RH23 | Design Studios

RH23
KAVURI RESIDENCE///
A verse from Katha Upanisad says
"Indriyebhyah param mano mansas sattvam uttamam,
sattvad adhi mahanatma, mahato vyaktam uttamam."
Sloka 07 - Katha Upanishad
Mind stands above the senses; farther on are its intelligences;
The Great self is in the beyond; the obscure Superior surpasses them at yond.

One only realises ones presence and thoughts as significant and worthy if they see the role important they play in the lives around. Just as they choose to be more than just mind, more than intelligences, beyond soul (atman)there lies the unconditional/obscure self; Unknown and waiting. In the same manner the house as the architecture hare is not just its walls, volumes, not the mere imposing form of exposed concrete, beyond the solidarity they seek the presence to resonate with. An architecture of one’s known self, of one who knows the WEIGHT of the lives and life to protect.
Sri Krishna, the God of the Hindu Mythology who recited the Gta- lifts the Mt. Govardhan when his village is threatened with inevitable flood and continuous drowning rains! He lifts it on his left hand little finger, as if it weighs near to nothing. This is a symbolic reference that one can relate to when it comes to protecting one’s own kith-kin, the load of responsibilities weigh near to nothing. The mythological mountain is nothing but the architecture created in reflection to the person who carries it all, as if it weighs nothing!
Through the expectations of architecture springs the reason, direction and an innate want for meaning. A home according to Adrian Forty
“…stood for feeling, for sincerity, honesty, truth and love. This representation of the home involved a complete dissociation of all things good from the public world, and of all things bad from the domestic world. It was to turn the home into a place of unreality, a place where illusions flourished.” (Adrian Forty)
Architecture of a home becomes a notion of permanence sought. Yet, with a certain freedom of choices such as, the weight of undeniable responsibilities and a want for them- all these of course, as conscious and a state of effortless being helped shape it. RH23 is a reaction to the layers created by one individual for the responsibilities [taken up], hence, reactions in the physical form are around the VORTEX polarised, controlled, and magnetised.
Hence, it is the metaphorical Mt.Govardhana, where one can sense its weight, its heaviness.
From the outside start the very first layer of the building experience- a sense of PRESENCE. A massive presence created by the 6 sentry-like thick walls visible from the street. An engagement is established with the visitor/passerby here.

Perspective that which is imposing begins right outside the borders of the building (property line); through the oblique presence shifts along with its heavy planes from their perpendicularity to parallelity as the viewer moves along the band of drive way, to eventually stand right in front of the building. Architecture by movement unfolds in its plan-form which creates a distinct separation between the experiences felt outside, and then the delayed transition from the drive way to the threshold- where one waits to be let in- is the time one is allowed to make oneself presentable. The person who visit shift their outer selves to be able to…it makes one conscious! The built tectonics show clear layering of spaces one after the other laid in parallel to create a controlled spatial experience.
These planes are constructed in an orthographic manner to create the public, semi-private/public, to private spaces of the house- both transversely and longitudinally. In a manner, the connections between these start from the very outside-to the in-between- to the inside- to the inner most, are in series narrowing down at every stage. Whereas, the spatial character in the volumes play a different significance altogether; they start with vast openness of the outside- to a controlled open of the in-between- to an expected openness- to a double heighted volume – to a metaphorical isolation for oneself.
The state of being created is dynamic but outwardly looks static and stable! A paradox? The art style that influenced the work of this architecture also seems static to the untrained eye- but is it? Constructivist style of both thought and art translated for design and to create the right tectonics was sought as it and the rest has the tendency to bring out the Person’s strength and the weight carried to their best capacities.

“Everything is of a dynamic nature.”-Paul Klee