A SELF PORTRAIT IN EARTH AND GLASS

Studio Lotus composes a confluence of nature, design and engineering for The Earth and Glass House in New Delhi

- TANYA KHANNA

As one approaches, a soaring timber-clad volume looms into view. The autumnal light shimmers off the glass between the honey-coloured brise-soleil. At eye level, two earthen walls underpin the space, yet seem part of the landscape. Beyond, the monsoon-drenched garden is visible through the glass pavilions.

We are in a country garden.

Geoffrey Bawa, the venerated Sri Lankan architect, brought the idea of the weekend estate to the tropics in a flourish of mid-century modernism that was rooted in local culture. His garden estate in Lunuganga became the de rigueur template for a generation of architects working for an increasingly affluent elite in South East Asia. In Delhi, a vast proliferation of ‘farmhouses’ on the south form a porous edge to the city before dissolving into the urbanising hinterland. As the city has expanded, some of the more fortuitously located areas have become accessible enough to act as a primary home.