Natural light, fresh air, and a constant, comfortable temperature. These are three of the most basic components we need in our interior spaces. By expanding and increasing the use of glass in contemporary building facades, we can increase natural light. However, to combine these wall-to-wall glazed surfaces with ventilation and temperature control, high-powered technical solutions are often required.
As the architecture industry shifts its focus towards greater sustainability and energy efficiency, many modern projects in the world’s hottest (and getting hotter) environments are unearthing more traditional ways to control temperature, light, and ventilation by learning from the past to save us from the future.
With one of the highest average temperatures on the planet, India’s need for solar-controlling architecture is huge. With one of the fastest-growing economies as well, however, the country is faced with balancing growth with international commitments to sustainability, all during a time of unprecedented environmental crisis. To achieve both targets, many projects are re-introducing the traditional intricate jali – or jaali – facade, or revitalizing the technique in a simpler form.
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Jali involves drilling or carving through stone panels to provide building facades with intricate and ornate patterns with historical, religious, and cultural significance. While the technique adds an impressive and symbolic aesthetic to an exterior, they are also useful for controlling the harsh daylight inside, often used to create cool, dimly lit sanctuaries and direct attention toward sacred images in temples.
Similar to the practice of mashrabiya common in traditional Islamic architecture, the open gaps control an interior’s airflow through passive ventilation, without leaving it completely open to the sun. By blocking light and encouraging airflow, jali walls are often used to bring additional light and a cooling breeze to internal areas, without reducing privacy.
Although the intricate patterns found in historical Indian jalis required the work of highly skilled stonemasons, the effect is growing in popularity with modern projects too, thanks to its environmental credentials, but in a far simpler form. To use some of the most recent ArchDaily featured projects as examples of the rising popularity of the technique, the Ishtika House is encircled with a brick veil, sheltering its edges from the searing Ahmedabad sun while allowing air to flow through, ‘facilitating convectional cross-ventilation and to keep the home treating,’ explain the architects SPASM Design Architects.
Meanwhile, at the Belaku House in Bangalore, a brick jali screen ‘diffuses light into the bedrooms, but prevents rainwater from entering,’ says 4site architects, and A N Design Studio, architects of The Reading Room in Thiruvanthapuram, also chose to employ a brick jali to ‘diffuse the western sun’s brightness while creating an ambiance that balances natural radiance with discreet seclusion,’ as the architects put it.
For those who choose to include a jali wall or facade in a project, the decision is not only based on the technical advantages such as passive ventilation and solar management, but also on the more creative side. By changing the position, angle, and order of bricks, a simple wall can become a building’s standout feature, without affecting the project’s budget. Using nothing more than ordinary straight-facing bricks, projects like The Reading Room can bring part of the facade to life simply by leaving gaps between them. Alternatively, by changing the bricklaying angle by 90 degrees, the Masjid E Zubaida in Raichur adds depth with a wave pattern of bricks and gaps. Meanwhile, the Banyan Tree House in Thrissur brings flowing movement to a static wall by making slight changes to the angle of each brick.
One way to add more creativity to a jali wall is to use more specialized perforated bricks. The bricks can be harder to produce but are often simpler to lay onsite. For example, the Inara House in Vaikom combines holed bricks with solid ones to feed light into a reading room and the Manjodaya House in Bangalore chooses specialist bricks with more intricate perforations or three-dimensional depth for its facade. But because both sets of bricks share the same dimensions, they can be laid just as quickly. Meanwhile, with a far larger jali wall section required, the New Building for the Parliament of India includes large-scale jali panels made from sandstone, used to shade the building’s first-floor verandahs.
The door remains open – or should that be a wall? – to various possible material choices for jali walls. Any hardwearing and structurally sound natural or man-made stone or brick can be used to apply the right color, texture, and functionality required. As well as the detailed perforations made in sandstone at the New Building for the Parliament of India, other project examples include the Lenka House, which features a 100ft boundary wall of granite crafted by skilled stonemasons without mortar, three-dimensional terracotta tiles at the Aham House in Guruvayur, and glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels that combine detailing with the strength and speed of application at the large-scale decorative facade of the Atal Akshaya Urja Bhavan Office Building in New Delhi.
Finally, it’s not just the partitions between the exterior and interior where jali walls can be effective, but the solution’s ability to improve the mobility of light and air also applies to interior partitions. By positioning jali walls either across a project’s exterior facade or by continuing the theme inside too, architects can punch through the facade to invite calming light, breeze, and natural environments inside.
These contemporary project examples from India detail the various materials, functions, patterns, and applications to use when creating a modern traditional jali wall:
Jali Walls in Different Materials
Brick Jali Wall
Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Granite Jali Wall
Lenka House / Khosla Associates
Sandstone Jali Wall
New Building for the Parliament of India / HCP Design, Planning and Management
Terracotta Tile Jali Wall
Aham House / i2a Architects Studio
Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) Panel Jali Wall
Atal Akshaya Urja Bhavan Office Building / Edifice Consultants Pvt. Ltd
Types of Brick Used in Jali Walls
Solid Brick Jali
House Belaku / 4site architects
Circular Perforated Brick Jali
Inara House / CLAY COOP Architects
Square Perforated Brick Jali
0 to 150 LVL House / i2a Architects Studio
Intricate Geometric Perforated Brick Jali
Manjodaya House / Ecumene Habitat Solutions
Decorative Jali Walls With Standard Facing Bricks
Straight Brick Jali Wall
The Reading Room / A N Design Studio
90-degree Brick Jali Wall
Masjid E Zubaida / Neogenesis+Studi0261
Angled Brick Jali Wall
Banyan Tree House / Tales of Design Studio
Jali Walls With Simple Decorative Bricklaid Patterns
Brick Jali Wall With Repetitive Pattern
Ishtika House / SPASM Design Architects
Brick Jali Wall With Changing Pattern
Marketing Office / RA Design Studio
Brick Jali Wall With Random (no) Pattern
Cool House / Samira Rathod Design Atelier
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