The House Cast in Liquid Stone / SPASM Design Architects

The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 2 of 36The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Interior PhotographyThe House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 4 of 36The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Exterior Photography, Stairs, HandrailThe House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - More Images+ 31

Khopoli, India
  • Design Team: Sangeeta Merchant, Mansoor Kudalkar, Gauri Satam, Lekha Gupta, Sanjeev Panjabi
  • City: Khopoli
  • Country: India
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The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Interior Photography
© Sebastian Zachariah

Text description provided by the architects. A second home on a rocky outcrop at the start of the western ghats (highlands),Khopoli, in Maharashtra, India. An area of high precipitation in the monsoons, and equal heat during the summers, the site changes remarkably from March to July, with the onset of the south westerly monsoons. Basalt the local black rock of the region is what this site was about.

The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 2 of 36
© Sebastian Zachariah

We chose to build the house as an accretion on this rocky basalt outcrop with the same inherent material transformed. An outgrowth which was made of a mix of water, sand, cement and the granular basalt. Concrete finely honed to serve as refuge, to face the climatic changes that the site offered. The house was conceived as a cast for human occupation, a refuge which trapped the views, the sun, the rain, the air, and became one with the cliff edge it stood on. Akin to the growth of a coral, the substance of the walls and roof dictate the experience of inhabiting the site.

The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 4 of 36
© Sebastian Zachariah
The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 32 of 36
Ground Floor Plan
The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 7 of 36
© Sebastian Zachariah

Stone has been used in many forms, based on use, wear, grip, texture. The dark saturated black matt-ness conjures a cool sense of refuge and calm. Photographs cannot express the sense of weight when one approaches, or the sense of release at the edge of the pool at the far end of the open terrace, the feeling of burrowing deeper enroute, past the stacked stones, to the lower bedroom.

The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 23 of 36
© Sebastian Zachariah
The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 35 of 36
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The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 36 of 36
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The house, a cast, an object for living, whatever you may call it, has transformed into a belvedere to minutely observe and sense the spectacle of nature, of shade as a retreat against the sharp tropical sun, the resurgence of life, a sudden BURST of green, when the hard pounding monsoon arrives, the waft of breezes filling the air with the fragrance of moist earth, the movement of stars across the very dark night skies. To heighten the drama of the the site through what we build, without building a dramatic building!! A peculiar one YES.....

The House Cast in Liquid Stone  / SPASM Design Architects - Image 24 of 36
© Sebastian Zachariah

Originally published on 26 August, 2013

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Cite: "The House Cast in Liquid Stone / SPASM Design Architects" 08 Sep 2019. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/419578/the-house-cast-in-liquid-stone-spasm-design-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

© Sebastian Zachariah

流动石头建成的房子 / SPASM Design Architects

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