What is an ideal dwelling space for me?
A well ventilated, playful space that feels like nature’s hug. One that is just small enough for cozy gatherings, a space where the distinction between inside and outside is blurred.
As far as the evergreen marathi saying ‘maati khaNe’ (blandly translated as falling on your face) goes, I had been in touch with mud. And yet, it was the first time I was actively using it as a medium and looking at it as a topic of study.
Making a tile, improvising on a scaled down model to understand the process of building, understanding how clay is extracted from soil and making our own clay powders to later use them as a pigment- the explorations were endless.
While concept sketches came first, the technical part of the process started with making Venn diagrams depicting division of space. The diagram was then converted to a scaled down plan, that was modelled out of cob- a mixture of mud (clay), aggregate(lime), water and coir.
The strength of mud building lies in the fact that more sculpture like, curvy modelling can be done (unlike concrete which works better with geometric forms).
This thus becomes a sculpture to reside in!
This was an intensive 2 week long workshop where the idea was to learn by making. It was thrilling to see my design come together in such a short while.
I remember feeling exhilirated the moment I completed this model, the end of two weeks of connecting with mud and the child within me, all over again!
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