A minimalist Bengaluru home behind a red terracotta screen
House on 46 by Kumar La Noce is a multigenerational Bengaluru home tucked away behind a terracotta screen
This Bengaluru home by dynamic Indian architecture studio Kumar La Noce was conceived as a contemporary, multigenerational house set on a tight urban plot. Titled House on 46, the residence continues the emerging practice's tradition of experimenting with screen and latticework in order to create modern homes that are also in sync with their region's climatic conditions – leading to sustainable architecture that works with its environment. Previous similar works include JP House, in the same Karnataka city, and its metal frame exterior.
A Bengaluru home behind a terracotta screen
Along the same lines, House on 46 is wrapped externally in a system of reddish terracotta screens, which control the sunlight – and therefore, heat – entering the building, while ensuring privacy, and energy efficiency during the construction. The architects explain: ‘On the street-side façade, a system of operable metal screens creates a porous exoskeleton for the house. Created using slim mild-steel fins of varying sizes and thicknesses, the panels are stiffened through the pattern, at the same time minimising waste owing to the varying lengths. Enclosing generous balconies, the screen provides an adaptable façade based on the needs of the users. Large planter boxes are incorporated in the façade scheme, which animate and shade the covered open spaces.’
With all eyes drawn to this Bengaluru home’s distinctive exterior, the interior feels refreshingly clean and pared down. A minimalist architecture approach internally means that a strict material palette – of grey granite, teak wood and lime-rendered walls – composes living spaces that feel welcoming and serene. The dappled light that filters through the external screen helps to that effect.
Spreading across four levels, the house contains family spaces on the lower parts and bedrooms towards the top, sprinkled with a variety of exterior areas and an accessible roof terrace crowning it all. A study on the ground floor was designed with the possibility to be easily converted as an independent living unit in the future – adding even further flexibility to this functional arrangement.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
Rado’s ceramic watches take inspiration from the world’s great gardens
New additions to the Rado True Thinline watch collection reinterpret exotic plants
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
‘Meaningful disruption’: Heron Preston launches L.E.D. Studio, a convention-defying creative hub
Part art and design studio, part sustainability practice, Heron Preston’s L.E.D. Studio builds on the world he has built at his eponymous New York City-based fashion label. Here, he tells Wallpaper* more
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Exploring Punta del Este, the southern hemisphere’s hub for art and relaxation
Punta del Este offers everything, from party to relaxation; all enveloped in idyllic countryside and a rich cultural offering
By Rainbow Nelson • Published
-
Seosaeng House is a holiday home designed to capture the rising sun
Seosaeng House, Studio Weave’s first project in South Korea, is a clifftop holiday home perfectly designed to capture a new day dawning over the East Sea
By SuhYoung Yun • Published
-
The finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Modernist architecture: inspiration from across the globe
Modernist architecture has had a tremendous influence on today’s built environment, making these midcentury marvels some of the most closely studied 20th-century buildings; check back soon for new additions to our list
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
MJE House is a rural Brazilian retreat defined by its striking cantilever
MJE House by Jacobsen Arquitetura is an idyllic, rural Brazilian retreat defined by its contemporary forms and bold cantilever overlooking the countryside in Upstate São Paulo
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Villaggio Eni: a modernist gem in the Italian Dolomites
Designed by Eduardo Gellner in the 1950s, the Villaggio Eni holiday resort, in the Italian Dolomites, is being repurposed as a modernist refuge for artists and creatives
By Emma O'Kelly • Published
-
Members’ club 1 Warwick is a new home away from home in Soho, London
Members’ club 1 Warwick by Fettle Design opens its doors in central London, sharing round-the-clock offerings
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Azabudai Hills to bring a slice of wildness to Tokyo’s megacity
Heatherwick Studio’s design for Azabudai Hills aims to bring some soulfulness and a slice of wildness to the megacity
By Danielle Demetriou • Published
-
Hotel Marcel: the sustainable rebirth of a Marcel Breuer original
Hotel Marcel, a Marcel Breuer-designed, modernist architecture original, launches as sustainable hospitality in New Haven, Connecticut
By Daniel Scheffler • Published