IA&B March 2017

TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER 88 MUMBAI ` 200 MARCH 2017 VOL 30 (7)

IN CONVERSATION Robert Verrijt INTERNATIONAL Bunker Arquitectura INTERIOR KSDS CRITICAL REVIEW

EXPLORE

VOL 30 (7) | MARCH 2017 | www.iabforum.com RNI REGISTRATION NO. 46976/87, ISSN 0971-5509 INDIAN ARCHITECT AND BUILDER

Chairman, Printer, Publisher & Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah Chief Executive Officer: Hemant Shetty Editorial: Meghna Mehta, Dhwani Shanghvi

Email: iabedt@jasubhai.com Design Team: Mansi Chikani, Kenneth Menezes Subscription: Dilip Parab, Prakash Powar Production Team: V Raj Misquitta (Head), Prakash Nerkar Head Office: JMPL, Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.

Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635 SALES Brand Manager: Sudhanshu Nagar Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com MARKETING TEAM & OFFICES Mumbai Parvez Memon Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001.

Tel: + 91-22-4037 3636, Fax: +91-22-4037 3635 Email: parvez_memon@jasubhai.com

30

CURRENT

The latest news, events and competitions in architecture and design from India and abroad.

39

PRODUCT

Information of state-of-art products, from across the globe, which are slick, contemporary and innovative .

40

ARCHITECTURE IN CONVERSATION Contextual Anchors In conversation with IA&B, Architect Robert Verrijt talks about his journey as an architect and the design ideologies of his practice, Architecture BRIO.

ARCHITECTURE Modest Interactions

Kolkata: Sudhanshu Nagar Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com

Designed by Architecture BRIO, the house is an inconspicuous intervention in the natural landscape of the Western Ghats.

Pune: Parvez Memon Mobile: +91 9769758712, Email: parvez_memon@jasubhai.com

52

INTERNATIONAL Camouflaged Within

The project by justifies its context, natural terrain and functional purposes, exquisitely disguising itself into the surround.

60

INTERIOR Explorations on display

The boutique, designed by Kavan Shah Design Studio, is a narrative of subtle details to create an understated space.

Page 15, Content page, the description for “A House in the Grove” and “Architecture for the people” to be interchanged.

68

CRITICAL REVIEW Karunatilleke House designed by C. Anjalendran Reviewed by

David Robson and Rajiv Wanasundera

Printed & Published by Maulik Jasubhai Shah on behalf of Jasubhai Media Pvt Ltd (JMPL), 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.

Printed at The Great Art Printers, 25, S A Brelvi Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 and Published from Mumbai - 3rd Floor, Taj Building, 210, Dr D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001.

82

SPACE FRAMES Emergence from the dense traps

44

Cover Image: © Esteban and Sebastian Suarez

Delhi: Chitra Sharma, Manju Sinha, Suman Kumar 803, Chiranjeev Tower, No 43, Nehru Place, New Delhi – 110 019 Tel: +91 11 2623 5332, Fax: 011 2642 7404 Email: chitra_sharma@jasubhai.com suman_kumar@jasubhai.com Bengaluru / Hyderabad / Gujarat: Sudhanshu Nagar Mobile: +91 9833104834, Email: sudhanshu_nagar@jasubhai.com Chennai / Coimbatore: Princebel M Mobile: +91 9444728035, +91 9823410712, Email: princebel_m@jasubhai.com

Erratum: In the February 2017 issue of IA&B, Vol. 30 (6), Page 14, the Young Designers 2017 winners announced under the “Interior” category, ‘SJ Contracts | Studio Osmosis’ to be replaced by ‘Studio | Apartment| A Design Co (ADC)’.

Editor: Maulik Jasubhai Shah, 26, Maker Chamber VI, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.

Indian Architect & Builder: (ISSN 0971-5509), RNI No 46976/87, is a JMPL monthly publication. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, in English or any other language is strictly prohibited. We welcome articles, but do not accept responsibility for contributions lost in the mail.

products

39

Globose Hanging Lamp A neglected material, corrugated cardboard, recycled and converted into a unique piece of product art.

