A traditional courtyard house in a village in Kerala is known as
“Puthupparambil”. It has very compacted rooms whose walls are painted with
lime. Jack wood is used in the ceiling and doors which are just the right
height to let people walk underneath. There is an open courtyard in the center measuring ten by ten feet. Air, light and rain can enter the house through
this. A hanging cot or thookukattil in the open living area is there for any
Visitor to rock in them and even to mediate. It imparts a homely feeling.
The form of a house depends upon parameters like scale, climate
and so on along with other elements like technology, color and materials. A
building is commonly designed on the basis of two fundamental design parameters
like function and form. Function talks about the usefulness of the building,
whereas Form means the way it appears.
One of the rules is to select the correct form for the house for
which one of the parameters is scale. This is described as the dimensional
relationship of the human body with the space and things it comes in touch
with. It is a tool of ideas used by Architects and Designers in designing the building
and other kind of built spaces.
A house and its
inner space look more intimidating and less intimate with a higher scale and
more humane, when the space are scaled down from being big to the optimum
level. This factor has an important part to play in giving character to any space.
A living room may look like a hotel lobby and a bedroom a dormitory when the
scale is not right.
Houses need to be humanized by bringing the functionality of the house down as much as possible
and this is one of the chief rules followed by Ancient Master Designers. All
that is avoidable should be discarded.
A house becomes part of its surroundings fully. The entire property occupied by the house
forms the house or true habitat. That is the most humanized kind of house. The physical form of our living spaces has a
lot to do with the climate such as a typical village life in India. A Villager’s
house is a part of the Environment used for his everyday life. The property may
also have a well, a cowshed, a front side and back yard. In the front yard will
be platform built for guests. Vegetables will be grown, dishes washed and
grains dried in the side and rear yard.
Besides, the principles used in planning the buildings and the
materials used for building are also important in humanizing our houses. The
use of heat retaining materials like concrete and glass if reduced, and use of
natural material like bricks, wood and terracotta if increased, will serve to
make our houses more humane.
As our nation is going through an energy crisis, it is important
to reduce energy consumption brought about through artificial air conditioning
and lighting systems. It can be done by joining the rooms with internal
courtyards and gardens and outer open space. With Indian’s tropical climate, one
can make the best use of a planning style known as open architecture. The rooms
should be planned in such a way that they are well lit and airy.
Materials that are available locally are cheaper than glass and
aluminum imported from Belgium and Australia.
Our living spaces should be humanized to the greatest extent
possible. This helps in integrating
ourselves mentally and physically with our environment.
The use of glass in your house can trap heat inside the house on
account of the “Green House Effect’.
Using eco-friendly materials gives a feeling of physical and mental well being.
Colours of the house should not be chosen arbitrarily as they affect one’s
moods. They should spend sufficient time with their Architect, to explain the
kind of house that they want. Use art to make you relate better to your home as
you can be passionate about it. For humanising your house the architecture has
to be done with heart.
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