S
BAZALT TAŞ, EVİN OTURDUĞU KAYALIK ALANA
OLDUĞU KADAR EVİN MİMARİ DETAYLARINA DA
KARAKTERİNİ VERİYOR.
THE BASALT STONE DEFINES THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE SITE AND
THE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS OF THE HOUSE.
anjeev Panjabi and Sangeeta Merchant, both
graduates of the Academy of Architecture in
Mumbai, founded SPASM design in 1995. The
office defines itself as a “practice” and states
its ethos as “We do not… promote a method
or solution. We do not… theorize. We do not… think
the process is in any way similar in every project.” They
design commercial, residential and mixed-use projects
in India and Tanzania, mainly focusing on luxury villas,
single family homes, and commercial office towers since
2000. Their human centered designs received numerous
awards such as TRENDS Excellence Award for Architecture
and Design (2012); Best Project Award for office interiors
by the IIID Awards (2000); AR Awards 09 (2009); and
were selected as top 7 architectural practices in India
by Forbes India (2011). SPASM’s architectural language
reflects innovative yet simple forms, evoking emotions
by careful and creative use of materials. They state that
every project must reflect a strong, sound ideology and
honesty in its architectural design, in the application of
materials and in the deployment of technologies.
Khopoli House or as it is named by architects “the house
cast in liquid stone” perfectly epitomizes SPASM’s design
approach with its respectful dialogue with nature and
its immediate environment. The house is located on a
rocky outcrop at the start of the western highlands of
Khopoli, in Maharashtra, India. The area is known for its
tropical climate which receives high precipitation in the
monsoons and high heat during the summers. Not only
has the climate of the site but its immediate natural
context change throughout the year due to south-west
monsoons which is accepted as an important input for
defining the architectural character of the house.
Another significant feature of the site is its ‘basalt’
material, the local volcanic black rock of the region.
The architects emphasize the significance of this black
rock and its role in shaping their design approach,
saying: “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.”
Apparently basalt was not only used in its raw format
but also mixed into concrete which was finely honed
to face the climatic changes that the site offered. In
fact, the local stone has been utilized in many different
forms, based on use, wear, grip, texture and color. SPASM
Design implemented various cladding techniques to
evoke different sensual experiences at different natural
or climatic conditions. The architects purposefully play
and experiment with stone and investigate the impact
of natural material on the human soul. They state that
the dark, saturated black matte-ness of the material
conjures a cool sense of refuge and calm in the project.
Concrete with basalt grains was used as the main
construction material of the house that is quite simple
in its details. Basalt stone was also used in several
forms and formats especially for flooring, cladding,
and detailing. The house is composed of two wings
connected by a semi-open living room that could be
KASIM - ARALIK 2013 / NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2013 • NATURA 57