80 | The Designer 2019-2021
SALVAGING ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY INTO A HOME Did you know the people of this world create 1.3 billion tonnes of garbage each year? That's the equivalent of over 3,000 Empire State Buildings! Clearly, the rst thing we need to do is create less waste. The second is to change our perspective maybe trash isn't really garbage! We need to reinvent and reconsider the nature of waste itself. They say that one man's trash is another's treasure. Waste is no longer something to get rid of - its most certainly a resource. Building with recycled materials can be a great way to save the environment. It also makes for one-of-a-kind home that is satisfying to build and wildly, effervescently creative. Homes are built in concert with their owner, who contributes sweat equity and his own artistic air. Using recycled building elements is like shopping at a thrift store: You can't be certain you'll nd exactly what you're
looking for. Fortunately for me, my client Shri Nandan Kudchadkar has been a big collector of “whatever-he-sets-his-eyes-on”. Choosing among the materials he has collected over the years was like digging into a treasure built into history, tradition and culture. Recycled houses don't have to look like they're recycled. They can t in perfectly with their neighbours and lend character to the space around. Building an entire home out of recycled materials may not be feasible for everyone, but I had the opportunity to build one with almost 95% of salvaged material that includes the old unoccupied 6-storeyed building which forms the main structure. Each half-oor has been designed with a theme based on the collections - like we have a marble room, a brass room, porcelain room, Indo-Portuguese room, and likewise where every piece of furniture
