Louis I Kahn Trophy

“DOCUMENT TO DESIGN”

PREAMBLE
If we were to consider Louis Kahn as a visionary, then the brief for LIK Trophy for 65th NASA comes very
close to its theme ENVISION. Envisioning is not just new innovation, nor is it simply repeating the past in
an act of replication. There is a presence which needs to be shaped for its future, hence we imagine
the future of the present, we envision. To that end, trophy brief is a request to document the present
and design the future.

Documentation is not merely measuring and drawing to scale as a routine academic exercise, but
it’s an attempt to realise the essence of architecture. Kahn says “Every building has a soul” which
cannot be visualised just by walking past it. To reach and read the soul of the building demands
deep observation, critical experiencing and theoretical analysing. Of course, all these are high
sounding words for young students. The simplest route to realise a building is documentation, an
immersive process during which one is intimately involved with observing, sketching, drafting and
representing. If carried out honestly, even without realising, we can absorb the essence of a building
during documentation. Hence, the great importance we bestow upon to measured drawings during
college days.

However, a disturbing question could be what are we measuring? Can we really measure the
essence? Of course, not. Kahn gives an answer – “A great building must begin with the
unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and, in the end, must
be unmeasurable”. In some sense, the measurable embodies the spirit of the immeasurable, so
measured drawings done in a studied and understood mode, can lead us to design the
immeasurable.

This LIK brief aims to achieve such high objectives.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION
GENERAL AIM AND OBJECTIVE
Traditionally, LIK Trophy has been for documentation, later with the partial merger of Nari Gandhi
Trophy with LIK and INTACH as mentor, analysis became a part of the brief. This year, we are going a
step forward by requesting for a small hypothetical new design demonstration rooted in the
documentation. This idea emerged from an apprehension – what do students realise during
documentation, do they carry home any learnings, are they applied in their studios post NASA
convention and of course the critical query, does partaking in LIK trophy makes students better
thinking architects?

We were not sure if the deeper objective of LIK is always achieved, which is to understand the past
and carry the awareness to future. Hope 65th NASA LIK trophy would take one more step to that end.

It is generally believed that LIK is among the more challenging, enriching and prestigious NASA
trophies. Unfortunately, it gets lesser entries, possibly due to the demanding tasks it involves. Lower
numbers also could be due to the low image measured drawings carry in colleges. Documentation
continuing as a design could alleviate that notion that measuring is a boring job.

OVERVIEW OF THE THEME

Unlike the earlier LIK briefs, the brief this year demands new design as well, hence calls for careful
selection of project. It should have specific ideas, elements, details, materials, construction systems
and such others found in the older building with a potential for continuation today. Mere
documentation with no application or all new ideas without precedence both will not justify the brief.
Of course, this is not to suggest that everything documented has to be applied again. Only those
which are appropriate need to be employed in the new design, with rest being new ideas. So, there
would be a fusion of old and new.

The extension can be an independent new building in the vicinity, could be partly fused with the old
or addition of upper floors. Essentials of the old buildings need to be continued in the new, in the form
of design, details, plan types, spaces, massing, volumes, voids, skylines, scale, proportions, sequences,
materials, colours, crafts, textures, intricate carvings and such other attributes.

Going beyond the above list, students may also try more complex means of achieving the design
continuity by understanding and applying image, meanings, spirit, character, style, perception,
experience and such others.

PROJECT SELECTION
Select any public building at least 100 years old with civic, institutional, administrative, leisure, religious
or historic characteristics with minimum 300 sq.mt. built up area. Ownership can be private, public,
Governmental or even protected by central (ASI) or state archaeology. It should have a potential for
an add on structure, with vacant adjoining land, additional activities needed, scope for extensions,
useability for the building and possibility of blending the new with the old. The hypothetical program
and requirements are to be drafted by the student team. Following a detailed documentation,
design the extension for any appropriate activity also with minimum 300 sq.mt., clearly indicating how
the documentation has inspired the new design.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION
Select a building and its extension small enough to manage both documentation and new project
design. However, if a building is larger than 300 sq.mt., the full building has to be documented, not
some parts of it. One may choose a single full structure within a group of buildings and add the
extension as an additional structure within the same enclosure. Please avoid selecting very plain
buildings which do not offer enough opportunities to showcase skills of measured drawings. In case of
intricate carvings, try presenting them as best as possible.

