100K Brick House

Trehan Family

Golflinks, New Delhi

2020

Built Up : 8,000 sqft

Hospital design is about more than function—it’s about healing. We create efficient, patient-centred spaces that balance seamless workflows with warmth and comfort. Natural light, intuitive layouts, and sustainable elements reduce stress and enhance well-being, ensuring the hospital serves both today’s needs and tomorrow’s growth.

With a cascading tangle of 250 polycarbonate modules—handmade in water, at 280 degrees Celsius—Foggini crafted The Pink Cloud, an installation that tumbles from the ceiling in the dining space. As the voluminous sculpture catches the changing light through the day, it turns different shades of pink, becoming a pulsating, almost living object.

“The first time I visited the apartment, I ended up spending an hour or two walking around the place. Just when the sun set, this incredible rosy light invaded the space, casting everything it touched in a pink haloed glow,” says Singh. “And yet, this beautiful light had nowhere to go; it was contained by the walls of the two rooms on either side of the living space, shrouding the rest of the apartment, which was a shame. I knew, then, that the first step of my design process would be to open the space up, so it could engage with the intense aura of the sunset. The notation is based on the principle of bipolarity, representing truth.

On a closer look, geometry—especially the circle—is revealed as a recurring theme. “The [circle] returns throughout the apartment, in perimeters and in details,” says Singh. “Having completely revised the layout, I asked myself: how do I create the sensation of ‘feeling at home’? To translate the notions of warmth and security, I used the shape of a circle, which collects within itself but does not close, does not isolate.” The circles, peppered across the apartment, are not always obvious; they hide, and linger, until they suddenly erupt into view. And yet, the circle is ubiquitous: in the library, it pops up in the sculptural lamp by Michael Anastassiades for Flos; hides in plain sight in the backrest of the living room’s ‘Pipe’ armchairs by Moroso; and reappears in the delicate crown moulding across the apartment. It is both realized and implied; the Marmara marble flooring in the master bathroom traces an unmissable arc, while the black and white dome on the cc-tapis rug finds its other half only when the custom-designed semicircle table by Singh is placed next to it, adjusted to the perfect angle.

In this evolving canvas—that shifts and morphs along with the lives that it contains within the walls—the only constant is the streaking light that filters through the veranda. Here, the rose-tinted light is the conductor; the rest, mere musicians, dancing to its tune.

“The shell of the house should be strong and beautiful enough to hold its own. It should also be pliable, ready to transform and keep in step with its owners and their changing needs.”

Design that brings efficiency to scale, and empathy to care.

100K Brick House

Trehan Family

Golflinks, New Delhi

2020

Built Up : 8,000 sqft

AT A GLANCE

100,000

Clay bricks hand made in local kilns
7

Craft communities in curated collaboration

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Born from the shared histories of two people over seven decades, this house is a palimpsest of seven decades of gathered experiences and memories. Embracing Delhi’s long love affair with brick, it reimagines the material with a softer, sculptural touch. Made with seven craft communities, it celebrates the handmade with joy and humour, allowing stories to gather gently in every gesture of its making.

Embracing Delhi’s long love affair with brick, the house reimagines the material as a sculpted labyrinth – choreographing light, movement and an endless sense of discovery.

A lyrical home that is a construct of craft, culture, narrative and joy.

Spaces of this writer’s home are organized to connect and reconnect like a labyrinth. Creating the curiosity of the beyond and the feeling of an infinitive journey. Multiple staircases and a lift, connect the house in a way that evokes discovery.

The house is draped in a sculptural skin of handmade bricks. Placement of the brick registers the movement of the sun; bringing it alive with the changing shadows over the year. The sinuous skin makes room for plants to grow, water to trickle, windows to be sheltered and edges to be softened. As an element of surprise, poems are stone inlayed into the bricks.

Movements of the brick were sculpted by hand on a physical model and then translated into a parametric software. Each shifting brick was drawn course by course. This masonry endeavor, was built by the patient hands of experienced artisans. The average age of the masonry team being above 50.