This brutalist concrete villa in New Delhi boasts a ramp-like cascading green roof

Nestled in hot and hectic New Delhi, India, is a beautiful concrete home with a majestic terraced roof, rising up like a gentle wave from the landscaped ground. Called Villa KD45, the imposing villa was designed by Studio Symbiosis for a large joint family, that wanted a home that could hold its own on an angular property surrounded on three sides by other villas. With its rather unique form, impressive green roof, and brutalist-like vibe, Villa KD45 does just that!

Designer: Studio Symbiosis

“In urban settings, there is a disconnect between the user and nature. With this project we are looking at creating green urban living, to rekindle the relationship of the residents with nature in their immediate surroundings,” said Studio Symbiosis.

Occupied by an extended family of eight members, the home includes a rather impressive garden and was built while taking into consideration the large trees surrounding it. The trees in fact aided in the construction of the garden, owing to their tactile location which influenced the home’s positioning at the northeast corner. The roof of the home cascades down in a rather ramp-like form, scattered with steps, that hold concrete planters. The terrace also features a landscaped garden, that provides lovely views of the neighborhood park.

The ground floor of the home has been lowered a little, while the upper level is cantilevered, to provide shade against direct sunlight. The first floor has been amped with windows at angular recesses to minimize the heat gain. These precautions are necessary since Delhi can get supremely hot during the summertime, reaching unbearable temperatures. The plants on the rooftop reduce heat gain as well. The ground floor houses the double-height kitchen, dining, and living area. They serve as spaces for the family to gather and spend some quality time. Sliding doors create an alluring indoor-outdoor connection between this section and the garden.

A rather imposing floating staircase joins the living area to the first floor, followed by a mezzanine with a glass balustrade that allows the two spaces to remain visually connected. Another rather interesting feature of the home is a swing seat tucked away in a corner of one of the first-floor bedrooms. It looks out onto a tree canopy and is a rather cozy space to grab some me-time in.

The post This brutalist concrete villa in New Delhi boasts a ramp-like cascading green roof first appeared on Yanko Design.

This sustainable interlocking system lets vendors reuse, reshape, and reduce the stall waste at festivals





Picture this, you are at a festival that is bustling with stalls – you are trying different food, shopping for little items, taking pictures of the experiential booths. But have you ever come back to the scene after the festival is over? After the festival is over it is basically a giant waste site of all the dismantled temporary stalls. Plexus was designed to eliminate the waste generated by these exhibitions without taking away from their charm!

Vendors never really re-use the stalls as they might have a different need in terms of sizes and themes depending on the event. However, constantly investing in new stalls not only creates waste but is also costly. Plexus is a waste-reducing prototype that was made keeping in mind the needs of vendors as well as the environment. The unique construction of Plexus reminds me of tazzos. It is a network of two components – nodes and connectors – that lets you make 1000 stall variations with different shapes and sizes. The adaptable system is designed on a cellular automata model and can be flat-packed in crates for easy shipping. “Cellular automata are mathematical models designed to construct the complexity of natural systems displayed in a diverse naturally occurring phenomena. This complexity model consists of simple systems resulting in dynamic field behavior when interacting with each other,” explains the team.

Plexus draws inspiration for its amorphous frame from nature from the lattice-like body of a Venus flower basket giving it an easy plug-and-play feel. “It is designed as an intricate network, whereby a series of simple components, based on aggregation principles, can result in a new design of the display booth for every exhibition, and also a new brand image. Designed as a universal model, this system can adapt to nonstandard stall sizes and to a differentiated product range,” said Britta Knobel Gupta and Amit Gupta, Founding Partners, Studio Symbiosis.

Events like festivals, fairs, and exhibitions are where vendors can market their product directly to the consumers – it is a place ripe with opportunities for business. With Plexus, vendors can reduce waste drastically without changing the way they participate in these events. Since it is reusable and can be molded into different forms which allow vendors to keep things fresh and creative without adding on extra costs.

Designer: Studio Symbiosis