Architects: Matharoo Associates

If you are thinking about amazing geometry and curves of this house so effortlessly mingling with each other then also note that this house accommodates a family swimming pool in just 450 sqm plot. And let me tell you everything has a functional aspect other than just design!

This stunning house is situated in Jodhpur city, in the middle of Thar Desert.

All the creativity and talent @ architects Matharoo associates is at work here.

Composite walls of dressed stone on the outside and brick on inside are used as construction methods. The brick stone composite wall insulates much more than ‘all stone’ traditional walls.

Another great insulator is predominant focus of design – water – in the form of a swimming pool.

To understand what kind of solace a swimming pool gives to people living without water for many generations, we need to actually live in a desert area! The swimming pool is made into a canopy, which shadows the stone boulders and makes the presence of water felt even if sometimes there is none. The living areas are shielded from sun with the pool above. Simple corrugated GI sheet is used as formwork for the swimming pool soffit.

The other part of the house is insulated by two rooms – a gymnasium and a pavilion covering the terrace; providing a buffer space all over the house. In a very traditional way the prayer cube floating in space acts as a pivot in the overall composition anchoring the curving planes.

The architecture of the house is sustainable kind without being a word said about it!

click images for larger view

‘Style’ emerges from the project and not from the architect. Every project deserves its own style based on the site, user requirements, available materials and technology.                ← Space – design Consultants

AIIS

Architects: Space-Design Consultants

In the age of ’hero’ architects or architectural heroism somehow I tend to veer towards this credo of Space – Design Consultants. I am asking myself why it is so that style (first &/or only) attracts most of us more than anything else!

Space Design Consultants is Delhi based architectural firm which is concerned about sustainability in buildings. Energy efficiency, material selection for reduction in wastes and pollution are their guides for design.

The building of American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) has a very traditional look and yet it has adopted innovative and simple energy conserving and passive cooling measures. The walls of the building are insulated. A simple strategy of orienting the windows in most favourable directions has been used.

The roof has a terrace garden to keep the building naturally cool. Two courtyards (and that too sunken ones) bring natural light and ventilation. To create a peaceful ambience the courtyards are created with vegetation and water bodies.

Natural materials like brick, exposed concrete, and sandstone have been used.

From outside it looks pretty much the same- the  deceptive box architecture. But this educational facility in the heart of Mumbai opens up for a complete redical re-think.

Designer architects : Planet 3 Studios 

Here walls bend, curve and tilt to challenge accepted notions of structural stability. Orthogonal rigidity is eschewed. A cleverly designed porous polycarbonate skin allows the structure to be naturally aerated at all times.

The entire structure dispels pre-conceived notions of design and construction. Read about design patterns here.

If you think it is only a box of asymmetric spaces, go take a walk! It is a very complex design assimilating every possible need of a higher education facility and Much More!

You are onto the learning street; Friends! Enter as the building does not have gates (!) only large punctures which connect inside with the outside.

The building architecture is devised as a group of distinct facilities (four engineering faculties) connected by a self guiding interior promenade with nooks and alcoves to accommodate student activities.

To conserve energy the building maximizes the advantages of natural light and ventilation. An oversized roof, raised fourteen feet above terrace level shields the inside from inclement weather, while allowing hot air to escape from the sides. It does not require electrical lighting or air conditioning to function in normal conditions.

The concept of an ‘Educational Village’ built within a container merging completely with its industrial neighborhood.

The materials used in construction are locally available and extremely cost effective. The finishes and claddings are resilient, low maintenance. Use of recycled materials such as packing material obtained from shipping containers and reengineered sleeper wood from railway tracks in raw form intensify the sense of space.

a fair view of the learning street

The entire facility is open plan. It is possible to see the entire learning street from almost any location in the building.

Please go for more lively images here!

And if you want to know what architects say, go here.

School of Art, Design & Media, Nanyang, Singapore

Designers : CPG Consultants Pte Ltd

This is a 5-storey School of Art, Design & Media at Nanyang Technological University campus, Singapore. This stunning piece of award-winning architecture is situated in a wooded valley. Before you read on, answer this : is this a landscape or a building?

The embracing arms of this unique building have a most spectacular verdant turfed roof which blends with ground contour as if emerges from it. It has glass curtain wall and raw concrete minus the painting.

Apart from its visual impact, the turfed roofscape helps to lower the roof temperature and surrounding areas. It works as a functional space, as a scenic outdoor community space via easily accessible sidesteps along the roof edge.

Lighting plays an important aspect to the building. The full glass curtain wall allows generous doses of daylight into the studios and galleries while cutting off the tropical heat. At night, the building glows like a lantern.

The exterior glass facade of the building allows full views to the outside, again providing visual connectivity with the surrounding lush landscape.

Three blocks of the school building are organically interwoven to enclose a sunken courtyard and a unique interconnectivity and flow.

The site is a wooded valley which was supposed to be left as a green lung in the master plan of the 200-hectare Nanyang Technological University campus. The designer-planners, however, carved a habitat from the constraints of the valley. And instead of imposing a building onto the landscape, they let the landscape play a critical role in moulding the building. It allows the original greenery of the site to creep and colonise the building.

The building design challenges the traditional linear system of education with a clear teacher-student arrangement. Here, given the sloping nature of the architectural form, many of the teaching spaces come in different shapes and volumes which could be easily adapted to different needs. For example corridors and cozy corners double up as informal exhibition areas. The architectural form beautifully complements and creates an ambience and environment conducive for exploration and exchange of ideas for the arts and design students.

Apart from glass wall the building is also cladded in natural forms, like the off-form concrete walls and columns, cement-sand screeded floors and timber railings. To reinforce the natural theme, loud colours and elaborate decoration are avoided. This also means students have been provided with the perfect platform to express themselves by adorning the surfaces of the building with their works thus allowing the building to evolve its own identity.

This is the kind of architecture where you learn new meanings of the term eco-sensitivity!