Memories of the machhardani

AHMEDABAD: The Amdavadi weather exemplifies a tropical climate of extremes - short winters, wet and humid monsoons and long dry scorching summers. To beat this heat, there was a time when we slept in the aangans or chhat, tucking ourselves under a 'machhardani'. It was a private haven - away from everything, right from insects to controlling elders.
When a city-based doctor's family approached the Matharoo architects for a weekend retreat on the fringes of the city, 'seeking a place open to the wilderness, yet offering all comforts', they wanted to bring back memories of the machhardani. This challenging brief translated into an innovative design.
Set amid a series of interweaving mounds against the backdrop of trees, the two-storey house is a 12mx12m column-less space made of an elaborate steel framework. Suspended within this, is the 90-ton concrete slab of the first floor. The framework also acts as mullions to hold the mosquito nets!
With the delicate layers of sliding mosquito nets, roll up blinds and folding glass panels, the house can shift from being completely enclosed to completely open. "The layers provide desired degrees of privacy, shelter and exposure, enabling the space to be modulated at will, to suit the weather and mood," says Gurjit Matharoo, the principal architect.
'Net' also means something that is subject to no further deductions - minimum and comprehensive. With humour and wit, this metaphor manifests in the open plan of the house which centres around an all-encompassing cabinet.
The two-metre high cabinet works as a divider between the living space and the bathing areas. It unfurls to become a dining table with chairs inside and also opens out into a kitchen replete with microwave, refrigerator, cooking appliances and cutlery. The air conditioning unit, music system, television and storage for clothes - is all contained within this custom designed and locally made cabinet. Further, the top also becomes a lamp illuminating the concrete slab at night, the reflecting light thus attracting no insects.
On the other side, the shielded bathing area, which has plumbing and storage inside the very cabinet, opens out into a secluded lily pond, netted again! The upper floor accommodates a netted space for yoga, sunbathing, a walkway on the periphery and a gazebo to look out onto the landscape.
"Net House is the sum total of all the essential components of living, yet bare and compact," says Matharoo who enjoys exploring traditional values in modern vocabulary. "It attempts to act as a catalyst, not getting consumed but enhancing the man-nature relationship."Completed in 2010, the house was chosen as one of seven trend-breaking architecture buildings from around the world by ETH Zurich, Switzerland earlier this year. "Recently, an Italian magazine featured the house as the Mosquito House, the 'net' was perhaps lost in translation," jokes Matharoo.