Sometimes, we design single family homes in cities. The multi storey ones where the Indian joint family meets tight urban plots. A space where the new India of gyms, home theatres and privacy meets strongly held values of family and community. Meanwhile, governance keeps a vigilant eye, restricting ideas within a controlled box with setbacks and height limits!
How can a building hold together three generations, their aspirations and aesthetics, their private moments of happy solitude and the exuberance of their public festivals? We enjoyed understanding this modern Indian “joint family’ culture in the city of Nagpur and interpreting their needs through design!
We treated the home as a classical canvas with simplicity of material and language, derived from the extreme climate of Nagpur. Inherent was the overriding desire to hold the closeness of the family together while expanding their physical boundaries. We did this by layering spaces so that the core is an active sun filled atrium which promotes connections between families and generations.The next layer of the corridor around the atrium enjoys the sunlight, the art and people’s interactions while leading into the privacy of rooms while the final layer is that of solitude celebrated in the sun filtered outermost balcony layer of the building. The courtyard, the corridors and the balconies are time tested solutions, which we overlaid with a contemporary language of wooden screens that slide and fold and allow for those words that have crept into the new India - privacy and flexibility!
The protagonist in this canvas of white marble and teak wood is light. The sunlight that washes the courtyard but filters in through the railings and brise soleil of the skin of the courtyard; or that which fills the balconies when the jali shutters slide open; or that which casts magical patterns into the rooms when the jali’s are closed.
We hope you enjoy our attempt to be timeless and classical. To cut across generations and styles so that a family celebrates their festivities and quiet moments, and finds their peace and joy.
Video:
Credits:
Text - Shimul Javeri Kadri
Videography - Niveditaa Gupta
Kommentare