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Designing in an Indian context means acknowledging exceptional levels of urban density and extremely high summer temperatures. For the architects of Avinash Ankalge’s firm, A Threshold, vernacular architecture is the way to meet contemporary living needs in these challenging conditions.
Although targeting different user categories, the residential projects “A Dialogue with the Past” in Akkalkot in Maharashtra, and “Terra Comb” in Bengaluru, Karnataka, both respond to the requirement to fit seamlessly into an extraordinarily compact urban context while at the same time ensuring cross-ventilation to make interior spaces comfortable during the peak temperature season.
Studying the volume in section and turning the façade into a porous interface between interior and exterior are the methodological and stylistic hallmarks of Ankalge’s design.
A Dialogue with the Past originated from the dilemma facing the client, heirs to their family home, of how to have an innovative modern house but at the same time evoke the cherished spaces of their childhood. Referencing local vernacular architecture became the way to respond effectively to the unforgiving climatic conditions and create environments that speak of the family’s story.
The new building replacing the existing volume occupies an urban lot surrounded by other residences typical of the neighborhood: thick common walls between buildings, exposed black basalt stone bases, and brick upper floors. The thick masonry ensures the thermal inertia needed to counter high summer temperatures while the open-to-sky courtyards behind the façades provide continuous natural ventilation through the buildings.
The client wanted the common areas – kitchen and living room – to open directly onto the inner courtyard to recreate the convivial moments of family life as it was once lived. The ground floor therefore has a free-flowing...
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