Moss House | Girish Dariyav Karnawat, Architect

Excerpt: Moss House by Girish Dariyav Karnawat Architect, is a residence in Morjim, Goa, that sits on an east-facing lush green site and slopes down by six meters to the beach. The residence is a four-armed pinwheel by design which accommodates air movement and represents the directions or the four elements of nature or the movement of the heavenly bodies.

Project Description

[Text as submitted by architect] The site of about two acres is linear in nature abutting the sea, located along  Morjim beach in the north of Goa. The house is set in the deep end of the property towards the east and slopes down by almost 6 meters towards the beach.

The program included architecture, interiors, landscaping, and an outhouse design.

The design was conceived as a four-armed pinwheel representing the dynamic circular motion that abstractly refers to the movement of the heavenly bodies, four elements of nature namely fire earth water, and air, and cardinal directions viz east west north, and south. Even though it appears anchored to the land, the larger context is constantly changing. By default, the four-armed pinwheel configuration gives rise to four quadrants that end up becoming various spaces with the axis of the pinwheel housing the services. The corners are set free of the walls.

Even as the entire design appears to be symmetrical, the spaces and the proportions of the openings have been tweaked to address the respective surroundings that they open out to. The west facade flows into a deep landscape that emerges with the sea. The northern end faces the entrance and the eastern edge has an enclosed courtyard.

The choice of using mildly green tinted form finish concrete and aluminum was primarily made from a fundamental concern of maintenance, durability, and ease of construction on site abiding by a restricted time schedule. The flooring is that of Kota stone. The external doors are made of double aluminum sliding shutters consisting of an external layer of glass and the second layer of perforated wooden panels.