Perched on the top of a hill, surrounded by boulders and vegetation with unrestricted views till far horizon, sat this idyllic ancestral plot of our client. It had all the recipe for love at first sight but just like love, it didn't come easy. An inaccessible plot in a remote area, no approach road, a slope so steep that even a possibility of some kind of road seeming distinct, plot laden with immovable rocks and to add to it, the pandemic struck right when the project had just begun.
But again, as is love, so is architecture. And both unravel their beauty when we work on it. As that's how the project too began unfolding magically.
The client was desirous on having a house that reflects contemporary style in a region where traditional architecture is seen abundantly. It was imperative to create a stitch wherein we adopt vernacular methodology of planning and techniques within a framework of contemporary design. The design has been heavily hinged on climatic factors. The intent was to reduce heat gain, aid cross ventilation and maximize the views. The massing has thus been kept clean with a play of horizontal boxes. While one of the boxes is a large 40ft cantilever that pushes the realm of imagination, the other rests on the existing rocks.
The house blurs the line between architectural and interior design, wherein the architecture leads into interior spaces and all interior spaces open into prevailing architectural and landscape elements.
Reflecting back on the journey of this project that spanned across 3 grueling years, we wonder if Gabriel García Márquez would have written 'Love in the time of Corona' with this project as his muse for an architectural adaptation?
