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A CONVERSATION WITH THE SUN - The Padival House
- Rohini Gomez Braganza
- June 22, 2020
- 5:59 am
- No Comments
ARTICLE CONTENTS
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
Architecture firm: Anahata
Architects: Mithila Manolkar, Puneeth Hegde
Location: Belagavi, Karnataka, India
Year of Completion: 2017
Gross built area: 2290 sq ft
Site area: 2400 sq ft
Project Type: Residential
INTRODUCTION
“The Sun does not realize how wonderful it is until after a room is made.” – Louis Kahn
For time immemorial, the sun has always been a sacred entity to the lands of the Indian subcontinent. It has been worshipped, it enriched the soil to bear nourishing crops, it enlightened and energised. The sun woke all creatures at rise and put them to rest at set. This sacrosanct element then made its way into vernacular houses to be cherished through the course of the day. The grand invitation of sunlight streaming in through courtyards and beautiful fenestration created dynamic languages of shadows and patterns within the architecture. Creating indelible images of memory and inspiration revisited every day. Taking inspiration from these structures of tradition is an example of a contemporary build that carries forth this legacy.
Introducing the Padival house located in the midst of a gridiron neighbourhood of Belgaum. This contemporary reflection of a Mangalorean vernacular language resonates an amicable relationship with sunlight from the inside and out.
Let us delve into their conversation.
THE DESIGN
Goal
Approached by a young family of four, the Architects were asked to design a clean and contemporary residence. The family being natives of Mangalore, a small coastal city located in South India, wanted the design to resonate a bit with their Mangalorean culture but in a contemporary context.
The Concept
“Inside and outside, earth and heaven converge in the enclosed garden. The building is, so to speak, erected out of the mass of the earth, with the garden a cavity in that mass. The boundless space of the sky penetrates the garden and absorbs it. “
Aben, R., & De Wit, S. (1999). The Enclosed Garden, 10-11. Rotterdam: 010
A traditional vernacular Mangalorean house is a courtyard house. The court is located at the core of the layout and is treated as a sacred space. The defensible area meanwhile is pushed along the periphery of the court. This sacred court would usually be a grand invitation to ample sunshine, making room for potted greens, serving as a revitalising oasis for its occupants. Taking inspiration from this the Architects initiated the design process by creating a green court at the heart of the layout.
To make the horizontal connectivity to this oasis seamless, the architects chose to create an open floor layout restricting the tallest walls for the outer shell of the house. Skylights and slab cut outs were then introduced to vertically connect the floor levels together, marrying all the spaces monolithically with the sunlit courtyard.
With a well defined free flow of space at the core, the peripheral functions needed to take shape that would define the elevational language for the house. The private functions seemed apt to provide the third dimension to the architecture. The third dimension would have to constitute an absolute geometric form for the purpose of privacy. Inspired by the simplicity of a cube, the Architects took to a compartmentalisation approach to accommodate all the private spaces of the house. The composition of these compartment-like cubes would define the nature of the spaces within the open floor core and their chemistry with natural light.
The Interior Spatial Composition
Visual connectivity is an important aspect incorporated into the design of the building and resonates in a multitude of ways through the layout.
The building follows a simple design scheme wherein the central court that is open to skylight is surrounded by an open floor layout to enhance family interaction whilst the outer periphery restricts to more private areas. This design scheme resonates to both first and second floor levels.
Although the private spaces may seem secluded from the layout, they too are connected to leverage off the beauty of the core in some way. This is done by the design of strategically positioned masonry walls that are opaque till above eye-level and then extends to the ceiling via glass partitions. The opaque wall instils a sense of privacy while the glass partition acts as the connecting source enabling natural light to stream in from the core skylight.
Entering the ground floor level from the entrance lobby enclosure, one is welcomed by the sudden expanse and refreshing atmosphere of the tall living room space on one side and the sunkissed courtyard on the other. This expanse visually connects to the dining space that follows along the periphery of the court. The bed, bath, kitchen and storage are compartmentalised into enclosed spaces along the periphery of the open floor plan.
A staircase from the ground level living space leads up to an Altar at mid landing, accommodated into a cube-like geometry. The cube protrudes outwards externally from the facade surface, rendering a levitating like effect. The reduced floor height of the cube and the addition of a clerestory window makes the space quite sacrosanct for worship. This noteworthy utilisation of the midlanding space is remarkable as it is most commonly a redundant space used for mere transit in design projects.
Making our way to the first floor level, we enter into an open floor plan accommodating a well lit family space and library. Three bed and two bath spaces enclose its periphery. The open layout has two large slab cut outs that creates a seamless visual connect vertically to the ground level. The library is situated on a bridge-like bay between the two slab cut outs creating a great vantage point of the courtyard on one side and living room area on the other. This vertical staggering effect virtually marries these common spaces together as one.
A flight of stairs from the first floor level leads up to a beautifully located Barsati (or room with a terrace spill out area) at the staircase mid landing. This space also serves as a pantry area to serve social gatherings on the roof terrace. From here the staircase continues to the 2nd floor level which accommodates a spacious open air roof terrace.
The External Elevational Composition
The facade elevation is a clean and contemporary composition of white washed cubes. This minimalist composition of staggering cubes showcases an artful relationship with the varying intensities of sunlight. With the absence of fenestration on the cube fronts, the composition of unobstructed surfaces creates quite an edgy statement. Complementing this arrangement is a minimalist compound wall that has a veil like quality to it, keeping the architectural language of the building undisturbed.
Textures and palette
From the bright peppermint white of the facade to the earthiness of unfinished raw and natural materials of the interiors, the building showcases quite a tasteful unification of a modern palette with tradition.
The interiors of white washed walls, unfinished concrete ceilings and soft polished tandoor flooring, creates a neutral base canvas for the house. This canvas is complemented with beautiful warm accents of browns in the form of woodwork and metal features like brass fixtures. The pop of natural greens of the court adds a great sense of freshness to the space. Giving it the final artistic finish are abstract depictions of contemporary artist SH Raza paintings in the forms of chic furniture decor and mosaic floor embellishment.
Lighting
The most noteworthy highlight to the Padival house design is the way it playfully converses with the sun inside and outside.
The interior house is mainly illuminated by 2 large skylight wells. One that is located above the courtyard and the other above the staircase. These sources of natural light creates an array of light and shadow patterns through the whole building. This effect gives quite a dynamic feel to the space with varying intensities of sunlight. The relation of light and surface also accentuates the plethora of textures within the contemporary build.
Strategically located fenestration contributes horizontal illumination into the equation of vertical light from the skylights.
With all these sources of light the need for artificial light becomes redundant through the course of the day.
CONCLUSION
Architecture can have interesting manifestations in the purity of natural light. It is for us as millennial designers to leverage off this precious natural resource to elevate a design to its best interpretation.
Textures, materials, surface recesses etc, can be brought to life showcasing the complexity of design that defines the experiential journey of the circumambient space. The ever changing light intensities that stream in an array of heavenly hues creates a new picture to be experienced at every moment of the day. Complementing light with a play of non-static shadows truly celebrates architecture at its best by highlighting a plethora of angles, shape and form. This defines how Architecture wants to be holistically experienced as seen in the Padival house.
This futuristic reinterpretation of vernacular architecture sets the stage for revival, bringing back the old in a brand new way.
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Project drawings, specifications & Photography provided by the respective Project Architect
Analysis & Article written by Architect Rohini Gomez Braganza