Large urban residences both register and articulate financial and aspirational value. Catering as much to their inhabitants’ needs as to their whims, they are, at once, spaces of private indulgence as also objects of a more socially motivated aesthetic expression. Therefore, the luxurious and the exotic are sought in various ways from their design. In big cities, global market systems drive construction, fabrication and procurement logistics, and so, the extrinsic, or exotic, in terms of materiality and the machined, in terms of texture and precision, are more sought after and given greater value. Systems of architectural production also appear to have cleaved apart the relationships between making and material while form seems to rely heavily on geometries that ease the application of industrially mass produced and pre-engineered surface renders. Ironically, the search for the unusual in contemporary urban architecture seems akin to a walk in a “walled garden” of ubiquitous aesthetics.
Artrovert is our project to design a studio in a peri-urban artists’ colony, Kaladham, in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The 280 sqm. studio is built on a 300 sqm trapezoidal plot which is one of 216 arranged in an octagonal grid. Our client-collaborator is a multi-media artist whose politically charged works interrogate binaries, challenge representation and explore the anti-aesthetic.Equally unconventionally, her vision for her studio was not the typical introverted artist’s “cave” but rather an extroverted residency where the creation of art and the living of the artist are shared with her precinct. Acutely aware of Kaladham’s location at the urban edge, she hopes such an outward expression and blurring of territory would lay seeds of well-knit social networks for a growing community.
Circuit house is a government public building which not only accommodates the VIP authorities but also acts as a node for political meetings, government authorities’ discussions and conferences. Usually, circuit houses have large number of visitors and occupancy can vary extremely.
The project site is located in Pune – political hub for western Maharashtra. The project is mainly divided into two parts-
Accommodation – Guest suites
Public areas –Conference and meeting hall facilities, Dining, Reception, VIP and visitor’s waiting areas etc.
Affordable housing is the buzzword today. With the urban population growth at the current rate; almost 60% of India would be living in urban agglomerations in the next two decades. However, affordable remains an oft-used, yet still not understood concept for most.
Nivim is Goa’s first Gold rated green building certified by the IGBC – Indian Green Building Council in October 2013. It sits on a 1025 square meter property on a hill in a sleepy village in Goa. Before construction, the site had 14 fully mature trees- two jackfruit trees, one mango tree, two tamarind trees and one telful tree. The design of the house incorporates all these existing trees. Two trees in particular were located right in the center of the property and one of them rises up almost 15 meters.
The primary challenge was to retain an existing house on the site and build a complete new structure over it while retaining the basic functionality of the original structure. The new building was designed on a completely distinct set of circular columns which were placed strategically to avoid the existing walls and foundations. The new structure, aligned at an angle, floats over the lower structure. Roof of the existing structure was demolished and the space between the new and old structure was sealed with continuous frameless glass panes, maintaining the individuality of the two structures. The old structure was stripped off its plaster and the original large laterite stones revealed.
Other participants (eg. collaborators, clients, consultants, etc): Basil Thomas (Structural Engineer), Rajeev (Project Manager), Karan Gajjar, Aman Amin, Albert Rajkumar, Abhirami Murali, Dennis Peter
Gross Built Area (square meters or square foot): 4,000 sqft
Amidst the urban residential potpourri of South Delhi, with apartments and plotted developments occupying and maximizing literally every square footage of space available, Botanica attempts to create a landmark development within the contemporary residential building typology by creating spacious, high-on-luxury, three-side open apartments in the heart of Delhi. Through its scale, massing and materiality, Botanica aims to create a distinguished architectural character, conceiving an identity for itself as a boutique bio-luxury development, whilst providing spacious and functionally efficient environs for its residents.
The chapel bears no resemblance to others in the locality, yet has a deep rooted connection to its location. The building with natural stone textures blends well with the surrounding vegetation and complements the hill slope on which it abuts. The natural stone backdrop provides a divine setting, bathed in natural light, to the prayer hall. Other than the flat portion of the site where the old demolished chapel was sited, the rest of the area including the hill slope and the hill top beyond was replete with wild vegetation and teak trees that has been left more or less undisturbed. The chapel has been built in the most environment friendly manner.
Kolkata is the city which is home to some of the most revered places of worship of Hinduism, the seat of divine female power, Shakti, the “Dakshineswar Kali temple”. Located on the banks of Ganges at the northern tip of the metropolis, this place of worship was originally built by Rani Rashmoni.
‘Bonochhaya’ is an exclusive housing project themed around the heritage of Shantiniketan, which as a place, is a tribute to the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore. It is a project for a luxury retreat with a rural, nature-inspired flavour.
Built as the client Interaction zone for ‘Bonochhaya’, the experience centre for this development is designed to bring out all these aspects and more. It consists all essential functions of meeting spaces, presentation areas, discussion zones, set in the environment showcasing the local flavour as a unique selling feature of the project.
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