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A Farmer’s Abode, at Central India, by UnTAG Studio

The design is based on the idea of Build, Live and Earn, thus promoting a sustainable lifestyle for a farmer.

UnTAG Studio

Planning

The house is envisaged as two cuboids, one public, and one private, separated by a small green court in-between, while connected by a stair. The 3M high Living+Kitchen cuboid overlooks this court as the immediate view ensuring privacy when needed. The two shorter sides of the living can drop down to become two cantilevered decks, connecting the inside to the outside, also channelizing the breezes to flow through the house. The second cuboid, 5m high, houses a toilet on the lower level, and a bed space on the upper level.

Strategy Application

A kisaan could place this tiny abode anywhere on his farm, work here, rest here. He could also tow the house to a nearby town, to sell his yield directly to the end user, where the house transforms into his shop. He could also transfigure it into a homestay by inviting city dwellers to stay here, establishing a symbiotic relationship, where the guests learn/live a countryside farm life while the farmer earns by hosting them.

Construct

The house is built as a composite of a locally available wooden framework with easily replaceable bamboo infill panels, resting on a sturdy MS I-frame. The floor and ceiling are made of lightweight fibre-reinforced cement panels (aerocon), walls are internally finished in chipboard. The entire house is envisaged as a Dry Construct, to curb damage during mobility. Modular/foldable seating, beds, tables, and chairs ensure space optimization / functional adaptability.

Sustainable Measures

• Optimized footprint, multi-functional / adaptive spaces
• Efficient Structural Grid spans with conventional construction techniques
• Cross-ventilated spaces, with necessary overhangs
• Well-insulated/ cost-effective borax-treated bamboo infill panels
• Locally available / Lightweight materials with lesser embodied-energy
• Hydrophonic vegetation grown in troughs as a Green Roof
• Additional layer of thermal insulation through Green Roof
• Detachable Solar Panels installed on the roof
• Green court with reed bed for wastewater cleansing
• House rested on 4 pedestals, without disturbing the natural ground

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Rupali Gupte

Rupali Gupte is an architect and urbanist based in Mumbai, Professor at the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA) and a partner at BARDStudio. Her work often crosses disciplinary boundaries and takes different forms – writings, drawings, mixed-media works, story telling, teaching, curation, walks and spatial interventions.

Her works include extensive research on contemporary Indian urbanism with a focus on architecture and built environment; tactical practices; housing; and urban form. In 2013, she co-founded the School of Environment and Architecture (sea.edu.in). SEA is envisaged as an experimental academic space for research and education in architecture and urbanism. She has a wide range of publications, has delivered lectures and been on juries across the world. Her works in collaboration with her partner Prasad Shetty, have been shown in several exhibitions including the 56th Venice Biennale, X Sao Paolo Architecture Biennale, Seoul Biennale of Art and Architecture, at Manifesta 7 in Bolzano, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona and at galleries such as Project 88, Devi Art Foundation and the Mumbai Art Room. She has recently curated an exhibition involving artists and architects titled ‘When is Space? Conversations in Contemporary Architecture’ at the Jawahar Kala Kendra.

Rupali Gupte