Wide Angle Lens

The spatial effect of the architecture of a rectangular box-like concrete structure sets the character of a house located on the outskirts of Nashik. The vivid compositional and constructional elements create a distinct silhouette against the horizon; the tight vertical dimension amplifies the horizontal expanses of the landscape of the house as much as the landscape outside the house

- Suprio Bhattacharjee

The house in the landscape is a powerful and oft-seen image in the annals of architecture. Whether it is Palladio’s villas and everything that came in its wake or the humble mountain cottage that sits isolated and insulated from its surroundings, the notion of a dwelling that signifies habitation within an otherwise untamed (or tamed – the most likely condition) is a visceral primordial intention when it comes to ‘dwell’. The jostling and claustrophobic nature of cities find their release here, where the mind (and the body) is free to move uninhibited by the forced trajectories and geometries that the city imposes. The most iconic houses of the 20th century are not set in the hustle and bustle of the city – and thus one finds the appropriate setting to build an almost idealised condition of living within an (oft-presumed) idyllic setting. The advent of independent motorised travel meant that it was possible to stay at a relative distance from the city within wide open surrounds and yet be connected to it. Thus one had the mid-century CaseStudy Houses of California and the pavilionlike houses in South America, with Oscar Niemeyer’s Canoas being a standout example owing to its emphatic modulated connection to the condition of the ground.