OPEN AND SHUT CASE

When looking at the architecture of Matharoo one can guess—almost feel—the heat of the place. And a variety of strategies has been developed to deal with it. The two ends of the spectrum are the mass and the veils. The House with Balls is an attempt to create a cool environment by having a thermal mass to separate the dark interior from the bright, warm exterior spaces. It uses ingenious mechanisms to regulate the exchange between inside and outside and water in the immediate surrounding to freshen the rooms. These operations may be explained by an environmental concern but are designed in such a way that they introduce a much broader notion of quality of life and architectural identity. This is also the case for the Net House: a series of light layers that enclose a sequence of intermediate spaces below the shade provided by slabs. Here the air flow (and protection from mosquitoes) may be the starting design decision but it actually ends up being the defining characteristic of the house, which ultimately ethereally dissolves into the landscape. What is more impressive, though, is the capacity to develop and deliver such architecture at an extremely low cost. And the beauty of Matharoo’s approach is that this low cost is achieved by using ingenious local labor. The economical cost of the construction is achieved by improving the economic conditions of the workers.