Ishtika House / SPASM Design Architects

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Text description provided by the architects.This unique project realizes itself as a negotiation between outward views and introverted planning. The project houses a multigenerational family and staff in a gated compound. The test was to have each living, sleeping, and entertainment space open to the outdoors without privacy loss. The principal big idea was to encircle the otherwise fragmented layout with a clean box-like veil of vertical brick jaali.The center of the home is a three-floor tall courtyard void. This courtyard has a mesh pavilion to release the heat stack, hanging plants, a misting system, and a pergola to shade from the searingAhmedabadsun. As a jaali, the brick veil allows air to flow through, facilitating convectional cross-ventilation and keeping the home breathing.Local stones, salvaged wood, and indigenous plants combine with retractable sliding shutters to operate the house like a living machine, protecting the living spaces from dust, rain, and arid hot winds. This home allows for the diagonal flow of filtered daylight through the year and movement, interwoven between indoor, outdoor, and in-between experiences.Though the lot is rather tight and the home compact, it affords a rather pleasurable life in close connection with nature, making it an endearing success. A sense of domesticity and privacy is achieved much like the erstwhile Jaisalmer havelis.