Text description provided by the architects. Inhabiting an area of 1200 square feet, this house in Pondicherry is one of a kind. The goal was to create a house that would fulfil the client requirements of a guest house while unfolding into something that would bring the users imagination alive. House of Dancing Cactus is a two-storey building conceptualised by the usage of bricks – a locally available material in Pondicherry – and seeks to mimic the waves of the sea of this coastal town.
This brutalist facade was created using exposed bricks in patterns that break the conventional brick wall and also by challenging the bricks’ structural stability. Breaking the monotony in brick laying pattern with skilled labour and detailed technical drawings for bringing in more surface area and surface shadow projections to reduce heat on walls with a characteristic element, an identity “house of dancing cactus” stands bold in its environment, impersonating a cactus in a garden.
Meant to be on a controlled scale, the ground floor consists of a step-integrated living, dining combined with kitchen along with a bedroom entered via an archway, all of which are visually connected and allow free movement around the house. The oxford blue entry door stands in contrast to the hue of the bricks and twins with the plunge pool. A plunge pool is accessed through a French door on the steps landing, which doubles for additional seating. Kitchen and Dining also have a view of the pool, keeping all the spaces united, yet keeping them separate. The wavy brick wall – fortifying around the swimming pool – allows the users to be connected to the outdoors and maintain their privacy at the same time. The north orientation of the house lets in light through these perforated brick walls while forming an interesting shadow; it also blocks direct sunlight.
The staircase connects the double-height living room to the first floor, allowing communication between the intimate and social spaces. Underneath the staircase is a niche in the wall, to be used as a seating in the living room. On the first floor, another humble bedroom and a terrace looking out into the garden on the north, which follow the brick pattern of the facade. The bathrooms have private open-to-sky spaces, letting in ambient sunlight and ventilation without compromising privacy.
The crinkle – The crackle garden wall is built in a unique snake-like shape, taking fewer bricks since a curvy wall gains all the support it needs from its sinuous shape. The pockets of this wall are planted with cactus to retain heat for the plants through its shape in a humid climate.
The interior of the house is dominated by grey, pink, and cyan coloured interiors, with a unique and prominent blend of rattan furniture, aligning with Bohemian love for organic materials. To create a relaxed coastal laid-back vibe, with ambient sunlight and natural wind flow entering the house, keeping it bright and cool continually, amalgamating the outdoors to the indoors, this tiny home has a big heart.
