Selected works 
Whispering Currents
Small Talks
Brick on Sticks
A Good Idea
Project MC e
Campbell Housing








Vengatesh Ravichandren (b. 1998) is a Master of Architecture graduate from the University of Sydney. Since 2020, he has been actively working in the three-dimensional world under the pseudonym of Vish-al.

His practice spans architecture, interiors, and objects, grounded in design fundamentals and evolving methods, shaped through experience across varied design roles and university learning, with a habit of questioning conventions.


Resume


For more information, please get in touch with me at
hi@vish-al.org.



Whispering Currents, in the quiet heart of an industrial body.
2025
330 King St
Newtown NSW


The Project reimagines the abandoned Newtown Tram Depot in Sydney as a contemporary public bathhouse that transforms a former industrial structure into a civic space of rest, ritual, and wellbeing. The project explores adaptive reuse through a phenomenological design approach, using water, steam, light, sound, and tactility to humanise the monumental scale of the existing depot while preserving its heritage character and structural memory.

This building is not a ruin.
Ruins decay.
Ruins crumble.
Ruins we love, because we pity.
But this-
This is endurance.
This is waiting.
This is strength paused.
Newtown tram depot - Existing Structure

Memory
Play
Fold

Rather than erasing the site’s industrial identity, the intervention carefully inserts intimate bathing spaces, thermal pools, thresholds, and circulation folds within the original steel-and-brick shell. Inspired by Sydney’s coastal pool culture, Roman thermae, and theories of atmosphere and embodiment, the design positions bathing as a collective ritual of pause, reflection, and sensory awareness.


Site Plan
Model
Master Plan
Elevations
Section
Sectional Elevation
Axonometric Projection
Context study




The proposal reconnects architecture with the human body, transforming movement-based infrastructure into a place of stillness and immersion. Existing materials such as brick, steel, and concrete are reinterpreted through warmth, moisture, shadow, and acoustics to create layered spatial experiences.

Through plans, sections, physical models, and atmospheric visualisations, the project demonstrates how obsolete heritage structures can be reactivated as socially vibrant public environments that foster community, wellness, memory, and a renewed relationship between city life and water.





Small Talks, a Huge House chapter.
2024
96 City Rd
 Darlington NSW

“Small Talks” is a student housing initiative developed as part of A Huge House III, a University of Sydney design studio that reimagines the domestic potential of large scale shared living. Set within the historic site of the former International House, the project explores how architecture can foster intercultural connection, care for Country, and contemporary community life in a student context.

This project is a proposal for a 300-bed student housing community for Aboriginal students at the University of Sydney, centred on cultural belonging, connection to Country, and collective wellbeing. The project adaptively reuses the existing International House structures while introducing new low-rise residential blocks arranged around landscaped courtyards. These courtyards act as social and cultural gathering spaces, encouraging daily interaction, storytelling, and a strong relationship with land and nature.
The International House - USYD


The masterplan organises accommodation into smaller clusters to foster close-knit communities rather than anonymous large-scale living. Each residential block houses students across four levels, with shared kitchens, dining areas, study zones, and accessible rooms designed to support communal life. Open ground floors create porous circulation, connecting pathways, courtyards, bicycle facilities, and recreation areas.
Existing heritage elements, including the tower and rotunda, are reimagined as public and communal spaces. The rotunda becomes a civic gathering place, while the tower structure is opened to landscape and native planting. A nursery and café strengthen engagement between students and the wider community.

Site Plan
Typical Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
Sectional Elevation
Unit Floor Plan
Facade Detail
Axonometric Illustration


Wet & Dry Areas
Structural grid
Shared Space
Circulation

Through adaptive reuse, passive design, natural ventilation, and culturally responsive planning, the project creates a sustainable living environment that celebrates Indigenous identity, promotes wellbeing, and builds meaningful social connections on campus.
Circulation
Courtyards & Corresponding views
Ventilation
Unit Type


3D View - Balcony
Model - Massing
3D View - Courtyard
3D View - Interior
Model - Bedroom   
                                                                      
Model - Shared Space









Brick on Sticks, a furniture store.
2024
Domlur, Bengaluru.



Project completed at Dot Bot Studio.
Role - Designer (Design development, 3D Modelling, Drawings)
more info @ dotbotstudio.com

This project redefines the conventional commercial building by transforming structure into expression. Located within a dense retail fabric known for furniture showrooms, the design draws direct inspiration from the logic of furniture joinery, translating it into an architectural system. Precision-engineered metal frames act as both structural support and visual language, elevating the upper mass to create a striking “floating” effect along the street edge. 

Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.

The building is organised across four levels, with a basement for services and parking, and flexible showroom and commercial spaces above. A double-height glazed frontage enhances visibility and blurs the boundary between interior and street, allowing the building to function as a display object within the urban context.