Text: Meghna Mehta Images: courtesy Sylvn Studio

I

n the day and age of high resource consumption and ecological instability, materials such as paper and plastic are persuaded to be reduced in use and wastage. In such times, recycling products is an appropriate step forward. Using recycled material to convert them into pieces of art and more-so as a product of everyday use can not only be beneficial to the environment but also add an element of aesthetic to your decor.

Such is an attempt made by Sylvn studio to make unique products from recycled corrugated cardboard. One of the products is this apple shaped lamp, much loved by the onlooker. Simply handcrafted with recycled corrugated cardboard, this rough cut lamp boasts beauty with sustainability. With an eye to visualise creativity in things which are trash for others, this lamp has been intelligently and exquisitely designed by Sylvn Studio. This is one of the many hand crafted home decor products made by them using very high quality, handpicked recycled corrugated cardboard which is as strong as wood, environmentally responsible and pleasing to the eye.

Designer: Sylvn Studio Contact: www.sylvnstudio.in Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

40

CONTEXTUAL IDIOMS

In conversation with IA&B, Architect Robert Verrijt talks about his journey as an architect and the design ideologies of his practice, Architecture BRIO. Images: courtesy Architecture BRIO, copyrights Ariel Huber 2016

Robert Verrijt is principal architect, along with Shefali Balwani, at Architecture BRIO. The practice works with a thorough understanding of architecture and its related fields. It seeks to develop design as its core strength and primary focus. Aesthetics, technological and environmentally friendly innovativeness are the corner stones of its guiding philosophy. The practice believes that there is a need to promote widespread acceptance of sustainable solutions. The potentials of new building techniques, re-appropriating materials in an effective, durable way and intelligent ecological concepts need to be uncovered and integrated in a new way in architecture. With energy reduction and sustainability as a starting point, Architecture BRIO attempts to create novel and exciting architecture.

IA&B: Did you always want to be an architect? Can you share with us your journey through the years while discovering your commitment towards the field of Architecture?

Robert Verrijt: I am not sure. I do remember, when I was about 9 years old, folding thin orange A4 paper into something resembling a typical Dutch house, complete with chimney and dormer window. I stuck it together with some cello tape and feviglue. My family told me then that I could become an architect. That was the first time I heard that word, and learnt what it meant. For a long time afterwards I never thought about it again, and my interest in architecture was only revived during my drawing classes in high school, and by speaking Latin and Greek and travelling with a few friends in Southern Europe.

My understanding of what architecture was about, completely changed though, after studying at the Delft School of Architecture.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

in conversation

IA&B: What was it about India, and specifically about the city of Mumbai, that drove you to move to a country that was not your home.

RV: On a personal level, my life and business partner, Shefali, is from Mumbai. On another level, it’s the vastness, the amazing variety of climates and landscapes that’s very attractive. It keeps challenging you in your work because you need to keep adjusting yourself and learn different ways of dealing with those environments.

IA&B: How does your work address a particular site or context? Can you describe your process of conceiving a form and developing it to realisation?

RV: We start by drawing what is around a site. Whether it’s natural or urban, the boundaries, the immediate and distant elements surrounding a site are drawn up, which become the starting point of our proposal. Too often we see that buildings here are conceived as something within the outline of its plot with the ‘bad’ outside world being ignored. The outside world may be conducive or detrimental to a project but a project still needs to be understood as a part of a system and a network.

IA&B: The vision of the practice is to achieve architecture which simultaneously embraces European innovation and the Indian context. How difficult is it to maintain this vision under political, economic and other constraints?

41

RV: It comes very naturally to us. I wouldn’t say it’s our vision to embrace both these spheres of influence; it’s more a description of who we are and how we think and design. There’s no way of escaping that. Constraints come to us in many ways and forms. We also enjoy stepping out of our skin and comfort zone and think and design in totally different modes. But we never really get the feeling that it limits us in what we do. Clients who come to us are usually fairly open-minded.

