RESIDENCE OF AN UNDIVIDED FAMILY

Architects are supposed to work from outside-in, starting from determining the language of the skin of the organism (building) to the organs, however, our understanding of this family’s dynamics and training in interior architecture compelled us to work in reverse. The spaces and experiences were imagined for a long time before a single wall was built. The experience of living INSIDE this house, waking up every morning- from the most mundane daily tasks to the glitz of entertaining guests. The comfort and ease of living in, working at, and even furnishing this house was the priority. Once that was done, the skin was just something that covers it all. A building can be only so much. It can either please the onlooker or the one looking outside from within it. We were happy even if just the latter was achieved.

Climate was important. But we did not bother with northern light or southern wind. We chose to stand on the site in different seasons. Just experiencing different times of the day. We found soon enough, where to stand to get the coolest of winds or to avoid the harsh sunlight. And that tells us where the residents would each pick their favorite corner- for comfort, for view, for peace of mind. And that created a window or a screen or a balcony.

These small stories came to be a saga now that the family enjoys this house to the fullest. The children splash about happily in the pool, but within the careful eye of their parents, preparing lunch in the kitchen. The elders sit at the dining table for hours after lunch, looking at their sons and daughters and grandchildren, playing in the garden, or fishing by the ‘pukur’. Generations coexisting, sharing wisdom and joy and using each space more beautifully than we could ever envision.