Wright Inspires

Mansa and Rahul (the eco-conscious couple) were all enthusiastic when they found us, like- minded architects in the neighbourhood that made them feel optimistic about realising their dream of an eco- friendly home. The feeling was mutual since we look forward to clients who care for the environment. Simple were the requirements, meaningful were the interactions with the humble client of ours and delightful was the process of realising Mrudgandha. Mrudgandha is the fragrance of the soil which one feels soon after a welcoming first monsoon shower. It’s the culmination of the soil and earth which is the spirit of life…It’s a new enthusiasm, a new vision, a new spirit …..which stays forever new with every shower on earth. So is the home, which welcomes with varied patterns of light that move through the day, throughout the year bringing in different moods with the homecoming alive for conversation…. The stones, the terracotta and the timber make up the heart and soul of the home. Each of these elements uniquely contribute to the ensemble that surrounds us all with a magical spell of eco-friendliness, the space that makes it the HOME. Transformation of lines to spaces, ideas and imagination to reality which surrounds you is a quiet gesture, an art of creating space to house a function that it is meant for, is termed Architectural design. We dug inside the earth and made a cosy basement which is so cool, it beats the summer ambient temperature by 8 to 10 Degrees Celsius. And the earth around us absorbs all the noise we make, while we have a friendly gathering, keeping the neighbours undisturbed. Basements are perceived to be dark…they are not when you work intelligently, redefining the levels of the earth around it. The ground floor level of the abode houses the living room, kitchen, pooja, dining space and the mother’s room. The living room is built with intricately detailed walls, seemingly convergent with patterns in the roof tiles to give it a spacious visual appeal. The openness of the living room keeps the connection with everyone, as well as with all the corners of the home. Colours-tradition-art-craft-décor-pattern, all of them come together alive with our Channapatna beads, assuring us to secure by the side of our stair movements…wanting more of heart felt emotions for the traditional art. If you look carefully, this could be the study material for permutation-combinations/ abacus since the same pattern is not repeated twice. The pooja door was decorated with the auspicious colours of worship and the bindu, the circle. The colours break the monotony with subtlety and grace. The kitchen is designed in such a way that the lady of the house has a clear ‘line of sight’ of everything that is happening in the house and still be able to find out who's knocking on the door. The dining space overlooks the garden, adorned with diffused light patterns through the pergola over the eastern wall. The architect’s personal favourite is the ‘coffee nook’. Two steps down the stairs that lead to the garden with a hot cup of filter coffee is the way forward to begin the day. The rear garden with its green shoots is multi-functional in its abilities… ignites your imagination, re-aligns your thoughts and sometimes soothes your mind… as the need may be. Would love to go back for a filter coffee experience at the rear garden ... .for a beautiful friend in Mansa. As you climb the stairs, a quaint family space meant to foster togetherness, welcomes you. One can see the play of natural sunlight as the Sun shifts position, hour to hour and from season to season. The first floor of the house has the master bedroom in the south west, children’s room and a guest bedroom. The master bedroom is designed to be spacious and yet made to feel cosy with slightly arched roofs. The paintings on the wardrobe would inspire you to be youthful and energetic through-out the day. The guest bedroom has a small balcony space with planter boxes for some flowery plants. It has a small seating arrangement to lose yourself, with that much loved book. The room too, as such has seating spaces built in wood which doubles up as storage space for the blankets and other mundane stuff. The children’s room is designed to instigate and inspire creativity with lots of open space to pick-up a favourite hobby/activity. The sleeping area is moved to a bunker bed to free-up the floor space. The wardrobe has hues of brown and aqua blue to give it a peel of expanse like that of a sea shore. The other small little things which make Mrudgandha… We planted a few trees, just to highlight the number, its eight trees ... .yes it is possible to do so and they give us a good dose of renewed oxygen, as they grow. We grow our own veggies in the terrace garden and get connected with the blue sky above us, lucky us to get the sight of the bees- butterflies- birds. Hey! We put up a little pond of water for the lilies and birds to bathe and it's such an immense pleasure to look at them soaking in water… We live with the greenery as we step in and out of the home, greenery gives loads of freshness to the air we breathe and to our minds that get wary… We solar-power our requirement of light and hot water…energy efficient LED lights and low wattage fans reduce our carbon footprint… We process our wet organic waste…use them as feed for our bio gas plant to generate enough gas for one meal of the day. Our terrace stays cool with terracotta lined roofs and we stay cool on the floors below… hot air is pushed out through a turbo ventilator…fresh air gushes inside through tunnelling effects… Is air conditioning required for Bangalore climate…I guess, not. The use of steel pipes as supporting structures, minimal use of concrete, natural flooring materials like Jaisalmer, kota stone is one more step towards sustainability…We pledge to leave behind a better planet for our children to live on… Mrudgandha , Mansa-Rahul-Ashish-Ananya will stay very special in Wright Inspires’ book of events for the wonderful opportunity given to us and for being such idealistic people. Special are the people who brought this all together brick by brick making every corner, every detail as designed and as it meant to be, my heart is filled with gratitude and pride about every soul engaged in this beautiful realisation. Special are the youngsters’ energy at the office which is so encouraging for all the extra miles that one needs to go.