IA&B: A vast portion of your projects are residential. How difficult is it to make new explorations in each case?

RV: Not difficult at all. The history of architecture is so vast and rich and an endless source of inspiration. Contexts are often extremely varied and call out for different approaches. Clients are often inspiring partners in the design process. The challenge is really to filter down your thoughts. We ask ourselves, from the endless range of possible typologies, form and material choices, which one is the right one for this project? Which one can transform a bunch of letters into literature?

IA&B: What are your views on the issues of housing in the country in the current scenario?

RV: There’s no doubt that the housing industry is in a severe crisis.

It is not able to address the millions in need for a decent home. And where it does attempt to address homelessness or overcrowding, it feels like it’s doing a major favour to people by just addressing the Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

44

Modest Interactions The Riparian House, Karjat

Designed by Architecture BRIO, the house is an inconspicuous intervention in the natural landscape of the Western Ghats.

Text: Dhwani Shanghvi Drawings: courtesy Architecture BRIO Images: courtesy Ariel Huber, Lausanne

The Riparian House, Karjat.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

architecture

45

Š 2016 by Ariel Huber

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

48

↑

The Riparian House, physical model.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

51 © 2016 by Ariel Huber

↑

South-west elevation.

two courtyards, one of which leads up to the roof garden. Much like the extended plate, which forms the roof garden, the kitchen courtyard hosts elements which are an extension of the rock outcrop, retained in its original form, with a rugged stairway incorporated within it.

The design is characterised by transitional spaces in succession, thus intuitively laying more importance on the journey than the destination.

While the level of the pool breaks the monotony of the stairs leading up to the main level of the house, a verandah envelopes three sides of the house along the living room and master bedroom, creating a buffer between the interior, habitable spaces, and the exterior. Similarly, the courtyards at the rear of the house serve as a transition between the man-made structure and the robust terrain.

The base of the house, fabricated from stacked slates of limestone, is a solid volume meant primarily to retain the landscape elements, pool and the existing terrain. In contrast, the mass accommodating the living areas is wrapped in glass. Ensuring panoramic views of the river from the living room and bedroom, the continuity of the glass façade is broken by means of galvanised steel mullions, thus framing the view from the interiors and simultaneously providing natural light.

The façades on the three sides is composed of a combination of varied sized door openings and pivoted windows, appearing as a seamless mélange of uninterrupted surfaces. Collating the paradoxical surface treatments of solid stone and glass, is the bamboo screen in the verandah, which diffuses the harsh light entering the interiors and creates an interesting kaleidoscope of light and shadow.

The Riparian House, although fairly isolated, interacts with its proximal environment, the river and the hillock it rests on. This interaction is evident not only through the conspicuous roof garden, but also through symbolic gestures as seen in the case of the material palette and the rugged landscape.

“No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.”

-Frank Lloyd Wright

FACT FILE: Project Name : Location : Architect : Design Team :

Structural Design : Landscape Design : Area : Year of Completion :

The Riparian House, Karjat, Maharasthra Architecture BRIO Robert Verrijt, Shefali Balwani, Sahil Deshpande, Shuba Shekar, Prajakta Gawde Girish Wadhwa, Vijay K. Patil Architecture BRIO 330 sqm October 2015

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

52

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

international © Jaime Navarro

53

Camouflaged Within Sunset Chapel, Mexico

The project by Bunker Arquitectura by justifies its context, natural terrain and functional purposes disguising itself exquisitely into the surround.

Text: Meghna Mehta Drawings: courtesy Bunker Arquitectura Photographs: courtesy Esteban and Sebastian Suarez

A

rchitecture for religion has been explored in many forms, contexts, styles, influenced by its contexts, its builders and other similar structures built in the time period. Through history, we have observed churches, temples, mosques, synagogues and other structures of religious importance evolve through time and transition due to societal, political and contextual influences. In today’s times of modern architecture experimenting with concrete and forwarding towards minimalism in use, experience and construction, we see the use of unfinished concrete and non-ornamented walls of churches enhancing the spiritual experience.

