Hare Krishna Home, Village Dhorka,
Gurgaon India
Project Cost - INR 80,00,000 (
1,50,000 US$)
Completion – October 2012The
brief for this project was to design a house for Mr Ved Prakash and his small
family of two.
Mr.
Ved Prakash being a religious man and a great devotee of Lord Krishna wanted to
build his house keeping the ancient Hindu tradition, philosophy and “Vastu
Shastra” (ancient science of Indian architecture) as basic principal and
reflecting that in his house. The site being odd in geometry didn’t help with
the design. The site was a narrow corner plot facing south-west a difficult
facing in hot climate. Also the opening could have been possible only on these
sides as other houses we constructed without any setbacks.
The requirement was to accommodate a
multipurpose hall at ground floor which could be used for commercial purpose
like shops etc at latter stage. The house is on two levels with three bedrooms
and a spacious terrace. The design follows a simple straight line with minimalist
approach and a stone clad front wall as architectural feature. As the house is South West facing therefore a box
balcony is introduced to restrict direct Indian summer sun. There is a central
opening between the house in order to get the natural light for kitchens and
bathrooms. This is also an ancient tradition of keeping a central open space and
building spaces around it knows as “Chaupal.”
The
minimalist straight line design with simple façade of white color and limited
stone cladding was initially looked with suspicion in the conservative village
where houses with more colour, “false” pitched roof, and building more than
required is a way to show affluence and wealth.
However
over the time period the house with required space, high ceiling, central
courtyard, protection from sun with planned orientation and well designed space
won many appreciations and has set a new trend of minimalist design in
the village.
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