Interview with the first prize winners of Micro Housing 2019 Architecture Competition Abhinav Prasoon, Siddarth Mahadevan and Reena Gaikwad

01-How would you introduce yourself / Team /Firm? (50-100 words)

We are a multi-disciplinary, creative practice trying to bring positive change in our built environment and cultural surroundings with innovative designs. We work within the fields of master planning, architecture, interior design, landscape design, product design and even research and development, constantly broadening our horizons. We also work toward developing the brand and identity of our architectural projects.

Architecture, we believe, is the breath of built form itself: a void to be filled with life and activity. It is the light and shadows, the breeze upon the skin and the smell of flowers. Our design philosophy consciously tries to go beyond engaging with space as merely a visual entity, to include the five senses in the way that we imagine it. Through the use of texture, material, nature, and energy, we create spaces that speak to the soul, and generate sensuous, more holistic response within the people who inhabit them.

We believe that architecture is created not only by an individual or a team, but also by a careful layering of context, culture and nature. It is a result of, and has an impact on interactions that happen within it. As the people who shape this powerful force called architecture, it has been our unrelenting attempt to do so with great responsibility and great joy.

02-Give us brief information about your previous projects/ works/ research/achievements?

We specialize in museum/experience centre designs and the hospitality sector. From mythology to futuristic designs, from eco-friendly materials to cutting edge technology, we aim to cover broader and broader spectrum of architecture every day.

‘Indian mythological center’ is a technologically advanced resource and experience centre talking about ancient Indian mythology. Here, virtual reality takes us back in time and holographic projections helps us talk with great personalities of the time. ‘BB Knowlege Hub’ is another resource centre we designed keeping materials and micro-climate in mind. The architecture is a derivation of poetry.

‘Harvest’ is a 50 acre farmland project where we stepped aside from conventional functions of a resort and programmed an exclusive visit and stay of an individual - right from farming to cooking with the localites. Retaining the existing trees, putting naturally laid rocks and water catchment areas to our benefit, we gave our architecture a unique identity. ‘Secret Resorts’ is another hospitality project where master planning, architecture and architectural branding went hand-in-hand. Secret is a cost effective and environmentally sensitive project laid with CSEB brick and thatch. ‘Floating Leaves’ is our architectural evidence of amalgamation of eco-materials and parametric designs. As the name suggests, the roofs here appear to be floating and resemble the leaves. ‘Drift of Perception’ is a research paper based on multisensory architecture published in 2011.

03-What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture vision competitions?

Architecture vision competitions gives us a push and challenges us to think something unique not only as built form but rather as an idea, where we can overrun the client requirements or the never-ending college-submission list, and satisfy the design appetite that we tend to suppress in the world we know. For us architecture competitions are like going on a vacation from academics or professional field works. It is quite compelling to research on various architectural subjects. Challenging the same brief is itself a truly learning process. At the same time, it helps us estimate the global standards in terms of visualization, innovation and technological advancements. Moreover, it motivates us to innovate and implement those ideas in legitimate projects.

04-What were the challenges you faced while designing for such architectural space?

The World is shrinking day by day. As we go higher and higher, we are disconnecting with nature and living in isolation. The challenge while designing architectural spaces is how do we get the outside in. Every sq.ft. of the area needs to be thought of. Smaller spaces need bigger ideas. How do we design for the modern world while keeping sustainability in mind.

05-What was your thought process while designing for Micro Housing Architecture Competition?

While chilling on the sofa and sipping tea, checking the pre-Diwali sales on smartphones, we thought how convenient it would be to buy a house on fingertips too - that gave birth to the concept of ‘Add To Cart’.We came up with a modern solution for micro-housing that allows a house to grow within a given space. The module is designed in a way that it can be multiplied and deducted as per the different stages of a man’s life and his lifestyle choices. Making a 350 sq.ft. area liveable and lovable both would be a challenge for any designer. To provide thoughtful spaces within a restricted area was challenging and exciting at the same time. To wisely choose the site on densely encroached land of Mumbai was another challenge for us.

Although the design is such that the idea can be implemented anywhere in the city - on barren land, between or above existing/defunct buildings, we wanted to support and promote social housing and give light to the ever residing traditional Koli communities of Mumbai. The upcoming coastal roads in mumbai are going to affect these communities the first and force them to leave their land. The brief talks about migration, and we took a different take on it, by proposing housing for one of the Koli communities.

We wanted to propose a design for a structural system that no more kills the priceless land of Mumbai and makes traditional communities viable and thrive through micro-housing.

06- What attracted you to this competition?

We believe Micro Housing is going to be the near future of cities like Mumbai. Hence exploring the possibilities in design and innovation in housing is the need for the hour. This helped us in doing much needed research and experiment in design on this topic.

07-Where does your interest in design come from?

Day-to-day life objects and routine, the most common and overlooked things ignite interest in the designer within us. Sometimes they tell us to breakthrough and design in the most unconventional way, sometimes they teach us simplicity. Moreover, they remind us how important the functionality is and that should not be boring visually :)

08- What design fundamentals do you believe in?

We believe in experiential design, that goes from designing a door knob to evolve a master plan. When a human body passes through the architectural realm, what it touches, smells, hears and feels is equally important to what it visually sees. In any given space, architecture affects our path in various ways, hence it is important as architects to design spaces that uplifts the positive energy in that given space through creating a multi-sensory experience.