A moodboard of pastel colors is how you can describe this Jaipur residence. The salmon pink sandstone facade complements the brilliant blue of the Jaipur morning sky. But as the architect Kamal Malik emphasizes, a rather aesthetic is not the only capital of the material.
It is also a sustainable refutation on modern construction techniques and the tribute that you relate to the CO2 footprint of the planet. The “Steinhaus”, although a newcomer built in the landscape built in 2019 – almost seems as if it were always a main support on the Jaipur horizon.
This, says Malik, is thanks to the fact that the stone building is connected to the city's architectural heritage. Rajasthan has long been a center for quarries that produce in various monuments all over the city, including the Hawa Mahal, built in 1799. It's like a little history to visit.
A quick search by Malik's architectural projects is the founder of the 49-year-old Malik architecture in Mumbai, how the native environment is an essential component for each project. The nature born in Shimla and grew up was his best friend who grew up. And today it is still his inspiration for the projects that he carries out.
In the case of the stone house, this is obvious. When you enter, you will feel like you are back in the womb of ecology.
An option to achieve this, be it to go the traditional route: to build concrete walls and to disguise from the outside in stone and plaster. “But our ancestors have been building with stone for years. When they look at the city, they are built palaces, fortresses and houses with this local material. When I suggested building stone, I suggested nothing new or out of the blue. The source comes from the region itself,” says Malik.
When Malik presented the idea of his client, a descendant of Rajasthan's royal family of Dundlod, he bumped into a few known questions. “Will it be too complex? How will we find craftsmen who have previously worked on stone buildings? Will it be too expensive?”
While Malik managed to mitigate the price concerns – “I told him that we would not spend much more than a conventional structure would cost” – the concern about the craftsmen was real. And to solve it, the success of the project is.
License fees and functionality mix in this home of Jaipur
“The house continues to surprise me,” says Vijay Singh, who lives with his family. “If you do something like this, it is very different. These are the type of houses that were previously built hundreds of years ago. In summer it remains cool, especially the basement, which thanks to the garden, the Kamal, does not feel like a basement at all.
When you enter the house, the first thing you will meet is the immediate feeling of width. The loan goes to the arches, the extensive doors and the distance. No cement was used for the project, explains Malik. “We used lime. It is available locally and has been used for centuries before cement has been discovered.”
But as Malik learned from local craftsmen, there is a talent to use Lime as a building material. “It has to be mixed with sweet water. If it is mixed with salt water, it worsens the quality of the lime. Kalk with stone has been used for centuries, taking into account their natural binding affinity.”
And the house packs the energy of these traditional techniques.
The construction is load -bearing, explains Malik. The impermeable, thick walls make this possible. However, the question was how the thickness of the walls maintained and at the same time the amount of the stone used was minimized. “In order to make our walls comparable to the 18-inch walls that are available in other stone structures, we had two plates with six inches, each separated by a six-inch cavity. Services through the Mulde,” explains the architect.
The hollow interlocking structural wall system not only reduced material consumption by 30 percent, but also provided insulation, explains Malik. “A variation of five to seven degrees Celsius can be observed between the outside and interior,” he says. While the weather juggles outside the hard sun and unpredictable cold, the house remains cocooned.
Visit the Jaipur craftsmen
The architecture reflected this in Rajasthan, when the dreamers made space for developers. Pink sandstone was replaced by cement. And so the secret was to find the right craftsmen.
“These craftsmen were once valued and valued. This has a shift. We have decided to break the cycle. We decided to work directly with the craftsmen and pay them directly. At least it is certain that they remain at work if they are respected and a living, or we could lose the loss of this generation aspect of knowledge that was handed over.
When the craftsmen work with them, the project is tight. “When you consider stone as material, there are different ways. Some are soft, some are harder, others porous. They have to measure the load -bearing strength of each type. A few stones measure 16 feet and bring them out of the quarry and then form the necessary craftsmanship, and there the artisans played a role.
These are these functions that make the house something special.
The Jalis (Latters window) are inspired by the design of the Hawa Mahal, which watched the events outside the window inside, and gave them privacy from outside. But his role is also functional, says Malik. These prevent the hard summer sun from being in the way while it is still lighting up the light.
“They offer a wonderful game of light and shadow while the sun moves through the day. The way light plays with a structure, it transforms from a static unit to something that has movement.” Malik loves to encourage sunlight into the projects he builds. This is also the reason why the house offers a large courtyard that immerses it in plenty of natural light and ensures large cross ventilation.
Not only veer, but also nature loves at home. “It is so open and the stone attracts many pigeons, parrots and squirrels.” Malik admits and adds that this part is important. After all, he says: “A house is not just a building. It is a living being that has an entire generation.”
Published by Khushi Arora; All pictures with the kind permission of Kamal Malik