Hi Y'all

If you are wondering where we have disappeared after April and how is the progress on Nivim, then we apologize for the disappearing act... but wrapping up the project was super hectic and we needed to recharge...

The good news is that we completed the construction of Nivim in April/ May of this year. After that we were frantically trying to push the construction crew out, get the house cleaned up, setup the furniture and lighting, start the pool and perfect the landscaping. All this effort was to be able to get the architectural photography done asap.

Here is a link to the final photos of the house !

The house is now on the market for sale and is listed by SaffronArt. You can find the property listing here.

We would like to thank you for following the progress of the house, supporting us through your comments and being engaged in the process.

We will continue the blog with news on Nivim, our design inspirations, sustainability best practices and the charms of living in Goa.

Best

Anjali Mangalgiri

and the Nivim Team.

Manoj taking photos of the house to send to me while I am away !

Manoj Shetgaonkar, our site supervisor for the last 2 years in leaving us. We are sad to let him go as we had begun to rely on him for so many things, especially since he is a very hard working young fellow with great attention to detail.

At the same time, we are excited for him as he is moving on to bigger and better things... to Dubai actually !

We wish him all the best ! and thank him for all his hard work. The process of building Nivim would have been so much more difficult if he wasn't with us.

THANK YOU MANOJ !

Existing Trees at Nivim in Goa with tamarind tree in the entrance courtyard

In our last post for Nivim, we celebrated the 13 existing trees on our site that have been careful integrated into the design for the house. We thought that it would be a good idea to do a follow up post on the idea of building around existing trees. Following is a very simple video on why we need trees, common sense really but it is still hard to come by in the prevalent construction practices.

Continuing with the idea of 'building with trees', we have picked three projects from around the world that were interesting, thought provoking and included trees as key design elements for the building.

1. House Among Trees, Argentina. (Courtsey:Archdaily)

2. Tepoztlan Lounge, Mexico (Courtsey : Archdaily)

3. Franz House, Argentina (Courtsey: Archdaily)

With all the stress of completion on-site, we thought that it was a good time for some eye-candy. See below are some inspired photos of classic outdoor spaces.

 Deck at Geejam hotel, Jamaica (Source : www.caribtours.co.uk)

 Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Thailand (Source : www.cntraveler.com)

Rooftop of The Ajit Bhawan hotel in Jodphur (Source : indiahotelreviews.blogspot.in)

Amazing moment, not sure where this is though...

Image via Frangipani Decor

Outdoor dining at Villa Ashiyana, Goa

 Somewhere in Brazil..

Deck at Xanta Ashram, Goa 

Not sure where this is...

Inspired pavilion at Alila hotel in Uluwatu, Bali

Verandah at Alila hotel in Manggis, Bali

Photo in center: Entrance to the courtyard at Raas Hotel in Jodhpur framing the Mehrangad Fort 

This year happens to be the longest time I have spent in India in the last 10 years. So for our year-end travels, we decided to stay within the Indian Subcontinent. When we travel, we like to linger at a few locations, trying to get to know the place, uncover its many layers, pretend to be local and do things the way locals do.... we find this to be more invigorating and revealing than trying to just check boxes of places visited...

In any case, coming back to the reason for this post, after sorting through a list that included Sri Lanka, Burma and Lakshwadeep, we have decided to travel through Rajasthan at the end of the year. The plan is to start from Jaipur (only place with a direct flight from Goa), then travel to Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur. Now, since I enjoy being in control (read 'freak'..), I am well on my way with the research and planning for the trip. Apart from the forts, palaces, markets, and museums, I am also very keen to discover the newer contemporary luxury hotel architecture that has cropped up in Rajasthan in the recent past. One that has caught my eye and my imagination is the magnificent Raas Hotel in Jodhpur. Seriously, I can't get enough of this one...Other highlights of course are the Devi Ratn hotel in Jaipur and Rasa tents also a Devi resort in Jaipur.

Facade of the new main building wrapped with a sandstone screen

Rass hotel is spread over a relatively small 1.5 acres. It is built into a complex with three heritage buildings that have been carefully restored. But the real beauty of the place is that 3 new buildings have been added to the complex and this has been done with such finesse that if one looks at the photos, it is hard to see where old ends and the new begins. The planning of the new complex is a great example of adaptive reuse. The new buildings are carefully sited and sized such that they become a part of the historic buildings and landscape. See plan and photo below.

Existing Site Plan with three original heritage buildings

New Site Plan for the Raas Hotel with new buildings added to the heritage compound

Photos of the Raas hotel courtyard, where it is difficult to identify the new buildings as they blend perfectly into the historic landscape

In order to blend the old with the new, the designers have used local red sandstone as the dominant exterior material. And that is fine... as the real naunce in design lies in how the designers have managed to use local material, blend it with the old but do all that using a very neat contemporary design language.

Detail of openable screens in sandstone

The building exteriors are wrapped in red sandstone that is used as a contemporary screen. The top of the building that sticks out of the screen in the main block is kept white to keep it from stealing attention but is still not devoid of character due to its understated modern geometry.