Typically, in academic studios more time is spent in background studies with little time left for final
design, as such students need to schedule the varied tasks carefully. To avoid that, the minimum
requirements have been kept low. As such, more detailed measured drawings and new design
details are expected.

JURY CRITERIA
The blend of old and new, with whatever harmony and contrast, is among the focus points of this
brief. Also of importance is completeness – both of documentation and new design. Process sketches
to show how the past ideas have been transformed for the proposed application are important.
Please feel free to quote from comparable projects, books and master architects.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The Submission shall comprise of a MAXIMUM OF 20 A2 SHEETS/40 A3 SHEETS/ COMBINATION OF A2
AND A3 EQUIVALENT TO 20 A2 SHEETS IN LANDSCAPE FORMAT ONLY.

• Panel quality: Opaque

• Ink: Only black, no dilution of ink allowed
• Computer Aided Drawings only, no hand drawn drawings
• Jury shall happen online. Participants must ensure legibility and readability is maintained by
choosing the right drawing scales and text sizes.
Note: Participants can choose to submit all sheets in A2 sheets or all sheets in A3 or a combination of A2 and A3
e.g. A participant can submit 10 A2 sheets and 20 A3 sheets (which is equivalent to 20 A2 sheets).

Architectural Documentation

• At least 2 A2 or 4 A3 or Combination of A2 and A3 equivalent to 2 A2 mandatory panels displaying

the collected data.
•Minimum of 5 A2 or 10 A3 or combination of A2 and A3 equivalent to 5 A2 mandatory panels for
documentation drawings ( Plan, Section, Elevation, etc.)
• Free hand sketches / hand drawings (should be digitally composed in the sheet)
• Axonometric / Isometric drawings (can be computer aided drawings)
• Use of satellite imagery allowed as a basis for analysis
• Photographs allowed (All satellite imagery, photographs, sketches, and perspectives shall be in
support of the document and not be stand alone and desirably in black and white)
• The drawings should be self-explanatory with as little text as possible.

Analysis

• At least 3 A2 or 6 A3 or Combination of A2 and A3 equivalent to 3 A2 mandatory panels to show

case analysis.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION
• Black and White
• Minimum of 2 A2 or 4 A3 or Combination of A2 and A3 equivalent to 2 A2 mandatory panels for
design intervention.

Report

Report shall highlight the subjective aspects of the documentation. It shall be exactly structured
along the panel structure, to give more background information about the building, the special
techniques used, evidence found, all illustrations, sketches, maps, drawings, details etc. drawings
used in the panels to be clearly mentioned and referenced in the Report (e.g. source of maps, plans,
drawings, timelines, dates etc.) along with bibliography and acknowledgements page in the end.

Use 12-point Times New Roman font style for the body text of the Report, which should not exceed 20
pages of A4 size. No decorative titles allowed. A general structure for the same is given below.

• Brief description of location, the structure / building (s) / complex and its natural setting.
• Justification for choice.
• History and Evolution
• Physical Form
• Spatial Organization
• Nature of use and purpose
• Construction materials and techniques
• Technological / Scientific advancement
• Identification of significance and value assessment of the selected site
• Analysis of structure selected
• Design intervention and strategies
• Conclusions

PRIZE MONEY
Prize money of Two lakh Rupees is allotted to the trophy and it will be divided according to the
number of the Citations and Special Mentions.

IMPORTANT DATES
Release of Brief: 1st January 2023, Sunday

Registration Deadline: 15th January 2023, Sunday, 1800 hrs IST

Queries Deadline: 10th January 2023, Tuesday, 1800 hrs IST

Submission Deadline: 15th February 2023, Wednesday,1800 hrs IST

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Failing to comply with any of the guidelines may lead to disqualification at the discretion of the executive council.

• All text should be in English.

