Living in Mumbai, India it is impossible to ignore the informal settlements in the city, and if looked at closely there are many lessons to be learnt in frugality, adaptability, multi-tasking, resourcefulness and ingenuity. A visual language emerges that is of the found object, ad-hoc, eclectic, patched and collaged. An attempt has been made here to apply some of these lessons without romanticizing or fetishizing them. The project looks at the idea of recycling and collage in several ways, from the very physical - like materials, energy, etc. to the intangible - like history, space and memories. The front façade sets the tone for what lies within, with a ?corner of windows? that recycles old windows and doors of demolished houses in the city. This becomes a major backdrop for the living room with a exposed concrete faceted ceiling above countered by the polished white marble with intricate brass inlay on the floor. Metal pipe leftovers pieced together like bamboo form a ?pipe wall? integrating structural columns, rainwater downtake pipes and a sculpture of spouts that in the monsoon are a delight for all the senses.
Courtesy of S+PS Architects

Architects: S+PS Architects

Location: Parsik Hill, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400614, India

Design Team: Pinkish Shah, Shilpa Gore-Shah, Mayank Patel, Gaurav Agarwal, Shrutika Nirgun, Divya Malu, Manali Patel, Ved Panchwagh, Priyadarshi Srivastava

Area: 520.0 s...