Excerpt: House of Voids by Malik Architecture re-evaluates the typology of the building form to re-establish the urban condition in Delhi’s neighborhoods. The residence integrates a deep garden extending from the basement through a series of various courts and fissures. A central courtyard, with labyrinthine voids, functions as a light catcher and thermal balancer, while green spaces, deep fissures, and skylights enhance the design.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Delhi’s existing neighborhoods have traditionally been defined by 2 storey houses set back from the tree lined road and buffered from it by a front garden. This relationship has been altered by the new planning regulations that permit taller structures, consuming greater area and with reduced setbacks. The resulting urban condition creates the sensation of buildings imposing themselves on the street and within the homes, the absence of green cover /courtyards, and light is palpable. The ground plane, formerly garden and patio / living spaces, has been given over to parking, eliminating any meaningful connection to the street outside.
This proposal re-evaluates the typology of the building form as prescribed by the current guidelines and adapts it to re-establish the sensation of the pre-existing urban condition. The lower sections of the house are excised to allow the continuation of the street through the house creating a deep garden that propagates downwards into the basement office and upwards through a series of fragmented court and fissures. The central courtyard is a network of labyrinthine voids running laterally and vertically through the house working as a light catcher and thermal balancer and expressed as a combination of green spaces, deep fissures and skylights. A gigantic structural pylon is the load bearing pivot for the cantilevered superstructure, creating shaded ground and resonating the language of Delhi’s monumental institutions.
As a concept the architects have adapted the western face of the house to bring in controlled light through punctures, screens and northern skylights without opening up any views to the west, as there is another house only 20 ft away. This arrangement brings the maximum amount of light from the north and north western parts of the house, which is where the site has the maximum openness.
The main living spaces open onto terraces with large overhanging volumes and operable second skins. The fixed and operable screening systems are adapted versions of the traditional ‘jaali’ – typical architectural device in north India. South light is brought into the house through a vertical, deep recessed fissure that splits the volumes in the south.
By elongating and narrowing the main circulation core the architects created a large, continuous open volume (32ft X 80ft) within which they can locate most of the living areas. It allowed them to puncture the house with a vertical court without having to compromise on usable footprints and allowed the house to be visually unified.
The ground level courtyard is shaded from the south/west, receives ample light from the north which extends downward into the basement and upwards through the main central court (also acts as a climate device, adaptable in summer/winter). By raising the major volume to a height of 18 ft from the ground level a large garden can be opened in the north. A large cut-out brings light into the basement and this space connects with the vertical void running through the house.
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