Set within a natural surround, the project site for the Sunset Chapel is surrounded by large trees and abundant vegetation. The chapel, for mourning the passing of loved ones, was the second religious commission of the architects. The first one being a wedding chapel conceived to celebrate the first day of a couple’s life. The two being diametrically opposite purposes, the first project praised life while the second grieved death, became the main premise for the design of the chapel. Through this inclination of contrasts all the further decisions were made; Glass vs. Concrete, Transparency vs. Solidity, Ethereal vs. Heavy, Classical Proportions vs. Apparent Chaos, Vulnerable vs.

Indestructible, Ephemeral vs. Lasting.

The client’s brief had simple expectations; the chapel had to take full advantage of the spectacular views and the sun had to set exactly behind the altar cross (only possible twice a year at the equinoxes).

They also required a section with the first phase of crypts to be included outside and around the chapel. Metaphorically speaking, the mausoleum would be in perfect utopian synchrony with a celestial cycle of continuous renovation.

Keeping in accord the client’s requirement, the chapel had to be oriented towards the view of the setting sun by the lake. However, two elements obstructed the principal views: large trees and abundant vegetation, and a behemoth of a boulder blocking the focal sight of the sunset. In order to clear these obstructions, blowing up the gigantic rock was a rejected idea for ethical, spiritual, environmental as well as economical reasons.

The solution derived was to raise the level of the chapel by at least five meters. Since only exotic and picturesque vegetation surrounds this Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

68

This article is the second of a column series named ‘Critical Review’.

It is known that the idea of criticism holds much importance in the architectural fraternity, however it is largely neglected due to the egos and shyness of acceptance attached to it. We at IA&B, are trying to boldly attempt a start towards making healthy criticism a part of the process of learning within the community of architecture.

Such bold criticism requires bold architects who are self-accepting and in fact welcoming to such commentary. We have received coherence of this idea with many architects of the community and they have been overwhelmingly generous to lend us their latest project for the review. These are steps to form a mutually appreciable community of combined learning, the process we have long left to the days of architectural school.

C. Anjalendran was born in Colombo in 1951. After studying architecture at the University of Moratuwa he completed a masters degree at University College London. He worked briefly with Sri Lankan master-architect Geoffrey Bawa before opening his own office on his mother’s veranda. However, he continued to operate as Bawa’s unpaid Man Friday for the next ten years, helping him produce the famous ‘White Book’ of 1986.

Over a period of thirty years Anjalendran has produced a varied portfolio of work – compact urban houses on tight urban plots and expansive country houses, as well as social and office buildings.

For fifteen years he worked for SOS Kinderdorf International, an organisation which runs homes for orphan and destitute children, and designed five of their Children’s Villages. This work has received international recognition and demonstrates his skill at creating beautiful and supportive spaces at low cost using simple materials and local technologies.

His verandah office is folded away each evening and, instead of a car he drives a cheap Bajaj three-wheeler which has been stylishly upgraded. He manages without a secretary, a mobile phone or a bank account. He teaches with passion and has written extensively about the historic and contemporary architecture in Sri Lanka. A monograph on his work “Anjalendran – Architect of Sri Lanka” by David Robson, was published by Periplus-Tuttle in Singapore in 2009.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

critical review

69

© David Robson ↑

Anjalendran in his office.

Drawings and Photographs: courtesy C Anjalendran Curated by: Meghna Mehta

T

he Karunatilleke House is located beside the beach in the village of Pamunugama on the spit of land which runs south from Negombo between Indian Ocean and the Negombo Lagoon. The sea here is treacherous which probably explains why this stretch of coast, though close to Colombo and to the international airport at Katunatake, has not been developed for tourism. It is notorious for its ship-wrecks and for its smugglers. The local people are Catholic and many of them are fishermen. A few yards to its north is one of the so-called Portuguese churches that were built along the coast by the descendents of Portuguese settlers during the 19th C. and immediately to the south is a relatively new fishery harbour formed by a rough stone groin.

