Excerpt: Flintstone 6 by Mitti is a residence in Kodiga Timmanapalli, Tamil Nadu. The house serves the larger purpose of simply camouflaging with its arid surroundings and coexisting trees; with a neutral material palette leaving almost no footprint. The house has parallel debris walls on the northern and southern sides that mimic the characteristics of the rocky Mountains in the Cauvery basin region.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] With the pandemic and consistent lockdowns causing shifts in our routines and with the growing uncertainty about the future, especially in urban life, compelled Mr. Abhishek Ubale and Mrs. Sunaina from Bangalore to buy a farm in Sanctity Ferme, a farming community in the outskirts of the city. The community, which was practicing organic farming techniques and promoting its vision of consistent contact with the natural surroundings, was already planning for sustainable model houses for the residents. This became the perfect opportunity to explore the possibility of building sensibly in untouched landscapes.
The idea was to camouflage the building into its surroundings, so as to not stand out as an eyesore in the scenic landscape. Also, the COVID situation posed a limitation on the availability of raw materials, compelling us to focus on incorporating the available soil and waste into the building with a technique called the Debris Wall Construction.
Flintstone6 is designed as a modern building with a sustainable flair, hidden amidst a Mango grove amongst the arid landscape. The 2 bed cottage has a multi-functional hall with an open kitchen. The house has parallel walls on the northern and southern sides that mimic the characteristics of Rocky Mountains in the Cauvery basin region. Trees cohabit with the building, making it an extension of nature.
The composite Casuarina-glazed roof acts as a sundial and the composite Casuarina-ferrocement roof doubles up as a party terrace. The Stair-room was inverted to avoid building an upper storey which would have been an obstruction in the neighbors’ view of the farm.
The Interiors were planned very minimally and subtly toned down to not take away the emphasis of the Debris Walls using a neutral material palette. The rock bed in the master bedroom is a reclaimed quarry waste piece from a nearby abandoned quarry. Basins have been carved out from granite boulders picked from landfills. Some of the furniture also has been made from reclaimed wood. Thus tying into the theme of the house of reusing, being sustainable and being ‘green’.
The landscape is designed keeping in mind the arid theme, corresponding to the dry climate of the region, composed of indigenous cactus plants, granite quarry waste for the paving and river stones lined to form a koi pond.
Flintstone6 is an abode rooted deep in nature, humbly blending in to do its job – being invisible in the landscape.
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