“Let a tree be a tree and a boulder be a boulder” The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff.
Truth to material as well as the built form and systems is the most central idea developed in the project. The Idea of the layers of development of a project are visible can give rise to a palimpsest, was explored. Space flows vertically and horizontally to create a looped narrative through and around the trees. Using aged and anti-aging materials. The house is seen as a drawing rather than a painting and hence the limits of a looser approach to design was tested. The unfinished and rough is the sublime and raw.
This dwelling is built on a long lot of 1.5 kanals, forty eight feet in width; the neighborhood and the site is filled with old towering trees inviting many birds and insects. The trees were used in the design to create views as well as provide privacy. The plan was developed around the existing trees and the imagined narratives of two daughters running up and down, in and out, sometimes visible sometimes only audible. An artists’ studio is placed at the front as a home office for my wife, Saba khan.
The idea was to create a place where we could lounge and daydream. Living in the busiest part of gulberg helped us in the decision to build a retreat and a haven away from the hustle and bustle. The house is inward looking, creating its own reality, yet maintaining a strong link to the regional history and culture. We want our children to value reverie and imagination rather than the contrived realities of media. Its only when one is daydreaming (looking aimlessly into space) that the connection with the subconscious is activated which in turn helps us be creative.
As an architect practicing in Lahore, I drive around the streets looking at new constructs coming up. I have to say that I find the grey and unfinished to be more inviting and interest provoking. Its mostly a let down when finishes are applied to a build that you had been following. In my own house, I have tried to experiment with the unfinished as language; with the intention to create a palimpsest of sorts. I want to let the mistakes and the imperfections show, infact these can be celebrated.
Over the years, we had collected many items of spolia; These included reclaimed Brick tiles, pigmented cement floor tiles and doors from my grandfathers house at Queen’s road. Railings, main door and furniture bought from kabardia of vendor that deal in “antiques” and selective curios bought from our travels.
The house is a connected and open structure where privacy is an internal matter. The carded structure allows the house to connect and provide a cohesive space where corners are developed as reclusive spaces and the center brings the entire house together. The building is introverted and creates its own interior and exterior realities. Its only when one climbs to tend to the vegetable garden at the roof from the terrace stairs that you get a sense of the larger surroundings.
The sound of water, sounds of children, diurnal dance of natural light are all design tools that make up this space. Surfaces are used to reflect light as well as receive shadows of trees. The scale of the structure and spaces helps to create moods. Rain water is animates the structure as it pours down along chains into hollow vessels to create a cacophony which can amplify the celebration of rain in our hot climate.
Mr & Mrs. Raza Ali Khan and Family: Saba Khan is an Artist and teaches at the NCA. daughters Tara and Neesa Ali Khan are self proclaimed princesses and want 3 shitzu pups named hydrangia, Lavender and brownie. They want to be figure skaters and air hostesses when they grow up.
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