The clients are Harindra and Wasu Karunatilleke who are currently doctors in Matara on Sri Lanka’s south coast but who are in the throes of transferring to a hospital in Negombo. They met architect Anjalendran quite by chance in the Polonnaruwa Rest House and, on the strength of a brief conversation, invited him to be their architect.

Anjalendran trained first at the University of Moratuwa and then completed his studies at the Bartlett School in London in 1978.

Having worked briefly and not very comfortably in the office Sri Lanka’s Master Architect Geoffrey Bawa, he started his own office on his mother’s veranda in 1982. However, he remained a close friend of Bawa, acting as his unpaid assistant and amanuensis throughout

1980s, and in 1986 was largely responsible for putting together the celebrated ‘White Book’. In 1993 he built a home-office in the Colombo suburb of Battaramulla and has practised from there with an ever-changing team of young assistants.

The Karunatilleke House is one of number of projects that Anjalendran has recently built on the edge of the Indian Ocean. These have included two beach houses at Mirissa in the deep south and small hotels at Hikkaduwa and Bentota. Each of them explores ways to confront the ocean, spatially, environmentally and materially; each of them employs variants on Anjalendran’s own architectural idiom, employing rugged locally-sourced materials and a simple architectural language that manages, bilingually, to address both traditional and contemporary values.

The house is set back to conform to an imposed road reservation, this set-back being used to create a mini piazza cum car-park between the house and the road. The first lateral pavilion contains a double garage and caretaker cottage as well as the main entrance. The entrance opens to a long veranda which runs back beside the central courtyard and connects to the main pavilion. This contains on its ground floor a guest bedroom, the main living room and a family kitchen, all of which open on to a deep veranda. A staircase dog-legs to the upper floor which contains two bedrooms with an intervening sitting room, Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

74

This critique by David Robson on the project Karunatilleke House designed by Architect C. Anjalendran is based on a thorough study of the project, first by an analysis of the material sent by the architects and then evaluated by a personal visit to the site.

After graduating at University College London, David Robson spent three years in Sri Lanka helping to establish a new School of Architecture in the University of Colombo. Between 1974 and 1979 he was the Principal Housing Architect in Washington New Town in the UK where a number of his designs won national awards. In the early 1980s he worked as a planning adviser on the Sri Lankan government’s ‘100,000 Houses Programme’. He has been Professor of Architecture in the University of Brighton and a Visiting Professor in the National University of Singapore and in the Technical University of Brno. He is the author of books on low-cost aided-self-help housing and housing for the elderly as well monographs on Sri Lankan architects Geoffrey Bawa (2002) and C. Anjalendran (2009). His most recent books include ‘The New Sri Lankan House’ (with Robert Powell, 2015), ‘The Architectural Heritage of Sri Lanka’ (with C. Anjalendran and Dominic Sansoni, 2015) and ‘In Search of Bawa (with Sebastian Posingis).

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

critical review

75

© David Robson

A

monograph on Anjalendran’s work appeared in 2009 with the title ‘Anjalendran, Architect of Sri Lanka’. Written while the Civil War was still rumbling it promoted the idea that Anjalendran, although a member of the Tamil minority, regarded himself, above all else, as a Sri Lankan architect.

The Ena de Silva house, completed in 1962, was Bawa’s first full courtyard house and served as a prototype for a whole generation of Colombo’s new middle classes. Sadly it was demolished in 2012, but has now been rebuilt for the Geoffrey Bawa Trust at Lunuganga by architect Amila de Mel using survey material supplied by Anjalendran.

He was inspired by Geoffrey Bawa whom he regarded as his first guru, and like Bawa he sought always to create a contemporary architecture that was rooted in the rich and varied traditions of his native land.

The Pamunugama House, built while the de Silva house was being resurrected, incorporates a number of its features. But Anjalendran strips away some of its more decorative elements and adds the courtyard house of his native Jaffna to Bawa’s list of sources. An outer single-storey pavilion and an inner two storey pavilion are slotted into a circumscribed box to create a series of courtyard spaces.

