Located in Desur, Belgaum, the site is surrounded by areca-nut trees and sugarcane fields, providing a serene setting for a weekend home designed for a joint family. The house integrates seamlessly with its natural surroundings, preserving the existing flora and fauna—no trees were cut during construction. The design balances built and unbuilt spaces, creating a living experience deeply connected with the farm’s landscape. The open floor plan, multiple courtyards, clear ventilators, and battened screens continuously frame the surrounding farmland from every indoor space. As one approaches the house, a series of walls at varying heights create a sense of movement in the architecture, making the walls appear to dance as one moves around the building. These vertical walls not only connect different spaces but also metaphorically link the earth and sky through their verticality. The overall floor plan is choreographed for free movement. Although the design features pure geometric forms, it achieves non-linear movement for the user. A series of rectangular floor plates serve as the dining pavilion, living lounge, and pool deck, positioned on either side of an existing mango tree under a single roof. A bar counter and swing extend from the central beam beneath the mango tree, which supports the roof while also dividing the dining and living spaces. This entire arrangement is mirrored in the adjacent black pool A series of rectangle parallel walls are juxtaposed to form small courtyards that act as thresholds between the living and bedroom areas. The bedroom spaces have more defined corners in contrast to the less contained planning concept of the living spaces, giving qualities of privacy and security. The sudden change of spatial quality between the bedrooms and courtyards is arbitrated by a screened passage way. This narrow corridor knits the indoor spaces, adding a character of translucentness to the bedrooms. The occupants are transferred into a more restful region of the built form which holds the bed, bath and toilet areas. Yet, this shift retains the connections with the outdoors as one can directly step out into the nature from every built space of the house. Lastly, the kitchen stands independent over a raised plinth with its flat filler slab, placed in isolation it has a more community character than a pure domestic purpose. The kitchen has a direct dialogue with the courtyard in the front and a kitchen garden on the rear. The indoor dining platform extends outdoors into the courtyard floating out as a continuous large dining table. The variations in roof heights are a direct result of the functions the rooms hold. The trusses that run across are sandwiched between the independent walls. The rafters and refurbished corrugated sheets support handmade country roof tiles, basic roof fabric to most vernacular homes of Belgaum region. This house draws inspiration from vernacular courtyard sharing, low rise homes of the immediate villages. The design aims to recall this through colours, textures, materials and spatial qualities. The wire cut bricks give it a vernacular home like feel. The un-plastered concrete filler slab breaks the contrast of the smooth oxide flooring. The natural kadappa flooring connects the occupant to the earth. The black and yellow oxide treatments are simply done to minimize the textural qualities of the space. The black basalt swimming pool is influenced by the basalt wells and Ghats, vernacular architecture of the Deccan plateau. The fenestrations minimized to the south and west cut the harsh summer sun and cross monsoon rains. Towards the north and east the openings are designed to maximise the entry of north light through the courtyards. The pivoted wooden screens of the living lounge can be adjusted to different degrees of seclusion considering the season, time and purpose of activity. The teak lattice fenestrations throughout the design enable to achieve a smooth relation between the interior spaces and the outdoor landscape, enabling a farm like experience all over the design.
