired artists, voicing support for artists in
controversies. In the early 1950s, film studios of the South Indian Languages-Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil
and Telugu-were based in Chennai.
After functioning as the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce along with the Junior Artistes
Association for a while, legendary actor M.G. Ramachandran’s decision to join together as a family
created SIAA. South Indian cinema has since been growing as a massive and thriving business, thanks to
its ever flourishing talent in film-making.
Paul Goldberger said that he doesn’t critique a design before it’s built. But Apple’s Cupertino Campus
sure made him. Perhaps, large scale proposals for influential clients do open the floor for speculations.
Architecture and Film-making cross paths often as they share similar attributes in each other's creative
realms. Envisioning and capturing scenes through the lens involve skills that architects relate to. Films
also serve as references for architects on how to visualize, while architecture provides the right locations
to shoot in.
The idea is to construct the famous "butter ball" with techniques inspired by kolam- an intriguing
experiment with tools from the South East - intending to emulate the strong notions of South Indian
culture that people have. From the road, after being humbled by the 'butter ball', an exquisite earth wall
would catch your eye and drive you into the complex for a grand show of architecture and engineering.
The building fronts two roads, the prominent one being Habibullah Road, where the butter ball will
stand monumental. Behind, the building’s brick dressing, masking the SIAA building’s commercial and
residential activities, will stand tall too. And sandwiched well in between these are the spaces for
congregation like marriage halls, the banquet and the preview theatre.

south indian artiste's association (siaa) will be the first of its kind artiste's recreation center to be built in
the city of chennai. the design culminates the efforts of tamil film artistes to uphold the rich history and
culture of tamil cinema and will stand as a milestone in siaa's career.
the idea is to construct the famous butter ball with techniques inspired by kolam - an intriguing
experiment with tools from the south east - intending to emulate the strong notions of south indian
culture that people have. from the road, after being humbled by the 'butter ball', an exquisite earth wall
would catch your eye and drive you into the complex for a grand show of architecture and engineering.
After the Indo-Sarascenic era of Madras, and the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly Building, Chennai
could just witness its next genuine architectural product of this scale.
One could say that despite being inspired by elements typical of Tamil Culture, the design here is not all
about traditional Tamil culture, but it will be a contemporary rendition of it. It will be an original product
of Tamilians and the activities inside will surely pack a punch.
"My first interaction with Mr. Vishal, the General Secretary of SIAA, made a clear vision to take Tamil
Nadu Architecture to its next level in its Artistic and Scientific aspirations by creating a modern day
monument that people would enjoy visiting time and again. This project had to be fought hard through
an invited competition," said the architects.
"This project was a great opportunity to explore the physical and cultural contexts of Tamil Nadu and the
South Indian Artistes. Personally it was a great opportunity for me to connect back to the City after two
decades and the first time professionally. We inquired Chennai’s culture, history and the impact of
Kollywood on the day to day living of a common man, and created an abstraction of it through the built
form. It was important to express to the client our intent and depth of cultural knowledge."
"In our first review, Mr. Nasser, the president of SIAA, advised to us use nature-friendly materials. He
expressed his love for bricks and rammed earth. Mr. Karthi, the treasurer of SIAA, helped in re-framing
our zoning diagrams to suit their requirements best."
"It was a thoroughly enjoyable and challenging design process as we revisited the design with many
committees of SIAA, to ensure satisfaction among all involved in the project," explained the architects.
After a few years of working and living in Auroville, architect Senthil Kumar Doss, founded Play
Architecture with Ms. Poonam Sachdev in 2005 and has been evolving as a collaborative practice with
continuously research in various design channels of architecture. Based in Bangalore, Karnataka, their
research receives support in response to their lectures and workshops held in institutions in Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka.
Hailing from deep Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, the architects weren't alien to the cultural expectations
 Material research
Any new type of materials innovation
on the project to be described.

Experimentation of materials and its

detail.

DESIGN CONCEPT
 Construction
Technology
Describe if any specific technology
followed during the construction
phase of the project.

Construction methods/technological
innovations.

DESIGN CONCEPT
 Speciality (Focus) -
project
The special focus of the project on
Skin (Façade)/Elevation/ Cladding.
Form generation or Design
technology and material ,
Fabrication or installation etc.

DESIGN CONCEPT
 ConclusIon
Why I like this
architect? And what
I learned from
him/his deign?
describe in atleast 6 statements.

DESIGN CONCEPT