House in Assagao, Goa

The gesture of designing or non-designing was to eliminate the presence of an author. Although the house is designed to accommodate utilitarian function, the spaces are not bound by it. The two courtyards in the living room tell the time of the day and the season of the year. The house does not seek to keep the rain away but gently lets it in.

Located in Assagao (Goa), a small and serene village in the North of Goa. Built on a narrow plot of land, 12.5 mtr in width is flanked by a house on one side and a busy village road in front. The house is designed to be more inward looking and has its own atmosphere responding to nature by means of open to sky courtyards. The site slope of 2 mtr is traversed very gradually through the house. Side facing the road is only a ground structure and the rear part of the house is on two levels, allowing uncluttered views of the village from the first-floor bedrooms. Being a low structure in the front, it responds to the overall scale of the village. Planning incorporates courtyards in order to provide extra spill over area for all usable spaces, providing relief from the site constraints. Courtyard is one step lower than the living space and therefore becomes an extension of the living room. Finishes such as beige hued IPS, timber for the roof and windows, white walls, un plastered grey ceiling, all come together to create a feeling of a whole.

The house is designed on a simple principle of creating a homogeneity in its space, articulation and finish
The main principal behind the design of the house, was to build the house with materials appropriate to create a feeling of serenity and beauty.

Upper bedrooms are connected with a lobby that further extends into a small private terrace, screened from the neighbour with a cement jali, allowing quiet discussions under the sky.
The spaces try to carefully maintain a balance between privacy of its inhabitants & the need to be sociable.
The house is essentially primordial, responding to the sun, moon, rain and sky with a human scale, gestures that are oldest and most known to man.