design et al are delighted to announce that Casa Paradox have been shortlisted for Luxury Residence – Asia Pacific within The International Design and Architecture Awards 2018.
A luxury residential two-bedroom glasshouse, using traditional Indian elements and installing them in a contemporary environment.
The client, a reputed business family, required Casa Paradox to design a contemporary retreat for recreational usage, within their one-acre farm house plot area. The design concept being a merger of contemporary architectural styles with traditional Indian elements communicates a new design concept. The big idea implied the use of a flat plate structures being supported on two shear cores and peripheral columns. The elements of traditional Indian architecture were brought in sequentially to generate a rhythmic balance between both typologies.
The exterior columns, having an octagonal base, bearing a diameter of 30 inches and height of 30 feet are designed as a modern version of vernacular Indian columns. This can be seen as the faceted stone cladding in black stone to a height of 5 foot followed by a studded brass division ring and tapered in white plaster to a height of 30 feet.
The main entrance to the building is also an arched solid wood door 20 foot high, set within an traditional Indo-mughal archway in ivory stone, having a surround adorned with traditional ‘aalas’ or niches which are lit to give the overall aesthetic appeal. The building is crowned with a cornice, also an element from colonial Indian architecture binding the form together. Other elements such as the flooring designs and internal decor items also lay emphasis to this fusion of Vernacular Indian and contemporary minimal architecture. In summation, the building stands as testament to New India and the initiation of India-Modern Architectural typology.