“Homes Around Trees” Collective Residence

In a country like India with 1.438 billion inhabitants, designing places for people to live in is a matter of political, social, and economic importance but also a question of the nation’s identity. Ever-increasing housing requirements and the scarcity of available land, combined with the country’s predominantly market-driven development, risk transforming residential construction into the production of a mere commodity with no thought for what a home should represent: roots, community, and a sense of belonging.

For Biju Kuriakose and the architects at the Chennai-based firm architectureRED, context – in its broadest sense – is what guides and defines any new project. Over and above the specific site data, the baseline they invariably start from is extraordinary urban density and homogenization along with the constant risk of encroaching on open space.

Against this backdrop, the collective residence Homes Around Trees in Bengaluru is a way of giving shape to a concept of the city and community as places where buildings once again become spaces for people to live in together. Taking their cue from Charles Correa, the architects have developed a project that, while embracing the limits imposed by attendant circumstances, seeks to express the full potential of a residential construction that makes possible a profound relationship between architecture and nature.

Located fairly near the center of the city, the site had several huge, extraordinarily beautiful trees that many saw as an impediment to speculative residential development. However, both the developer and designers were determined not only to preserve the trees on site but to model their project around them, developing living spaces influenced by nature. They therefore pursued a path of negotiation aimed at achieving the best economic result with architecture that resonates with the natural environment.

Not just an alternative to the traditional...

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