Exposed brickwork and fluid spaces: living in a rural Indian house

W5 Architects’ project consists of the renovation of an old farmhouse within a lot dotted with trees. Based on the idea of building a dialogue with them, the architects arranged walls, floors and plinths that create a fluid transition between the various parts of the house. The almost central position of the volume thus becomes the cue to articulate diverse uses and spaces along the fenced perimeter of the residence.

The living areas are characterized by double heights, filter spaces, small patios and skylights that nurture a constant dialogue with the podiums on which the house stands, canopies and walls; elements that accompany the inhabitants through spaces, rather than leading along corridors.
The brick walls, sourced from a local kiln, are in fact among the few elements to carry the architectural expressiveness of the building. Expressiveness that seems to harken back to the poetics of Louis Kahn, one sees the textures composing lattice screens, vestments, and weaving of masonry, as well as the circular opening, however completely deprived of the monumentality that accompanied the interventions of the American architect.
The building, moreover, rather than a sculpted mass, seems to stand as a composition of planes, exhibited not only through the walls that extend into the garden but also in the stringcourses that interrupt the continuity of the brick patterns and identify terraces and balconies.
The uplift of the roof only accentuates the deconstruction of the volume.

Concrete and metal are left exposed, juxtaposed with door and window frames, to generate an atmosphere of warmth that remains honest in expressing the roughness of surfaces. The furniture intervenes to set a balance, often the outcome of salvage operations as in the case of the teak dining table legs or the cane woven seats, actions that have helped sustain local craftsmanship.