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Anagram Architects
Portrait of two Delhi architects juggling with creativity and limited budgets.
The extravagant façade of the office building where the NGO SAHRDC – South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre- is located gave the duo of architects Valbhav Dimri and Madhav Raman a worldwide reputation The project is however quite modest : built on a 50 sqm plot. With few resources, the architects have conceived the external wall as a dynamic skin which reflects the busy pedestrian street with complex brick motives, whilst preserving some intimacy. Architectural effects generated by a simple brick are also to be found in the Gairola House, a peri-urban multiple apartment house for the rental market. The animated play in volumes and voids is further fleshed out with juxtaposition of materials and textures. The surface cladding patterns correspond to the openings. As a result, a dynamic concept with urban lifestyle fulfilling the need for privacy and individuality.
In the same spirit, the Metabolic House, wrapped with its ceramic tiles, is conceived as a residence of manipulated volumes capable of complex environmental process and meaningful spatial interactions, through its juxtaposed spaces, its light wells, its voids, its cuttings and its buffer spaces. The light system uses an open façade for maximum day-lighting and traditional shading screens, inspired by the Rajasthan traditional architecture. To minimize the building’s environmental footprint, the traditional passive systems are supported by modern active systems: green walls, photovoltaic panels, hybrid cooling systems, double glazing, rain water collection, grey water treatment, etc. The idea of this project is to think of a house where one lives, breathes and produces more than just a dead object.
Working for an environmental friendly architecture and for responsible lifestyles is the guide lines of the two architects and their assistants. They describe themselves as an architecture and consultant practice in spatial design. Anagram Architects was founded in New Delhi exactly ten years ago by Mahdav Raman and Vaibhav Dimr, just after graduating in city planning and architecture. As well as traditional architectural practice, they are also involved in design for films, television and theatre. Enthusiastically they explore these as opportunities to investigate spatial design and endeavour to provide innovative and fresh design solutions by delving into their rich experience in various fields, remaining open to all the new building materials technologies whilst respecting the traditional construction methods. High-end green development, the Vansaa-Eco-resort is intended to preserve the sense of place, the local culture and be environmentally sensitive (large scale plantations of local species). The conception enables a permanent integration in the surrounding landscape. .Big rain catcher umbrellas are key elements on the site.
Among the public projects, it is important to point out the Ring Rail which will rehabilitate the urban transport network of Delhi and create a very busy pedestrian area, the important installation of a Land Customs Station at the border between India and Bangladesh to take care of all customs and immigration formalities for goods and passengers travelling between the two countries. The LCS is to become a portal between two culturally linked populations. Sustainable material, the bamboo, in its multiple forms, is a deeply significant cultural anchor for people on both sides of the border. Inspired by the ubiquitous gateways and fences of the region, the design reinterprets their traditional sophistication in bamboo craft in a modular steel-bamboo construction with the aim of keeping this deeply sustainable material, relevant to modern construction. As a conclusion we want to mention a not yet executed project the Interstice House, an endeavour to bring in a new way of life. The residential spaces are ensconced in a structural exo-skeleton zigzag between the two introverted vegetal façades irrigated by harvested rainwater. Because of its meandering structure, an internal area and a lot of interstitial spaces are created. From the glass boxes that jut out, one can view the inner lawn as well as the vegetal walls of the other residences, thereby contributing to greater visibility and emotional contacts between inhabitants, as opposed to the block systems which “block” the vision and level of interaction between people. The building looks definitely modern: sharp angles, straight lines, geometric motives. However the underlying theme remains traditional. “Today our cities have become enclaves, underline the two Anagram architects. In order to sustain the almost paranoid desire for extreme privacy and private ownership, we have forgotten the community spaces and the shared resources” In all their projects Valbhav Dimri and Madhav Raman want to enrich elemental modernity and intensive research into traditional as well as non-conventional practices evolving culturally relevant, contextually responsive and resource efficient design solutions.
www.anagramarchitects.com
1. Valbhav Dimri & Madhav Raman
2 - 2a. SAHRDC - South Asian Human Rights Documentation Center
3 - 3a. Gairola House
© Asim Waqif
4. Metabolic House
5. Vansaa Eco-resort
6. Ring Rail
7. Land Customs Station
8. Interstice House |
1. Valbhav Dimri & Madhav Raman
2. SAHRDC
2a. SAHRDC
3. Gairola House
3a. Gairola House
4. Metabolic House
5. Vansaa Eco-resort
6. Ring Rail
7. Land Customs Station
8. Interstice House
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