Excerpt: Trees Sliced Through, a residence by Matharoo Associates, was conceived around the philosophy of preserving nature, where 23 existing neem trees shaped the design. Instead of clearing the site, the architecture embraces them, aligning spaces to Vastu while ensuring openness and continuity with the landscape. Built with textured concrete and natural finishes, the home becomes a dialogue of trees, light, and living, where family and nature coexist in harmony.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat is in a sandy and dry area. It is almost flat and in the recent past, measures have been taken to solve the problem of increased desertification around the city area due to the steady expansion of the nearby Rann of Kutch. The climate is of the hot semi-arid type with temperatures reaching up to 48’C, and it is extremely dry aside from the monsoon season making it common for droughts to occur.
The fifth most populous city in India, between 2015 and 2017, 9,00,000 vehicles were added on the city roads, while in the same period the district lost 20 sq.km of green space (Forest Survey of India). A tree-count conducted within Ahmedabad municipal limits has revealed that there are only 11 trees per 100 people in the city (Social Forestry Department), and the green cover of the city is only now 4.66% of its geographical area, and depleting.
While the established norm is to cut trees and clear the vegetation of a site even before approaching the Architect, we were blessed with Clients who shared our view of not losing any of the 23 Neem trees on their 1000 sq.m site.
Located in a housing society on a busy commercial road, the neighbouring context includes large houses on the South and West, and one soon to be built along the East. While half the plot’s shorter side on the North is also a house, the remaining half opens to a large community green space that would remain open.
The challenge was to save the trees through the construction period and letting them flourish, while following Vastu that dictates the locations of spaces based on the cardinal directions, and accommodating the complex program of the three generations of a family – a young couple expecting children, their aging parents as well as their dogs.
The first decision was to protect the trees with brickwork all around and to tie them to each other lest they lean or fall during excavation. A 10’ diameter circle was drawn around each tree as the minimum distance for construction around them.
The second decision was to go for pile foundation so the amount of soil movement was minimal, and to allow roots to grow and be nourished underneath. The third decision was to keep all spaces completely open on two sides so the trees would seamlessly be a part of the inside space. The rooms are all aligned to the North and South to get long views of the site and common landscaped plot beyond, and the 23 trees dictate the arrangement of the composition.
The building is cast from waste in a rough wood shuttering (now registered as an intellectual property of the Architects) that compliments the trees in the horizontal cut direction. It has no continuous vertical or horizontal joint that is normally seen in form finished concrete, making the walls into textured planes catching various nuances of the sunlight on them. The floor is in cool dark Kudapah sand stone and the moving parts like doors and panels are cased in terracotta shades. The epitome of this moving feature is a custom designed main door with counter rotating top and lower panels making for an element of delight.
The organic position of the trees is also translated in the articulation of the house. There is a diagonal disposition of spaces that preserves the feel and primordial habit of transgressing under the trees. While the long parallel walls shut off the views from the road and neighbouring plots, they connect the trees on either side that enclose, shade, shield and become an integral part of the lives of the family. It is envisaged these trees will become a part, growing, living and flourishing with the members of the family.
Drawings
Images
