GAUTAM BHATIA AND HIS WORKS

GAUTAM BHATIA, BORN IN THE YEAR 1952 IS A DELHI-BASED ARCHITECT.

HE GRADUATED IN FINE ARTS IN 1973 AND WENT ON TO DO POST-GRADUATION WORK IN ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. HE IS A MODERNIST WHO HAS CONDUCTED RESEARCH IN INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE, ESPECIALLY LOW-COST HOUSING AT MIT AND HARVARD. HE HAS REMAINED A LONE PROTAGONIST.

HE WAS INSPIRED BY THE WORKS OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, MIES VAN DER ROHE, LE CORBUSIER, LOUIS KAHN, AND LAURIE BAKER.

IMAGE:1SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/india-on-a-miniature-scale/article365159.ece

HE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARCHITECTURE AUTHORS OF INDIA WHO HAS WRITTEN SEVERAL BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON ARCHITECTURE LIKE PUNJABI BAROQUE, COMIC CENTURY: AN UNRELIABLE HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY, LAURIE BAKER, LIFE, WORK, WRITINGS, SILENT SPACES AND OTHER STORIES OF ARCHITECTURE, ETC.

ACCORDING TO HIM, REAL ARCHITECTURE TO HIM COULD ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY SELF-RELIANCE AND BY ENCOURAGING LOCAL CRAFTSMANSHIP.

HE BELIEVED THAT THE BUILDING EXISTS FIRST AS A FOETUS IN AN ARCHITECT’S PREGNANT MIND, ASSUMES CLARITY OF FORM AFTER DUE NOURISHMENT, AND BEGINS TO EMERGE ON THE DRAWING BOARD AND THE SITE AS A RESULT OF THE INFLUENCES THAT HAVE AFFECTED IT.

THE BROTHERS DLFTHE IDEA OF THE HOUSE AS A VILLAGE AND THE VILLAGE AS A HOME AND NO WALLS.THE HOUSE IS A MONTAGE, A PASTICHE MEANING A REAL MESS.PLAN MADE A DIRECT REFERENCE TO GREAT AMERICAN HOMES.PILLARED PORCHES FROM AN AMERICAN HOMES, WINDOW MOULDINGS FROM AN ITALIAN CHURCH , MANSARD ROOFS FROM A FRENCH CHATEAU.

ACCORDING TO HIM PUNJABI’S ARE THE ROOTLESS PEOPLE SO THEIR ARCHITECTURE IS PERHAPS INFLUENCED BY THIS ROOTLESSNESS WHICH IS A HYBRID OF MANY INFLUENCES AND CONTRADICTIONS PUT TOGETHER IN A CURIOUS VARIETY OF SHAPES.

IMAGE:2SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

MONTICELLO COMPLETE WITH FRONT PORTIOS AND ENTABLATURE, THE BRICKWORK FAÇADE, THE CLASSICAL MOULDINGS OF THE FRAMES, THE HEAVY MULLIONS OF THE WINDOWS EVEN THE FIREPLACE IN THE BEDROOM.A FINE MARBLE REPLICA OF AN ARCHAIC NEO-AMERICAN SEMI-PALLADIAN GRAECO-ROMAN ENTABLATURE, SUPPORTED ON A RUSTICATED COLONNADE OF DORIC BASES AND CORINTHIAN CAPITALS WITH WINDOW JAMBS AND MULLIONS OF AN UNKNOWN AND UNTRACEBLE ANCESTRY.

IMAGE:3SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

IMAGE:4SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

INDIRA GANDHI CHILDRENS RETREAT

THE PURPOSE OF THE RETREAT WAS TO ACTIVATE IN CHILDREN THE VALUES OF NATURE BY LIVING TOGETHER, THROUGH INFORMAL LEARNING AND RECREATION - AN EXPERIENCE OF OUTDOOR LIFE. THE PLACE WAS THEREFORE SEEN FIRST AS A NATURAL SANCTUARY, A SET STRUCTURED BY THE ELEMENTS OF THE LANDSCAPE, AND ONLY SECONDARILY BY ITS ARCHITECTURE. AN INTERESTING USE OF LOCAL STONE AND BRICK BLENDED WITH THE EXISTING LANDSCAPE.

IMAGE:5SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake

FUNCTIONS INCORPORATED IN PLAN

A RECEPTION AREA, AN OFFICE, A DINING HALL WITH ALCOVES FOR READING, PLAY AND MUSIC. THE INFORMATION AND DISPLAY AREAS ARE PLACES OF FORMAL COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY. FIVE CLUSTERS OF BRICK BUILDINGS ALONG THE SLOPES, COMPRISE THE CHILDREN'S DORMITORIES, CONNECTED ACROSS THE HILLOCKS BY WALKWAYS AND OVERLOOKING THE LAKE. EACH CAN ACCOMMODATE 25 TO 30 CHILDREN.

IMAGE:6SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake

IMAGE:7SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake

ARVIND DAS HOUSE IN DELHI

IMAGE:8SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

THE BUILDING SITS IN A WIDE ROCKY EXPANSE OF A RWAL ESTATE SUBDIVISION.

DESIGN CHOSE FOR THE BUILDING IS OPPOSITE TO THE VIEW OF THAT OF A MOUNTAIN HOUSE. THE ARCHITECTURE IS TURNED INWARDSDUE TO UNDEVELOPED LAND SURROUNDING.

THE COURTYARD OPEN TO SKY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS HOUSE, WHICH WAS THE MAIN RECURRING THEME IN THE TRADITIONAL HOUSE.THE COURTYARD WAS USED FOR THE ISLOATING QUALITY TO WITHDRAW FROM THE EXPECTED SCAR OF THE SURROUNDINGS.THE COURT ACTS AS A COCOON, A PROTECTING SHELL , REMOVED FROM THE GLARE, THE POTENTIAL NOISE OF ANY FUTURE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.

PLAN FOLLOWS A LINEAR PROCESSION WHERE MOVEMENT FLOWS FROM OUTSIDE TO THE INSIDE. THE MOVEMENT AND PLANNING FLOWS LIKE A FLUID THAT REACHES AND CREEPS INTO ALL THE CREVICES OF A SURFACE.

HIGH VOLUMES OF THE LIVING ROOM ENCOURAGE THE SOCIABILITY REQUIRED AND THE ANGULAR ALIGNMENT OF A STUDY CREATE THE ISOLATION NECESSARY FOR SOLITARY WORK. THE DEEP VERANDAH GAINS ITS IMPORTANCE BY DETACHMENT, BY ITS IDENTITY AS INDEPENDENT ROOM.