Anatomy of House S at Karjat, by Suprio Bhattacharjee

Anatomy of House S, at Karjat – Drawing by S|BAU / Suprio Bhattacharjee Architecture Unit

Anatomy of House S at Karjat, by Suprio Bhattacharjee

House S is the first of a group of houses designed and built upon an 8.5 acre parcel of land within audible distance from the Karjat river. The owner wished to have a small house (a ‘hut’ as he called it) as an instigator for occupation upon the site. Three more houses on the parcel were already on the drawing boards – and this was intended to function as a ‘cabin’ comfortable enough to allow for extended stays whilst the construction of the other houses progressed. Over the course of many discussions, the minimal dwelling of around 250 sqft that we suggested grew to twice its size, with equivalent outdoor area. It was was no longer a ‘hut’ but a comfortable small dwelling. Thus the moniker House S.

Sited at the edge of a shallow valley-like condition within the site that cradles a pond towards its long northern aspect, the house offers distinct vistas on each of its sides – and thus generous timber vitrines that can open up completely to enmeshed inside and outside.
A simple archetypal house form was evolved within load-bearing walls tied by a reinforced concrete ring beam supporting an enfilade of simple galvanised steel trusses, with a central flexible partition that allows the space to be unified original bisected, depending on the nature of activity within the dwelling – cooking, eating, dining, working, entertaining, sleeping. The roof is propped up over the ring beam leaving a gap for a clear-storey window strip, that filters in a soft light along the plywood undercroft of the roof, even when all the blinds are drawn.
The drawing explores the tectonic layering and componentisatiom of this apparently simple construct.
Anatomy of House S at Karjat, by Suprio Bhattacharjee
© S|BAU Suprio Bhattacharjee Architecture Unit

Share your comments

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent

Diwan-i-Khas at Fatehpur Sikri. Image by Manfred Sommer

“If the received wisdom of this Western historiography is Eurocentric and subjective, how do we trace the evolution of architectural consciousness in India?”—Jaimini Mehta

The essay is the second of a three-part series of preview essays for Jaimini Mehta’s forthcoming book, Sense of Itihasa; Architecture and History in Modern India. He explores how colonial perspectives distorted Indian architectural history, arguing that indigenous architectural theories existed beyond Eurocentric interpretations, with the mandala symbolizing a deeper conceptual understanding of cosmic and spatial design.

Read More »
Jaimini Mehta - Architecture and History

“Unless you ask these questions, you will not realise that it is not history but the perception of history that needs to be revisited.”—Jaimini Mehta

The essay is the first of a three-part series of preview essays for Jaimini Mehta’s forthcoming book, Sense of Itihasa; Architecture and History in Modern India.
The book analyses the works of several contemporary, post-independence Indian architects to demonstrate that since independence, they have revitalized traditional architectural elements and techniques, drawing inspiration from India’s itihasa.

Read More »

Featured Publications

We Are Hiring