​My project aims to understand the potential of the windcatcher to allow cross ventilation in a dwelling thereby reducing interior heat by experimenting using a simulated environment and a scaled model as a replication of a vernacular house in the coastal town of Nagapattinam in Southeast India.

​​Sandhya Mahendiran

​Sandhya is from Chennai, India. She attained the Bachelor of Architecture degree from MSAJ Academy of Architecture in Chennai in 2020. Her thesis during the final year was an exploration on a low-cost community housing project designed for the nearshore fisherman settlement in Chennai. She gained experience as an intern architect for 15 months in two Indian architectural firms in Bangalore and Chennai. Inspired by traditional Indian architecture, Sandhya is keen on understanding modern practices and fuse both to create sustainable methods and designs. She is a Master of Architecture student in University of North Carolina at Charlotte currently in her second semester of study, expected to graduate in May 2023.