Main new building with sandstone screen and modern geometric form 

Inside the screens, they create dramatic patterns with light that changes during the day

Play of light inside the screens

The interiors follow the same wonderfully articulated blend of old and new. I also feel that lighting has been very cleverly designed to highlight the drama in the spaces.

Love this room and the juxtaposition of the old historic with contemporary furniture and lighting

Bathrooms are separated by thick sandstone slabs, bringing historic element to the otherwise modern space

Traditional seating area with contemporary interiors

Nothing looks better than flowing white curtains !! Notice the modern Bertoia chairs in the historic courtyard

Lovely historic courtyard dotted with contemporary furniture and lighting. Also, love the floors..

Designers used mirrors to reflect the surrounding vistas 

Use of mirrors while they distort the landscape adding drama while being whimsical and arty

Here is keeping my fingers crossed so we can get reservations at the Raas !

Designed by Lotus Praxis Initiative.

Watch architect Ambrish Arora's presentation on the design for Raas

.

Link to

Raas Hotel Website

.

Raas Hotel won the award for Best Holiday Building at the

World Architecture Festival 2011

.

Most photos courtesy

www.designboom.com 

Aren't these some of the best images you have ever seen ? Certainly were for me, and I am continually scouring the web for inspirational architecture and design :) The light is what just hits you... all natural making the interiors glow... The founder and visionary behind the project, John Hardy called it 'a cathedral' and I agree....

The awe-inspiring images belong to the Green School in Bali. An initiative towards providing holistic education to children in a natural sustainable environment where they grow up to learn to be an element within nature and not a contradiction. The building is built entirely with natural local materials, mostly bamboo for the structure, grass for roofing and mud for flooring. The beauty is in using such humble materials to build a space that reminds one of a cathedral... So many things about the project are inspiring and made me stop and think and re-think...You can read more about the school and its initiatives at their website.

The project was shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010. See related video here.

For John Hardy's TED talk, click here.

More images below. All images courtesy Green School web photo gallery and Aga Khan Award for Architecture website.

I recently stumbled upon this gorgeous rural retreat in Sikkim and thought I should share. The retreat is spread over 4000 sq.m. of land area and utilizes traditional building techniques while following a very modern design aesthetic. I really enjoyed these. Designed by Mancini Enterprises, photos courtesy

Contemporist.com

Initial Sketch, Pompidou Center, 1971-78, Piano & Rogers (Source: www.phaidon.com)

Renzo Piano is the architect of hands-down my most favorite building in Paris, the George Pompidou Center (sorry Mr. Nouvel, I love your buildings too..).

Watch the video below as he describes what architecture means to him. Truly inspiring when he says, 'architecture is the way to answer practical needs; but architecture is only architecture when it answers to all sorts of desires.' Also that architecture can change the world. And further in the interview, that the inspiring element of 21st century will be energy and sustainability... and that sustainability should be looked at as a new and positive opportunity for buildings and young professionals.

Click on

link to watch Video Part I and II

, courtesy archdaily.com

This house is called “

House in Iporanga

” located at Iporanga, Brazil just outside of Sao Paolo. This beauty is designed by Studio 

Arther Casas

 as the architect's own residence.

We love love love this house. Once again the openness of the living room is something that resonates closely with our design concept for Nivim. The double height adds to that openness along with openable front and back glass walls that connect with the tropical forest surrounding the house. the architect envisioned this house to be a place to recharge his energies and be close to forest.

In the exteriors, the simple clean lines along with the use of wood and glass presents a building that embodies the tropical contemporary building style.

The interiors are kept minimal to keep the focus on the powerful space and the forest outside. Just looking at the pictures makes me feel calmer, I am sure being in the space would so much more serene and enlightening... Enjoy more lovely photos below and keep in mind that we are striving to achieve a similar impact with the living room space at Nivim ! (Photos of our space coming soon)

Rustic stone combined with minimal staircase at V4 House, Brazil

I am consistently amazed and inspired by the contemporary residential architecture emerging from Brazil. For the longest time the rage was contemporary homes in Bali and the new Asian Tropical architecture … and now, more and more I am finding that homes in Brazil (also a tropical country with similar weather patterns as Goa; and as a side note, both former Portuguese colonies), is offering some stunning examples of contemporary architecture that are inspiring while we build Nivim.

The following are pictures of the V4 House in San Paulo, Brazil published in

Archdaily on August 13, 2012. 

The most interesting aspect of this house is the living room, where doors on both sides of the living room completely retract to allow for the integration of the front garden, living room and back patio… wassaa…sounds familiar… yep, this has been the concept for our living room space too with two long walls fitted with sliding doors that open up to make the living room one space with the front and back courtyards. You can re-visit it on our previous blog post, '

Dreaming up a life lived outdoors

'.

We love the clean lines, the natural flow of space, minimal furniture and integration with rustic materials. Enjoy the images of the spectacular living space at V4 House below, all courtesy Archdaily.

Then there is this bathroom at the V4 house (below), truly inspiring... I am happy to say that we have 4 such bathrooms at Nivim. Each bathroom designed with its own courtyard and seamless connection to the outdoors.