S8, A residence at Tamilnadu, by Mancini Enterprises

March 26, 2018

Follow ArchitectureLive! Channel on WhatsApp

A weekend gateway home of 1800 Sq.ft. is tucked into a cube of side 8m. The east and west facades of the house are punctured with wall height openings bringing in abundant natural light, making best of the sea breeze and splendid view of the ocean and surrounding coconut plantations. The monolithic form of the house and its front deck, perched on the North-West corner of the site offers a string contrast to the surrounding landscape of organic contours that descends into a rainwater catchment pond further east.

More images:

Drawings:

Project Facts:

Project: S8

Location: Tamil Nadu

Completion date: Feb 2013

Architect’s Name: Niels Schoenfelder, J.T. Arima, Geethapriya V., Swati Chandrashekar, R. Saravanan, Kumar, A.V. Mourougane

Name of the firm: Mancini Enterprises

Location of the firm: Chennai

Photo credits: Mancini Enterprises

Mancini Enterprises

Profile and Contributions

Completed, Residences, Tamilnadu

Recent

“The new architect must be an environmental thinker, a social listener, a technological innovator, and an ethical actor.” – Ravindra Punde on reimagining architecture education in India

November 19, 2025 No Comments

Ravindra Punde, architect and academician, calls for a fundamental reimagining of architecture education in India, arguing it must shift from colonial pedagogies to address climate change, social inequality, and ethical responsibility through ecology-centred, community-engaged, and culturally diverse learning.

Architecture-in-Development — Global Challenge 2025 Shortlists

“The stronger promise in Architecture-in-Development’s Do-it-Together (DiT) ethos is that design can be measured by what it connects and sustains, not just by what it costs or how quickly it is implemented.”—Nipun Prabhakar

November 13, 2025 No Comments

Nipun Prabhakar, in his article on the 2025 Global Challenge finalists of Architecture-in-Development (A––D), elaborates on how community-led design defines the new frontline of practice. They showcase us a future where design is measured not only by metrics or capital, but by its capacity to connect, care, and endure.

Rome Scholarship in Architecture 2026-27—Call for Applications

November 12, 2025 No Comments

The Rome Scholarship in Architecture calls for applications for a six-month residency (Jan-June 2027) at the British School at Rome for a postgraduate or early-career architect. It includes £1000 monthly grant, board, and access to BSR resources for a self-directed research programme in Italy. Deadline: December 15, 2025.

A Manifesto on Architectural Criticism

November 11, 2025 No Comments

Prem Chandavarkar, Partner at CnT Architects, writes about the firm’s manifesto that is defined by four frames—Integrity, Empathy, Emancipation, and Transcendence—advocating a collective, ethical, and human-centered practice that upholds spatial coherence, nurtures inhabitation, challenges convention, and aspires toward beauty and the joy of existence.

Call for Sponsors for ‘Awakening Beauty’, by Jinan K.B.

November 7, 2025 No Comments

Jinan K.B., author of ‘Awakening Beauty’ is seeking sponsors to fund printing and launch this movement for a book where he argues that beauty is a biological, non-computational intelligence—the core of human cognition. Through the book, Jinan invites you to reclaim this lived wisdom.

Under the Circus Tent by Aniket Bhagwat 2. © Prabhakar Bhagwat

“Because we have been eager, sometimes desperate, to name everything ‘architecture,’ many things that are merely buildings have slipped in.”—Aniket Bhagwat

November 4, 2025 No Comments

Aniket Bhagwat, in this prose, argues that while speed and competence in construction are vital, architecture is distinct and fragile. It goes beyond enclosure and utility to expose meaning, embodying resistance, beauty, abstraction, and memory.