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THE HOUSE CAST IN L IQUID STONE

The drama of the s i te i s heightened wi thout bui ld ing a dramat ic bui ld ing - but cer ta in ly a pecul iar one.. . . .

the house cast in l iquid s tone2013

Khopol i

The house cast in l iquid s tone is a second home on a rocky outcrop at the s tar t of the Western Ghats (h ighlands) , Khopol i , in Maharashtra, India. This house was conceived as a cast , an object for l iv ing, which t ransforms in to a belvedere to minute ly observe and sense the spectacle of nature, of shade as a ret reat agains t the sharp t ropical sun, the resurgence of l i fe , a sudden burs t of green, the hard pounding monsoon, the waf ts of breeze f i l l ing the ai r wi th the f ragrance of mois t ear th and the movement of s tars across dark night sk ies.

The house perches on the edge of a c l i f f wi th v iews of the dis tant h i l l s , which are f ramed by the wal ls on ei ther s ide of a ver t ig inous project ing swimming pool. An area of h igh precipi ta t ion in the monsoons, and equal heat dur ing the summers, the s i te changes remarkably f rom March to July, wi th the onset of the south wester ly monsoons. Basal t the local b lack rock of the region is what th is s i te was about. The house is bui l t as an accret ion on th is rocky basal t outcrop wi th the same inherent mater ia l t ransformed. An outgrowth which was made of a mix of water, sand, cement and the granular basal t . Concrete f inely honed to serve as refuge, to face the c l imat ic changes that the s i te of fered.

SITE PLAN

GROUND FLOOR PLAN1 Entry Foyer2 Powder Loo3 Ki tchen4 Ut i l i t y Room5 L iv ing Room6 Dining Area7 Master Bedroom8 Master Toi le t

9 Toi le t Court10 Bedroom 211 Bath 212 Bedroom 313 Bath 314 Court 315 Pool16 S taf f loo

A cant i levered concrete overhang marks the entrance to the house and creates a shel tered outdoor space wi th a suspended sofa. The entrance hal l and dark passages give the in ter ior an in t imate feel , whi le a s tone- l ined s ta i rcase leads to a guest bedroom and bathroom bur ied in the rocky hi l l s ide.

Basal t i s the pr imary express ion, A sense of ex tent ion of the c l i f f i t se l f i s sought.

Stone has been used in many forms, based on use, wear, gr ip, tex ture. The dark saturated black mat t-

ness conjures a cool sense of calm refuge.

Akin to the growth of a coral , the substance of the wal ls and roof, i t s var ied tones and tex tures,

d ic tate the exper ience of inhabi t ing the s i te.

Photographs cannot express the sense of weight when one approaches, or the sense of re lease at the edge of the pool at the far end of the open terrace, the feel ing of burrowing deeper en route, past the s tacked s tones, to the lower bedroom.

The l iv ing and din ing area is located in a void between the bui ld ing’s two wings, wi th bl inds enabl ing th is space to be c losed of f when required.

Craf t i s the vei l for the complex i ty of bui ld ing, in which years of sk i l l in form the task and make i t s

execut ion appear ef for t less and beaut i fu l .

This house is completed wi th objects that bear the mark of the hand, the tool , the t rade, the thought

and care that went in to making i t .

K h o p o l i H o u s e

Locat ion Lead Archt iects Design Team

Plot Area

Bui l t-up Area Contractors Engineers Design Per iod

Construct ion Per iod

Photographs

- Khopol i , Maharashtra, India

- SPASM Design Archi tects

- Sangeeta Merchant, Mansoor Kudalkar, Gaur i Satam, Lekha Gupta, Sanjeev Panjabi

- 214740 sq. feet

- 6870 sq. feet

- IMPEX Engineers, Mumbai

- Rajeev Shah & Associates (s t ructural )

- November 2009 – October 2010

- May 2011 – May 2013

- Sebast ian Zachar iah, Denver Perei ra