Here, however, the courtyard functions, not as an introspective oasis within a city, but as a sanctuary within what can at times be a hostile environment. The final enclosing wall shuts out the wind and rain from monsoon sea and cuts the curious gaze of the fisherman working their nets beside the groin, to create a protected garden court. But the trio of double doors can be thrown open to connect the garden with the seascape beyond. Thus at ground level the view of the sea, instead of being in your face, is strictly controlled. At first floor, where the view is more panoramic, the veranda/balcony is edged by deep planter troughs, so that the seascape is framed by greenery.

In the blinking of an eye Anjalendran has gone from enfant terrible to Grand Old Man of Sri Lankan architecture. With more than three decades of work under his belt, he could be said now to have achieved the certainty and confidence that comes with maturity.

The Pamunugama House is built around a courtyard and might be construed as a homage to his guru Geoffrey Bawa, who was one of the first Asian architects of his century to resurrect the idea of an inward looking house centred on a courtyard or meda midula.

Bawa’s sources were several: the manor houses of the late Kandyan Period, Moslem courtyard houses and the town houses of the Dutch.

His motives were also several: rapidly increasing densities in Colombo produced shrinking plot sizes and rising land prices, and the introspective courtyard form offered security, privacy and openness on a small site.

Anjalendran employs his trademark palette of materials to good effect.

The outer perimeter walls of the sanctuary are of black kalugal stone, Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

78

This critique by Rajiv Wanasundera on the project Karunatilleke House designed by Architect C. Anjalendran is based on a thorough study of the project, first by an analysis of the material sent by the architects and then evaluated by a personal visit to the site.

Rajiv Wanasundera started his architectural career as an intern in Anjalendran’s office, when the office was located on Anjalendran’s mother’s veranda and was put away every night. Having left to continue his education in the United States, Rajiv obtained his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston and dual master’s degrees in Architecture and City Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Rajiv is an associate at Lord Aeck Sargent, an award-winning architecture firm based in Atlanta. He has worked on projects throughout the United States, primarily for university clients and federal agencies such as the National Park Service. He has also been a visiting faculty member at Georgia Tech, teaching design. When time permits, Rajiv continues to research and write about contemporary Sri Lankan architecture.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

critical review

79

© David Robson

T

he Karunatilleke House represents the distillation of Anjalendran’s philosophy of residential design, an approach he has honed over the course of a thirty-five year career. The house, although located by the sea on the western coast of Sri Lanka, is not intended to be a weekend villa for occasional visits. It is designed to be the permanent home for two doctors and is for all intents and purposes an urban house. It has all the programmatic complexity of a city house while also demonstrating Anjalendran’s mastery for designing spaces that are habitable and comfortable in a tropical climate. The site’s readily apparent beauty masks the underlying reality of the harsh marine environment, which is exacerbated during the monsoon periods.

Anjalendran’s design deals with all these complexities in a way that appears effortless. The end result is a building that is direct and elegant while also being practical and functional.

One of Anjalendran’s greatest strengths is his ability to create complex spatial experiences within a tight site. Many of his buildings reveal themselves as you walk through them and this house is no exception. At first glance the house presents a somewhat forbidding appearance to the street. The front façade consists of a single-story pavilion containing the caretaker’s quarters and garage. It is almost completely opaque to the street and is punctuated by double garage doors and a small antique wood window. The entry door is off to the side and is subtly recessed, affording the visitor shelter from the elements. Once the door is opened, a vista towards a generous verandah overlooking the front courtyard is revealed. This expanse of open space stands in stark contrast to the blank exterior wall. A lateral

two story block containing the living spaces, kitchen and bedrooms is placed between the front and rear courtyards. Only the kitchen and bedrooms have defined boundaries; all the other spaces are fluid and flow into one another and the difference between outside and inside is purposefully blurred. A granite rubble wall demarcates the rear boundary of the site. In an unusual move, Anjalendran has blocked the view of the ocean, the greatest asset of this house. However, by framing the view with three antique doors and two windows, he has actually enhanced the view while providing the occupants privacy and security.

