Most apartments follow a pretty standard layout– an open floor plan with only bedroom doors separating the private and public spaces of a home. This apartment breaks those conventions, by creating a corridor that distinguishes the more formal zones like the entrance and living room from the private zones like the bedrooms, and an informal lounge.
The apartment is punctuated by deliberate pauses and spaces that lend themselves to quiet contemplation and relaxation— a quality most essential for all Gujarati homes. A simple hichko hangs in the living room, adding to the sense of nostalgia that permeates throughout the home. At the end of the corridor that separates the formal and informal areas of the home lies the lounge, a space deliberately designed to be a retreat, where the family can unwind.
In accordance with the client’s request, Corbusian elements continue to make their appearance throughout this Ahmedabad apartment in subtle ways. The asymmetrical coloured squares and rectangles at the centre of each doorknob in the home are references to the windows of Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut. A consistent wooden beam runs across the ceilings of the home, and it serves a dual purpose. Apart from concealing necessary civil interventions like electrical wiring, the beams also act as a reinforcement of the proportionality and order that is characteristic of Modernism.
The material palette of the home truly represents its Amdavadi and Modernist influences with brick-clad walls, exposed RCC ceiling, and polished Kota Stone flooring. In each room, bringing in a sense of light and openness has been prioritised, with glass partitions creating unobtrusive divisions where necessary.
