How quarantine has sprung a new way to live

Since the onset of the pandemic, India’s leading architects have received some OTT requests

Did you know that powder rooms were introduced in American homes only after the global pandemic of Spanish flu in 1918? Or that a cholera outbreak in London led to replacing thick carpets and drapes in bathrooms with easy-to-clean tiles and smooth materials? That's how significant an impact any infectious disease or a pandemic, like the current one, can have in the world of architecture and design.

After living, working and keeping spirits up within the four walls of our homes for months on end, all of us have now experienced it too. And now with the fear of the Omicron variant spreading, one wonders if we’ll go back into a lockdown again! However, in the last several months, we've identified what's missing and also what's excessive in our homes. Is there too little stimulation, is there too little space, is it too dull and drab, or is it too flashy, is it easy to clean or painful and back-breaking? Based on their own observations and evolving needs, owners of homes of all shapes and sizes have been inundating architects and interior designers for all kinds of additions and subtractions since the first lockdown began to ease in 2020.

For example, this one that Delhi-based Sachin Gupta, co-founder of creative practice Beyond Designs, received. He says, "It was quite unexpected to be asked to create a 2,000 sq ft bedroom suite because the homeowner felt that she needed that kind of 'me-time space to get away from her family and domestic chores daily." The direct appeal is hardly bizarre in times of confinement, especially in compact spaces.

Intimate Corners

Considering the average size of a Mumbai home, most residents eschew updating or upgrading homes while they're living in it. (Even architect and product designer Rooshad Shroff has moved out of his home temporarily while it's being done up from scratch.) Designer Ali Baldiwala of Baldiwala Edge shares, "We received several queries on how we could help re-do specific spaces and select corners of the home." This led to him launching Inside The Box, a state-of-the-art design solution that helps users plan and collaboratively decorate their homes. Baldiwala adds, "I worked with brands across furniture, furnishings, art platforms, floor coverings and decor accessories so that our clients got exactly what they needed with the least amount of fuss." Architects Archana and Rupesh Baid even got a request asking for a corner to be created, where a couple could "send their child to detention, one that would encourage introspection with the use of colour therapy" when needed. Another was the entire renovation of an open-plan kitchen and dining area, inspired by intimate settings of rustic cafes in the Mediterranean, to "evoke the feeling of being in their favourite eatery in Santorini during the travel ban."

Principal architect Arjun Nambisan of Balan + Nambisan Architects in the garden city, Bengaluru, faced a now-relatively expected requirement. He says, "The foremost plea was for a fully functional home office with high-end facilities and aesthetics. While spatial constraints aren't a worry in Bengaluru, we were able to go beyond the basics. We fitted spaces with ample natural night, artworks, plants, VC facilities, concealed shelving units to avoid clutter, ergonomic seaters, as well as arrangements of solitary chairs for in-person meetings, and even carved out a separate entrance for the home office in some instances." What becomes evident is that the intent of a dedicated space for work hours is to also 'end' the workday as one would in a traditional office. "A carefully planned setup essentially demarcates where your work life ends, and personal life begins," adds Nambisan.

Plus, people no longer want to depend on shared amenities such as swimming pools, gymnasiums and spas being accessible. "Who knows when the wait will end and clubs, gyms or gymkhanas will allow unfettered access? If we can, why not build them and honour our clients' requests?" asks Ashiesh Shah.

So, he and other boldface Indian creatives such as Krupa and Zubin Zainuddin, Shantanu Garg and Vinita Chaitanya, to name a few, have been creating "rooms" out of unused or under-utilised spaces for their projects, and also going as far as to add multifunctional areas. (Think a balcony or patio that transitions into a workout zone, a meeting room or even a classroom whenever needed.) The idea behind it? To add more dimensions to homes to make up for the more or less unidimensional lives we've lived during the pandemic.

Outdoors Indoors

Shah, for instance, has conceptualised an indoor sculptural garden for one of his client-friends in Mumbai. In contrast, Garg has created an outdoor jacuzzi for a Jaipur home that offers panoramic views of the Pink City. In one of their projects in Bhubaneshwar that spans over 30,000 sq ft, the Zainuddins have added a full-blown gymnasium (which could put celebrity-favourite Antigravity to shame) as well as a home theatre that seats 40. On the other hand, Chaitanya has designed a spa, steam and sauna zones on a rooftop for a family in Bengaluru.

Whether small or significant, eccentric or expected, such design changes have also made us homeowners more conscious of how we live. We now know what's most critical for us—a patch of fresh grass under our feet, a wall colour we respond positively to, a sustainable and tactile fabric choice, an ergonomic seater that beats a dining chair as the choice for Zoom meetings. But the only motivating factor, which is well acknowledged, is that we want to enjoy the safety and security that our home provides while also adding all the stimulations and entertainment we'd typically go out for.

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