Materially, the project combines brick, steel, and glass to balance weight and lightness. Brick cladding grounds the building within Bengaluru’s architectural lineage, while exposed metal joinery articulates structure as design. The result is a crafted, expressive commercial space where construction, material, and form are inseparable.


Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright © DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.

Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©DOT BOT Studio. All rights reserved.



A Good Idea, a workshop by Stand Van Zaken.
2025
Tin Sheds Gallery
148 City Rd
Darlington NSW

A Good Idea was an intensive design-build workshop and exhibition at the Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, exploring architecture through making, collaboration, and material experimentation. Led by Theo De Meyer, Stefanie Everaert, and Guillermo Fernández-Abascal, the workshop transformed simple drawings into full-scale artefacts through collective construction.

Students worked in teams to interpret drawings by international architects and translate them into locally built installations using available materials, tools, and site constraints. Alongside fabrication, students were required to produce architectural drawings documenting plans, sections, details, and the construction process. The workshop emphasised learning through making, where assembly, detailing, and problem-solving became key design methods.




As a final outcome, each student developed one good idea of their own—a simple yet buildable concept communicated through a precise drawing open to interpretation.

My contribution involved collaborative prototyping, fabrication, drawing production, and exhibition assembly. The project strengthened my ability to resolve ideas quickly, work in teams, and communicate design intent through both physical construction and clear visual representation.




My ‘Good’ Idea - Inspiration

This multi-purpose furniture piece is crafted entirely from discarded magazines, transforming waste into a functional and artistic solution. Designed as a stool, side table, or an ottoman, it showcases the strength and versatility of rolled and compressed paper. In Australia, millions of magazines are discarded annually, contributing to over 75 million tonnes of waste. Despite being recyclable, many still end up in landfills. This creation raises awareness about sustainable design and the creative reuse of everyday materials. By giving old magazines a second life, the furniture not only reduces waste but also redefines the potential of overlooked resources.



Project   MC e,
an architectural drawing through history.
2025

Architectural Drawing Through History explores how historical drawing methods shaped the way architecture was imagined and built. Students study architectural drawings from different periods to understand the unique ideas, values, and design approaches of the cultures that created them. These drawings reveal ways of thinking about space, beauty, and construction that often differ from contemporary practice.

‘Prentententoonstelling’ - 1956 Lithograph (12.5” x 12.5”)
The Print Gallery - M C Esher

‘Prentententoonstelling’ - 1956 Lithograph
12.5 inches x 12.5 inches


In 1956, Dutch artist M.C. Escher created the lithograph Print Gallery, a celebrated work exploring perception, infinity, and architectural space. The image shows a young boy in an art gallery observing a print of a Mediterranean port town. As the viewer follows the scene, the buildings curve inward and gradually return to the gallery itself, creating a continuous loop. Escher transforms conventional perspective into a self-referential spatial system where image, observer, and environment become interconnected. By folding space back onto itself, the artwork challenges ideas of depth, scale, and orientation, revealing how drawing can reshape our understanding of architecture.


Critical analysis of the drawing
Extruded 3D Model
Characteristics of the box
3D Printed Elements
Vantage point

Using this research, the students develop a studio project based on a selected historical drawing technique, reinterpreting it through their own design process. The project also extends beyond drawing into making, where students create an experimental physical model in the Material and Casting Lab. 

By combining historical analysis with practical experimentation, the subject reactivates forgotten or lesser-known methods of drawing and fabrication. It encourages students to see drawing not only as representation, but as a creative tool that connects imagination, materiality, and construction.





Campbell Housing, a multi-residential project.
2023
Campbell Rd, Bengaluru.


Project ongoing at MYVN Architecture.
Role - Assistant Designer
 (Detail Drawings, Design documentation, Site Coordination)
more info @ www.myvn.in

Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.

This multi-residential luxury apartment responds directly to an irregular site boundary, using constraint as a driver for spatial and formal exploration. The non-linear plot generates a dynamic footprint, where shifting edges shape the building’s massing and spatial organisation.

Balconies become the primary architectural expression, varying in size and projection in response to the changing geometry. These variations are composed into a rhythmic arrangement across the façade, creating a layered elevation that balances irregularity with order. Upper levels amplify this rhythm through alternating volumes, enhancing light, views, and ventilation.

A key strategy is consolidating all services within a large, sunken core. By separating structure from services, the design allows each apartment to be reconfigured or renovated multiple times without impacting the primary structural system. This introduces long-term flexibility, enabling the building to adapt to changing needs over time.

The project transforms site constraints into a coherent architectural language, balancing adaptability, identity, and spatial richness.



Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.
Copyright © MYVN Architecture. All rights reserved.

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Currently based in Sydney.