Jetavan, Sakharwadi
Architect: Sameep Padora and Associates
Citation Note:
Designed as a space for holistic development of a close-knit community, the Jetavan project by Sameep Padora and Associates recognises the significance of context – both physical and conceptual to locate the built forms within a found landscape, all the while being duly sensitive to the design programme.
The site – a piece of land with adult Neem trees is wonderfully negotiated by the built forms as evidenced by the site plan. The response to the landscape of the site is not just limited to the organisation in plan but finds a strong response in the section where the butterfly-roofs frame the foliage and allow filtered light to permeate within the spaces.
Built in collaboration with the Hunnarshala Foundation, the careful selection of materials sourced with a concern for environment and the employment of appropriate skill for the construction of the project is evidenced in the dignity with which it is detailed and assembled. While there is an attempt to assimilate workmanship in the making of the structure, the place also has a strong architectural agenda with a dual emphasis on the built form and the landscape.
The unbuilt spaces including a courtyard flanked by the flying roofs are designed as spaces of congregation and lend themselves as extensions to the enclosures. The gentle steps and transitions help the architects to create non-directional spaces emphasising on conversation and interaction.
The new spirit of contemporary design practice in India has enabled many offices to produce work in collaboration. The Jetavan project represents the potential of a collaborative approach wherein the strengths of individual organisations coming together for a project are amplified and the dialogue enriches the eventual built environment, congruently achieving the core ambition of architecture and therefore, Jetavan is a citation project in The Merit List.
Photographs by Edmund Sumner