One noteworthy aspect of the design is that Anjalendran has created spaces that respond to different times of day as well as different times of the year. The west facing rear courtyard is in shade and pleasant to occupy during the early part of the day. However, during the monsoon periods it bears the brunt of the weather whereas the central courtyard remains sheltered and protected. It is also commendable that the spaces for the staff and service areas are as thoughtfully and elegantly detailed as the rest of the house. There is no difference in the quality of the architecture between the front of house and back of house spaces.

Function always takes precedence over form in Anjalendran’s work. An example of this is seen in the height of the verandah roof. Anjalendran raised it by a foot during construction to allow for better views towards the courtyard, and this small difference in ridge heights can be seen on the front façade, above the entry door.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017

81

In the Karunatilleke House a simple palette of materials is used in a straightforward manner. The infill walls are mostly of plaster and stucco. Granite rubble is used for some walls and granite paving is used for the veranda floors. The simple pitched roofs have old salvaged clay tiles resting on corrugated sheeting supported on wood rafters. The tectonic qualities of the house are directly and logically expressed. The structure is a concrete frame which is clearly articulated and there is a distinction between what is structure and infill. The structural grid is demarcated with a subtle variation in the color of the cement floor. In this rigorously expressed design, applied decoration in my opinion is superfluous. However, blue mosaic tiles, which are a signature Anjalendran element, are embedded in the floor.

To me, these are unnecessary and detract from the rigorous detailing seen elsewhere.

Anjalendran is unafraid to use color in in his work, unlike so many architects who tend to stick to a palette of black, white and gray. In the past he has collaborated with artist Barbara Sansoni and the resulting spaces have featured brilliant colors judiciously applied to enhance space and architectural details. The use of color at Pamunugama is more restrained. In addition to the natural colors of the wood and stone and the subdued ochre pigment on the stucco walls, there are three shades of green used on the structural elements. The variations in the shades are used with subtle effect to manipulate space.

However, given the directness and simplicity of the architecture there is fussiness in the use of these colors. A case in point is when a vertical column of one shade of green meets a beam painted in another shade of green; an arbitrary differentiation is created.

Given the rigor of the house, the visual intrusion of modern technology is unfortunate. The solar water heater looks incongruous on top of the clay tile roof which has a beautiful patina of age. The condenser for the air conditioning unit serving one of the bedrooms looks similarly out of place in the rear courtyard, as does the plethora of piping adjacent to it.

Anjalendran is at his best when he is challenged by constraints – be it a limited budget or a tiny, awkward site. His inventiveness comes to the forefront and the result is usually truly remarkable architecture.

The House Around a Mango Tree built in 1985 and his own house and studio built in 1993 are two such examples of groundbreaking design. The Karunatilleke House is not such a radical departure and represents more of a refinement of his ideas. But it is a step forward in the development of a contemporary architectural vocabulary, an endeavor Anjalendran has engaged in throughout his career. In doing so he is following in the footsteps of his mentor Geoffrey Bawa, who was primarily responsible for defining a post-independence Sri Lankan architectural identity. Another significant influence on Anjalendran is Urik Plesner, a Danish architect who worked closely with Bawa early in his career. Anjalendran’s houses with their spatial complexity sheltered under simple roofs play homage to the houses Plesner designed in Colombo in the 1960s.

The Karunatilleke house is emblematic to me of the best qualities of contemporary Sri Lankan architecture – it is both traditional and modern, climatically suitable, and features the straightforward use of materials in an elegant manner. © David Robson

We, at IA&B, invite architects to be a part of this community of ‘Critical Review’ and to put forth their projects for genuine opinions to show us support towards content rich journalism. Please write to us if you wish to participate or give your suggestions to meghna_mehta@jasubhai.com and contribute to the larger architectural discourse.

Indian Architect & Builder - March 2017