The Mud House – (Katchi Kothi) and Anangpur, Faridabad by Kamath Design Studio

The Mud House at Anangpur Village, Surajkund, Haryana, is located on land that was once a quarry, mining quartzite and Badarpur stone dust. The ecology of the area had been devastated by the mining and the original scrub forest had been chopped and ravaged for fire wood. The Mud House is an attempt to heal the wounds inflicted on the earth and establish a niche in the ecosystem that is expressive of emerging ecological values. The architecture of the house is based on the premise that the purpose of human culture is to accord dignity to all forms of life, to recognize the holistic nature of the environment and to value its regenerating and self-healing capabilities. The design process has actively been guided towards the evolution of an ecological architectural vocabulary informed by indigenous building practices. The creating of space, form and visual characteristics is based on the rearrangement of natural materials found on the site and its surroundings, with a minimum, judicious use of non-renewable, non-bio-degradable and fossil resources such as metals, stone, stone slabs, plastics, cement, lime etc.