Inside iconic Indian homes built in the 21st century
The book ‘20x20: Twenty Architects x Twenty Iconic Homes of India’ by Gauri Kelkar is a showcase for modern Indian architecture through 20 iconic homes built in this century
If there is one thing common to the 20 homes featured in the coffee-table book 20 X 20: Twenty Architects X Twenty Iconic Homes of India (Roli Books; 362 pages; ₹3,995), it is the fact that they straddle the worlds of luxury and sustainability with perfect poise. These homes are not the biggest, the most opulent, or the most aesthetically pleasing to the untrained eye—but they have been chosen for their beauty of form and functionality. As author Gauri Kelkar writes in her introduction to the book, they represent “that almost-perfect rhythm of a symphony where material, locale, climate, client seamlessly exist."
A showcase for modern Indian architecture, 20 X 20 features the work of 20 Indian architects, delving into their design language in some detail through an overview of their practices, with a focus on one home that each of them has built. The reader gets a glimpse into the design philosophy of the architecture practice in question and then a really nuts-and-bolts view of one property, through not just photographs but also blueprints and floor plans.
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It is technical but not dense, making it accessible to the lay reader interested in any aspect of design. “The intention was to look at homes architecturally and not from an interiors standpoint, explore what it took to build these homes from the ground up, in the context of where they were located," author Gauri Kelkar, who writes on design and architecture and is based in Mumbai, tells Lounge. “There was also the desire to showcase the work of Indian architects and evolution of Indian architectural practices."
To take just one example, the home “Cut Fold Bend Play" in Chennai, designed by Matharoo Associates, is a 3,980 sq. ft home crowded into a corner in an overbuilt neighbourhood with development on all sides. Given the size of the plot, the architects decided to close the house from the sides, creating almost a cube-like structure to ensure privacy, with a central courtyard inspired by traditional Indian homes that provides space, light and air, and smaller open-to-the-air niches dotted throughout the axes of the centre court.
Natural and location-specific materials, along with local design influences, are to be found in almost all the homes featured in the book. The home “Mirai House of Arches" in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, built by Sanjay Puri architects, takes inspiration from the sculptural arches of traditional Rajasthani architecture to build a three-storey villa for a large family (see photo).
Meanwhile, the “Coconut Wood House" in Goa was built by Ini Chatterjee and Associates using coconut tree wood from dead trees, abundant in the area but not a preferred choice for construction because of ignorance about “how to process it into rectilinear pieces". The completed house now feels organically a part of the landscape. “The idea behind many of the homes was interweaving luxury and sustainability to create spaces that have longevity and blend in with the surroundings," says Kelkar.
Lounge takes a closer look at a few homes from the book.
ThinLars Residence, Ladakh
By Field Architects
Estate House on a Pepper Plantation; Poolathor, Tamil nadu
By Mancini Enterprises
Earth and Glass House; Sultanpur, Delhi
By Studio Lotus
Mirai House of Arches; Bhilwara, Rajasthan
By Sanjay Puri Architects
Three Court House; Alibaug, Maharashtra
By RMA Architects
The Drift House on Little Much Farm; Mulshi Lake, Maharashtra
By Labwerk
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