Tribute to Louis Kahn: Brick-fronted Safdarjang Residence by AKDA
Interiors

Tribute to Louis Kahn: Brick-fronted Safdarjang Residence by AKDA

The Safdarjang Residence was created for a location on a serene residential street in India's capital city by the company led by architect Amit Khanna. The structure consists of four flats that are raised over a parking level that also houses utility areas and the staff quarters. A perforated screen composed of brick tiles stretches the whole height of the upper three floors on the street elevation. The full-width balconies are framed by a huge circle carved into the square screen.

The dramatic style was inspired by American architect Louis Kahn's work in India and Bangladesh in the early 1960s. Kahn's design featured a lot of massive volumes that showed their construction. He likes textured brick and bare concrete, which he utilised in inventive ways to create lyrical and expressive structures.

Earlier this year, one of Kahn's most important projects in India was threatened with destruction. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad's 18 dormitory buildings have brick façade pierced by apertures in the shapes of arches, circles, and squares. AKDA sought to recreate this combination of monolithic shapes and geometric voids performed with precision utilising strong materials in the design of the New Delhi home.


"The choice of brick at the Safdarjang Residence may be interpreted as a response to the location or a commentary on materiality," Khanna remarked of the building's exterior. "What it actually represents, though, is an ongoing debate in India's contemporary architecture history. The façade is an ode to architecture as envisaged by a particularly exceptional architect (Kahn)."

A steel structure that creates a huge tension ring supports the ornamental facade feature. Around the circular aperture, brick tiles are placed in a jaali design. The apartment building sits on a nine-metre-wide plot of land that is boxed in on all sides by its neighbours.

The architects concentrated all of the functions in a core on one side of the building, leaving the living spaces open to allow light to flood in via wide openings on both ends. An open-air patio is included into the floor layout on the top floor. Around the central stairway, each apartment has two en-suite bedrooms and a kitchen, with a living, dining space, and a study or puja prayer room in the open area.

The choice of strong and honest materials in the interiors continues the homage to Kahn. Board-formed concrete ceilings and locally sourced Kota stone floor slabs compliment the exposed brick walls. The mustard-yellow Jaisalmer stone in the top-floor apartment's patio and bathrooms adds a burst of colour, while blue, handmade tiles form a backsplash above the kitchen's stainless steel counter.

Each unit has a front and back balcony. A stairway with cantilevered stone steps leads to a roof patio on the top floor. In another part of India, Diana Kellogg Architects designed an oval-shaped school in the Thar Desert that was inspired by feminine symbolism. Saket Sethi, an Indian architect, constructed an egg-shaped garden temple that was meant to resemble a galaxy.

The Safdarjang Residence was created for a location on a serene residential street in India's capital city by the company led by architect Amit Khanna. The structure consists of four flats that are raised over a parking level that also houses utility areas and the staff quarters. A perforated screen composed of brick tiles stretches the whole height of the upper three floors on the street elevation. The full-width balconies are framed by a huge circle carved into the square screen. The dramatic style was inspired by American architect Louis Kahn's work in India and Bangladesh in the early 1960s. Kahn's design featured a lot of massive volumes that showed their construction. He likes textured brick and bare concrete, which he utilised in inventive ways to create lyrical and expressive structures. Earlier this year, one of Kahn's most important projects in India was threatened with destruction. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad's 18 dormitory buildings have brick façade pierced by apertures in the shapes of arches, circles, and squares. AKDA sought to recreate this combination of monolithic shapes and geometric voids performed with precision utilising strong materials in the design of the New Delhi home.The choice of brick at the Safdarjang Residence may be interpreted as a response to the location or a commentary on materiality, Khanna remarked of the building's exterior. What it actually represents, though, is an ongoing debate in India's contemporary architecture history. The façade is an ode to architecture as envisaged by a particularly exceptional architect (Kahn). A steel structure that creates a huge tension ring supports the ornamental facade feature. Around the circular aperture, brick tiles are placed in a jaali design. The apartment building sits on a nine-metre-wide plot of land that is boxed in on all sides by its neighbours. The architects concentrated all of the functions in a core on one side of the building, leaving the living spaces open to allow light to flood in via wide openings on both ends. An open-air patio is included into the floor layout on the top floor. Around the central stairway, each apartment has two en-suite bedrooms and a kitchen, with a living, dining space, and a study or puja prayer room in the open area. The choice of strong and honest materials in the interiors continues the homage to Kahn. Board-formed concrete ceilings and locally sourced Kota stone floor slabs compliment the exposed brick walls. The mustard-yellow Jaisalmer stone in the top-floor apartment's patio and bathrooms adds a burst of colour, while blue, handmade tiles form a backsplash above the kitchen's stainless steel counter. Each unit has a front and back balcony. A stairway with cantilevered stone steps leads to a roof patio on the top floor. In another part of India, Diana Kellogg Architects designed an oval-shaped school in the Thar Desert that was inspired by feminine symbolism. Saket Sethi, an Indian architect, constructed an egg-shaped garden temple that was meant to resemble a galaxy.

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