Moving Landscapes

Gurjit Singh Matharoo, Ahmedabad - India, 2012

Manufacturers: Artemide – EDRA – MDF Italia – Flow – Casina

The idea for Moving Landscape germinated from stumbling upon a stone. Its polished surfaces against the native verdure of the Ahmedabad region made for the perfect setting, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

Situated on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the house is meant to accommodate one of the city’s most prolific real-estate developers and his wife, along with his two sons’ families and extended visiting members. The plan of the house is interpreted as a linear pavilion, ensuring that every space in the house is lined with glass on the facing sides – the first enclosure. The rest of the structure is in 200mm thin walls in concrete, eliminating the need for any beams and columns and making for cleanest interior volumes. This pavilion is oriented around the margin of the site as three wings.

Akin to the amethysts hard exterior cracking open to reveal its crystalline heart, at the push of a button, this imposingly heavy stone wall cracks open, as it becomes an array of panels spinning gently about their centres or sliding away to reveal a transparent cocooned interior.
Lights and water under the moving walls light the water to make the heavy stones appear floating on water.