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Mahabaleshwar, India

House on a Cliff

This house is strung along the edge of a ravine in the Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar, a hill-station south of Mumbai, enabling each room to form a separate unit with a spectacular view of the valley. The load bearing laterite stone wall connects these units. The screen wall punctuated with smaller openings works as a device, which, based on the ‘Venturi effect’, draws breezes through the house in the summer months. While the entrance façade is screen-like, the opposite façade of the house opens up to embrace the views of the valley. The verandah space is defined by circular columns and light, delicate steel brackets supporting the roof. The screen wall and open verandah result in two different vocabularies, creating two distinct façades and an ensuing visual tension.

Completion Date: 1994

TYPOLOGY