• The projects should use the decimal metric system and contain a metric graphic scale in order to
enable publication in reduced formats.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION
• The format of the sheets should clearly mention the name of the trophy followed by the year i.e.,
“Louis I Kahn Trophy 2022-23”
• The format of the sheet should contain a square box of 25mm*25mm at the bottom righthand corner,
next to the NASA INDIA logo which should have the unique registration number allotted to the
participants after registrations.
• 10MM White margin is to be left on all sides of A2 sheets.
• The scale is left to the discretion of the participant(s) to the condition that the scale should be in a
metric system and all the drawings should be clear and legible.
• The soft copy (non-editable format) of the sheets along with authentication letter, declaration letter
and any other required documents prescribed in the submission requirements should be uploaded
on the website by the submission deadline.
• The soft copy file of the sheets should not be corrupted or incomplete or in low resolution.
• It is mandatory to produce the original copy of the Authentication Letter for each entry (entry code
should be mentioned) with the name of participant(s) and stating the unit will abide by whatever
may be the final results and also agree that this entry is a property of both the institute and NASA
India.
• The Authentication Letter should be signed by the HOD/Principal/Director and must be on a letter
head of college.
• It is mandatory for the colleges to produce the original copy of the Declaration Letter for each
entry (entry code should be mentioned) signed by the participants stating the work submitted is
genuine and they have endorsed copy- rights for the same and to adhere by all the rules and
regulations, jury process and the results.
• The working files in editable formats of the Shortlisted Entries should be submitted to the Council,
failing which, the submission requirements would be deemed incomplete leading to the prize
money being withheld.
• Shortlisted Entries with manual hand-done sheets should submit high quality scans (min. 300*300 dpi)
along with the content in a word document of the shortlisted entries should be submitted to the
Council, failing which, the submission requirements would be deemed incomplete leading to the
prize money being withheld.
• Any misconduct such as exposing identity through college name/ stamp participant(s) name or
college code on the sheets, or the video will be disqualified.

SHEET & NASA INDIA LOGO GUIDELINES

Failing to comply with any of the guidelines may lead to disqualification at the discretion of the executive council.

• The sheet template to be followed is available at:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FfRyOkhojcpMZ7qpdD3qTx44cuwTAzAy?usp=share_link
• NASA India Internal Logo shall always be placed on the right-hand bottom corner of the sheet.
• NASA India logo should not be merged, overlapped etc. with any sort of text, graphic, image, etc.
• NASA India logo should be in true black with a perfectly white background.

CHECKLIST FOR SUBMISSION

1. Online Submission
2. Original Copy of Authentication Letter
3. Original Copy of Declaration Letter
4. Editable Format of the Sheets (Applicable if shortlisted)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION
OTHER INFORMATION
• Maximum One (01) Entry Will Be Accepted Per College For Louis I Kahn Trophy.
• Queries to be put forward through the trophy page on the website (http://www.nasaindia.co)
• Registration should be done by the Unit secretary in NASA India website before the registration
deadline.
• Registration of the trophies will be final and cannot be changed or withdrawn henceforth.
• Late Registration and submission will not be entertained and henceforth the defaulters shall be
disqualified.

Moderator and Authors

Prof. Sathya Prakash Varanashi, academician and architect from Bangalore will coordinate the jury
process. The jury would comprise of eminent thinking, teaching and practising architects, as has
been the case during the last may years of LIK, which will decide how well the procedure of
documentation, clarity of details, theories of analysis, methods of critiquing and justification of new
design have been achieved by the submitted entry.

Annexure 1: References
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUbF4cD8ugk – Film on Varanashi House

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz9pM61Y0vw - TEDx Talk: I am causing climate change

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJe4zSix8LWfQknwaL6fHYQ - DESHA: talks on sustainability

• https://sathyaconsultants.wordpress.com/about/ - 401 essays on eco-friendly architecture

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=godrej+interio+walk+the+talk+sathya+prakash+varanashi –
Godrej Galloper Talk, Google entries, videos, essays, webinars, instagram and facebook

All the Best!

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

Louis I Kahn TROPHY | 2022-23
ENVISION