BRICK AND MUD STRUCTURES

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Mud StructureMUD HOUSE-ANANGPUR VILLAGE

Mud House at Anangpur Village, Surajkund, Haryana is a small residential building designed by REVATHI KAMATH

Located on a land that was once a quarry, mining quartzite and Badarpur stone dust.

Ecology of the area had been devastated by the mining

Original scrub forest had been chopped and ravaged for fire wood.

A two storey structure

Has load bearing walls made of sun dried, hand moulded mud bricks.

Intermediate floor is made of sandstone slabs supported on the mud walls

Maximum use of natural materials found in surroundings

Minimum and judicious use of non-renewable, non-bio-degradable and fossil resources such as metals, stone, stone slabs, plastics, cement, lime etc.

Network was also made to channelize the rainwater into the ponds

Ponds - major source of the clay and silt used to make the mud bricks for the construction.

Green roof with live grass and vegetation tops the two storey structure.

Structure has High thermal capacity – thick walls , green roof

BELGIAN EMBASSYBRICK STRUCTURE

The Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi is the diplomatic mission of the Kingdom of Belgium to India. The embassy is located in Shantipath, Chanakyapuri.

The construction was designed and managed by Satish Gujral. It was designed and completed in 1984.

The embassy was one of Satish Gujral's most challenging assignments, winning him national and international awards.

In 2000, the building was recognised as one of the 1000 best buildings in the 19th century.

INTRODUCTION

Some parts of the building near the entrance are open to visitors, while the parts hosting the residence and the administrative blocks are not accessible to the public.

The design resembles a fortress of rocky outcrops. The building complex includes the administrative buildings of the embassy, chancellor's residence, ambassador's residence, and staff housing.

The front facade consists of two large cupolas with a central fold above the entrance.

The entrance opens into a courtyard with stone masonry and greenery within. The building is constructed with red bricks.

The ubiquitous red brick construction of the building has been compared to early architectural forms prevalent in Mohenjo-daro and the buddhist architecture in Sanchi and Nalanda.[

ARCH ITECTURE

Placing it in context of history of design Arjun Thapar(an architect) feels that it made architectural history, in the manner it broke norms of office buildings.

It was probably the first time that exposed bricks were used for a formal building, bricks were usually considered and informal medium.

The use of exposed bricks however was not new, considered that Le Corbusier had built almost the entire Chandigarh with this look. Bricks are also problem material because they allow for leakage unless until the roofing has been properly treated, especially in context of the Embassy the wall merges into the roof shaped like a dome.

The designer remarks that “in the 15 years of its existence its importance has grown around the world.”