From Archetypes to Spatial Gestures
Installation

From Archetypes to Spatial Gestures

by Dhruti Muzumdar

Pune

Project Description

This work reimagines the language of architecture through the lens of intuition and memory. From Archetypes to Spatial Gestures is a 2D interactive experience that invites viewers to engage with space

Expected Impact

This work contributes to India’s cultural landscape by foregrounding the human experience encoded within its architectural archetypes. In Indian tradition, space has never been neutral; it is relational, symbolic, and deeply tied to gestures of everyday life. Archetypes like the courtyard, the plinth, the threshold, and the axis have historically guided how people gather, transition, and connect. From Archetypes to Spatial Gestures captures these spatial memories, not as fixed forms but as living patterns of interaction. By translating these into interactive 2D expressions, the work invites viewers to re-engage with the embodied intelligence of Indian space, where movement, ritual, and collective memory converge. In doing so, it offers a contemporary lens through which to understand how cultural continuity can be maintained not by preserving monuments, but by reactivating the gestures and archetypes that shape our experience of inhabiting space.

Applicant Background

As an architecture student, my journey has always been driven by curiosity about the invisible forces that shape space, emotion, memory, gesture, and time. In the studio, I was trained to draw plans and sections, but I often found myself drawn more to the why than the what of a space. This thesis became a way to bridge the rigour of architectural analysis with the fluidity of human experience. Through long hours spent researching vernacular Indian forms, mapping user movement, and exploring sensory qualities of space, I began to see architecture not just as buildings, but as patterns of interaction. Executing this work required me to unlearn the rigidity of design and embrace abstraction, layering, and narrative. It was a deeply personal process—sketching by hand, experimenting with digital layering, and constantly asking: how does a line become a memory? This project is the outcome of that inquiry, born from academic discipline, but guided by intuition. It reflects my conviction that design must resonate with the body as much as the mind.

Resources Needed

  • Funding
  • Mentorship
  • Visibility

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