Visualizing an institute's botanical tapestry

Overview

The Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, was founded in 1948 by the Indian physicist and Nobel Laureate, Sir C V Raman, to advance physics research. During his tenure, Raman cultivated varieties of trees on the campus.

As part of an exhibition to commemorate the life and works of Sir CV Raman, we were commissioned by the library department of RRI to document and map the vegetation present in the 20-acre campus.

Role

• Landscape survey
• Infographics
• Mixed media illustration

Team

I worked in a team of 2, with an architect supervising the project.

Duration

9 months (Dec 2018-Aug 2019)

Project Goal

The Raman Tree, Tabebuia donnell-smithii, native to Central America, is only found in the institute.

“Ask the right questions, and nature will open the doors to her secret”

Sir C V Raman, (Nobel Laureate in Physics 1930 for discovering the Raman Effect)

Our goal was to:

• Conduct a landscape survey of the campus
• Make a scaled map of the campus
• Highlight and provide information on the unique foliage on the campus map for the visitors to the exhibit

Understanding the visitor

The pathways used by the visitors formed the central guiding principle for the map.

We began by identifying the types of visitors who are allowed on the campus:

• Scientists visiting/collaborating with the institute
• Students on school tours

Next, we mapped the routes one would take from the entry to the library (where the exhibition was present) and the possible paths one would take after looking at the exhibition. This process helped us identify and begin preliminary zoning of the vegetation that a visitor would notice at first, which could later be represented on the map.

Route map-1: Aerial view of the Campus, highlighting different routes visitors take to the Library and showing the prominent vegetation they see.