Category Archives: re:India

exotic Indian interiors

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What visual bliss other than having them (of course peacocks!) dancing around in my courtyard!

Architects designers: SE ARCH – Studio for environment and architecture

From vivid array of work done by SE ARCH team theses interior spaces have been chosen keeping in mind the traditional Indian exotic outlook.

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Step inside through this columns and arches; an exotic world awaits you.

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Those banana leaves should be on my dining table!

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The meal is being served right here. But let me have an eyeful of these carvings first.

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The Indian thali. Wow! I am going to get all 32 dishes!(traditionally 32 various dishes used to make a royal meal)

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Satiated, I am going to laze in the courtyard. How can ikat  be faraway.

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Verandah has these jaislmer stones warmth but colours give a feel of amazing attangudi tiles.

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Central courtyards always serve a purpose in extreme climates. They are so designed as to work as air shaft. Warm air rises and is let out at second level through ventilators and cooler breeze comes in through thinner slits and openings at the periphery of the house.

But I am thinking of 100 other ways to décor the courtyard!

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If still not satiated go out, green grass is not at the other side of the fence!

welcome to learning street!

vidyalankar-outside.gifFrom 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.

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Designer architects : Planet 3 Studios 

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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.

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

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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!

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

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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.

Continue reading welcome to learning street!

the green stone mansion

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Load-bearing arches using cut stone slabs

Architects Chirashree and Rahul Thakkar via Better interiors

This is an eco-sensitive home built by architects Chirashree and Rahul Thakkar in the sands of Gujarat using local material and distinct vernacular flavour.

I had this post as draft for a month now as I was searching for the architects’ direct link but I haven’t found it.

I am unable to stop myself admiring the grand architecture of this house and modern life style synthesized with simple local culture.

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Stone jaali work behind a traditional Gujarati

Sankheda-jhula (swing)

A variety of local stones were used in different forms as basic construction material, depending on the character of the stone and the wind direction. Sandstone slabs were placed over locally made pre-cast, pre-stressed concrete beams to form the roofing. This reduced the use of normal RCC by about 65 per cent.  Sawn sandstone, rajula stone (a very hard basaltic stone), karoli stone and jaisalmer stone are used.

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Carved stone balcony railing

There is plenty of natural light, large windows and enough ventilation to obviate the need for air-conditioning. The house is flooded with natural light without the heat. There is extensive use of greenery on the open land. Wild creepers, grass and shrubbery are allowed to grow unhindered on the sand dunes, so that they could anchor the loose sand. The inner and outer spaces are merged beautifully to provide a large extended living space.

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Staircase with arches defining the side and the space under it.

Continue reading the green stone mansion

industrial age-modern furniture

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Designer Samira Rathod @ SRDA

Mumbai based architect and designer, the very versatile Samira Rathod set up her office- Samira Rathod Design Associates in year 2000. This trained architect  has earned quite a few awards and accolades for her furniture, product design and interiors.

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Her incredible designs of lamps and furniture have the feel of rough edges and smooth-complex lines. The lamps (and even furniture pieces too) have magical reflective dimensions.

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What I feel about these pieces: a feeling that I am transported back to the onset of machine age and that there is some modern age royalty standing with all its props and finery. Each piece has certain unsettling quality, each piece feels complete in itself, and each piece has a dimension I haven’t seen before.

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Continue reading industrial age-modern furniture

and the award goes to…

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and the restoration award goes to…

Today Mumbai University’s vice – chancellor is going to receive Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Award of Distinction. Unesco is acknowledging restoration work of the 2000 sq ft Convocation Hall of Mumbai University completed last July. The hall is 132 years old. The conservation work was done by architect Abha Narain Lambah.

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In June I had done a post ‘celebrating restoration’. Please check the beautiful images of architectural grandeur of Mumbai University in this post here.

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These images via flickr- St. Simon, Balaji Bhardwaj, Alice’s Asylum. Check these links also for more beautiful images.