THE
Volume 13. Issue 09. September 2019 Rs. 25/-
INSIDE TRACK CONNECTING THE DESIGN COMMUNITY Now view our web edition at www.theinsidetrack.in
Cover Story
L
ocated in Bansberia, which is a peri-urban area o u t s i d e Ko l k a t a , A b i n Chaudhari and his team created an architectural intervention which called for adapting an old two story structure into a vibrant lounge and community center. The design team did not approach this project by examining the surroundings of the building in terms of typology, instead they aimed at a more contextual understanding of light, ventilation, lines of sight, shadows and the ilk to showcase how architecture should be experienced! They created a dwelling inspired by Bamboo screens of r ural villages in Bengal which provide a fencing, filters air and light and its louvered arrangement allows for the appreciation of the the sun path creating fantastic shadows within internal spaces. The intervention on this old buiding was done by a meticulaous effort of stitching steel onto the existing structure. Keeping factors like maintenance and the building life in mind - where the design and structure remains relevant even 20 years down the line - steel was chosen as the primary material. With steel it became easy to manipulate and fuse the envelope with the existing concrete structure. Steel as a material offered more flexibility when compared to concrete.
Abin Chaudhuri of Abin Design Studio, Kolkota, recently shared a keynote at the Roca Think Turf event in NCR Gurgaon
The House Of Sweeping Shadows
An adaptive reuse project of architect Abin Chaudhari manages to revitalise the living and social fabric of a listless rural community on the outskirts of Kolkata.
The landscape incorporates a barbeque station, a sunken sit-out and a small aviary amidst the hard and soft scapes. Bael trees planted by the client’s father are retained
The sunken sit-out is contrastingly rendered in pigmented concrete and is complemented with views of the adjoining pool, verdant plant-beds and the aviary
The edifice with its screen exemplifies pursuit of light. It ingresses the right amount of natural light creating dramatic chiaroscuro across the floor planes and the walls within. In a few years, the firm foresees the screen to function as a green wall when covered with climbers. The porosity of the screen eventually facilitates natural cooling. S-W breeze that passes over the pool will result in evaporative cooling. In terms of design, the sun’s movement (sun path) was monitored, prototypes were made to examine how the screen behaved and responded to external factors at different times of the day and seasons. continued on page 2