Category Archives: News

Karjat Resort – 4½ years on

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It’s been about 4½ years since the Karjat Project was completed. I’ve been going there on and off for one reason or another, so I don’t see too many dramatic changes but, yesterday, we had a meeting with Anil Doshi who hasn’t been there since the inauguration. He was amazed at the change because at that time everything looked bare and now, with the trees all grown, it looks so much softer.

The meeting was regarding future development at the site. That’s all I will say at the moment although it isn’t a state secret or anything.

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Membrane Structures. Finally.

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Have been waiting a long time for something like this to come to India and finally a Bangalore based company called Shadeflex has tied up with a German company called Textil Bau GmbH.

Shadeflex and their German partner’s sites are under construction at the moment but at least they have a contact page. May just use something like this for the courtyard of the Pune bungalow. This year’s record monsoon has made me think about how dramatically the weather patterns may change in the coming years.

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Godrej Ties up with Masonite

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When I read the advertisement in a trade magazine, I was happy to see more competition in the field but, when I headed over to the Godrej site, I found nothing that looked even remotely like this news. A Google search led me to a 404 (page not found) error and it took some hunting to find this news release. (Edit: The page disappeared again!)

What amazes me is how even such a large (and professionally managed) business conglomerate can’t seem to grasp how important it is to keep a web site in order. And, at the end of it all, the tone of the news sounded like it was meant for in-house consumption – a company magazine maybe? Who the heck cares what the vice president thinks for goodness sake. Tell us about the blooming product and why we should buy it!

Masonite, on the other hand, have a well laid out site and may need to push their partners to do something similar if they want to make any headway in the Indian market. Godrej have their own construction business so maybe they’re importing this just for themselves. That would be an opportunity lost, in my opinion.

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Stonework for Plinth at Pune

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I’ve always advocated that small structures should be built using load- bearing walls because, to my mind, reinforced concrete cement (RCC) is not merely a waste of high-energy material but is, most of the time, very badly cast as well.

For the plinth, I usually specify random rubble – it is cheap, stable and highly effective as a detterent to dampness. In the Pune project, I decided to semi-dress the stone. Although it costs a bit more, it does look so much better. The guys who specialise in this work are plentiful in Pune and much better at what they do than the ones I’ve come across elsewhere.

They were a bit surprised, though, that I wanted it random and not shaped into rectangular blocks. It seems there are only two varieties of people these days – those who use the stone undressed and those who want ashlar. The path I chose is, apparently, the one least trod.

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Smart Glass

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We all know about Polaroid glass – it’s been around for ages. But this is a new one for me at least and has greater potential because the level of transparency/opacity is controlled by the user and not by ambient light.

SPD smart window is constructed by using two panes of glass separated by a conductive film with suspended, light absorbing, microscopic particles. Microscopic light-absorbing particles are dispersed within a thin film. When no electrical voltage is applied to the film, these particles absorb light, making the glass dark. When voltage is applied, the particles align and allow light to pass through. By simply adjusting the electrical voltage manually or automatically, the amount of light passing through the SPD-glass product can be controlled quickly and precisely.

A competing technology with SPD smart windows is the electrochromic smart window. Electrochromic windows consist of two glass panes with several layers sandwiched in between. It works by passing low-voltage electrical charges across a microscopically-thin coating on the glass surface, activating an electrochromic layer which changes color from clear to dark. The electric current can be activated manually or by sensors which react to light intensity. One advantage of the electrochromic smart window is that it only requires electricity to change its opacity, but not to maintain a particular shade.

Link: Smart Glass

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Flexible Solar Panels

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For architects, this, in whatever form it finally takes, is going to be an absolute boon.

Imagine being able to paint a renewable energy source on the walls of your house, without having to shell out most of your life’s earnings.

Well, this may no longer be in the realm of fantasy, with researchers from New Mexico State University and Wake Forest University working on an organic solar panel that is not only flexible, but can also be wrapped around structures, and comes much cheaper than the conventional ones.

Unlike traditional solar panels, which are made of silicon and are expensive and brittle like glass, organic solar cells are made of plastic, and are inexpensive.

:: Full Article :: (Link no longer available)

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Meet the Engineer

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Manoj Kanase who will be the builder for the Pune Bungalow took me to meet Ranjit Ghatge, his engineer, about some structural questions, especially regarding the use of ferrocrete. At first I had some difficulty explaining to him exactly why I wanted to use alternative technology. “Ah, you want to do a sustainable design” said Ranjit after a few minutes. Then everything fell into place and it turned out to be a pretty good discussion. The most interesting part was deciding how to make use of shallow terracotta pots to reduce the weight of the slab.

Later that day, I had a second meeting with Milind Kulkarni from Hydrobiotech who will give us a comprehensive plan for harvesting rain (back into the bore-well), reusing kitchen water in the garden and recycling grey water from the washing machine and bathrooms into the flush tanks.

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Difficulty with Lime

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Since we’ve been wanting to use Lime Mortar for the Pune Bungalow, I’ve designed the ground storey to be 1½ bricks thick. However, if we’re unable to get good quality lime (as is looking increasingly likely), we might just have to make do with cement. That’ll be a disappointment!

Not to mention the fact that all the working drawings will have to be re-drawn.

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Demo of ArchiCAD

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Was invited to see a demo of ArchiCAD here in Bombay. Thankfully, I was late having had to rush from the interior site at Fountain. A whole host of speakers were droning on about sundry matters before the demo actually took place.

I have to say, I was impressed by what I saw. Now if the Adroitec – who are marketing the software in India – can convince me that it’s as useful for interiors as it is for architecture, I might just be interested. As it stands, however, the price is pretty steep and they might need to do a rethink. That’s my opinion anyway…

And if anyone from Adroitec is reading this, please update your products page – you’re still listing it as ArchiCAD as version 8.1 instead of version 9.

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Vastu Puja

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The puja for the Pune Bungalow happened yesterday. After the pujari had done his bit, we – the client, builder and myself took turns digging a token hole in the South-East corner of the plot. Gudi Padva is obviously a good day to begin. Actual construction will being on the 11th of May.

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