Indian architectural firm C & M Architects has redesigned the Douceur House and its property, located in Auroville, Puducherry, India. The client wanted a house in sync with nature,where the inside and outside flowed into each other. The house had be have a zen spirit with clean lines and in simplicity.The house had to be very secure and at the same time very open to the outdoor landscape making it part of the house.The client were a couple and the house is a two bedroom house with a pool, pond and extensive landscaping. The house is in a egoless-timeless style with north south orientation and openings aligned for maximum south east wind. The language for the house goes beyond fads & doesn’t struggle to be new or inventive for the sake of it. The house is painted in two tropical shades of orange that highlight the different volumes of the house. Dry zen gardens fill in the voids creating the transition between the green landscape and the house. Basic elements of color, form, line, scale, proportion and texture are considered in designing both the hardscape as well as the softscape of this site. Many varieties of plants, shrubs, trees bushes are used in a way that they complement each other and there is an over arching theme that unites the whole concept. Contrast in color texture and size of plants has been used along with repetitive use of some of them in different areas to create patterns. Rhythm, balance and focalization are used to guide the viewer’s eye movement.
