RACHIT RAJ SOMANI
An architectural archive
What is a home?
as a series of networked spaces
Introduction
The studio focused on understanding ‘typology’ in architecture. ‘Type’ denotes a set of things (including ideas) which have common characteristics. As against the unique it is the generic. The architectural type encompasses a set of built forms, which have a similar configuration of its constituent elements. Type is intrinsically linked to behaviour and understanding of the body in space. Specific space and form configurations in particular types afford particular possibilities and therefore have a distinct relationship to human behaviour.
For the preceding module in the middle of the pandemic, I studied a Bada owned by the Bhansali family in Raipur (C.G.). It houses 39 members currently. It grew organically with the family of three brothers over the span of 80 years. Situated in the middle of Raipur’s jewellery market, it witnesses a spectrum of interactions on a daily basis, of varied degrees of privacy.
From an arched gateway to a network of terraces, the house is a series of spaces of varied scale, program and level of intimacy connected through stairs and corridors. This, in turn, created various nooks and junctions with redefined spatiality and spaces of interactions. Thus, networks creating networks. This understanding in addition to the measured drawings of the house developed into a narrative drawing that tries to portray the networks established, created and possible.
Simultaneously, my peers in Mumbai studies the ‘site and services schemes’ in Charkop, Borivali which later became the site for design.
Design development
The Bada has a bedroom with a dining table and a refrigerator in it because the family appropriated ‘the guest room’ of the first floor as a dining space. It also has three kitchens over two floors. These small anecdotes of the house and the life in it, provoked and helped me rethink the typology of the spaces that constitutes a home. Hence, I worked with the idea of 'a home as a series of networked spaces.'
I designed a home a young couple who migrates from Raipur to Mumbai for work.
The process questioned the spatial typology and experiences that take place. 'What constitutes a bedroom space or what is the experience of a bathroom?' and so on. The cut and fold method was an exploration in model making that influenced the process and design greatly.
Design development
Considering the scale of the building, I used vaults and double height spaces to lighten the density and create space for light and ventilation. Recessing the back wall at the first-floor level, made it possible for the light tunnel to come in and also the skylight to the washroom on the ground floor.
The threshold becomes a buffer between the street and the home and the window seat connects the living space to the outside. The staircase flairs at the bottom becoming a part of the living space and also simultaneously creating possibilities of inhabitation. The intimacy gradient of the space becomes private from public as we move to the right.
The balcony juts out of the façade creating an overhang over the entrance and connection to the street. It also becomes a secluded corner in the house, thus, creating an intimate nook in a very networked position spatially.
The staggered terrace incorporates the vaults, a terrace garden and a light tunnel to the bedroom.
The volume modulation enhances the visual networks at places and creates intimacy/privacy for others simultaneously. The bed is a singular-support platform that has storages in the back. This makes the bed appear to be floating, which could by visually perceived as light-weight and also creates open spaces in the front that could be appropriated for storage later. The back vault becomes a good source of natural light in the house which reaches the ground floor too.
This drawing tries to portray the design’s engagement with the site and tis context. The façade being inhabited in various manners and the back of the terrace becoming a cozy, secluded space are a few examples.
Rendered views
