This luxury retreat in Delhi’s Chattarpur is a shape-shifting work of art

Designed by artist-architect Vishal K. Dar, Anvaya is a sanctuary that responds to nature

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by acres of land that stare back like a blank canvas at the artist with prospects galore, each as tempting as the other, until the canvas comes alive and lends itself to the kind of art it wants to host. Artist-architect Vishal K. Dar, who hasn’t undertaken an architectural project in nearly a decade, allowed this almost one acre of land on a larger six-acre-long site in Delhi’s Chattarpur farmhouse district to speak to him through its natural flora. It comprised a clump of two dozen local trees—gulmohar, amaltas, sal, kachnar, kadamb, semal, jacaranda, mahua, bargad, ghora-neem, to name a few—growing haphazardly as an extension to the adjoining Asola Wildlife Sanctuary, and almost instinctively the six-suite luxury retreat Anvaya was born like an earthy oasis on a patch of lush green.

Conceived by entrepreneur Shivan Gupta, founder and creative director of Amaara Farms and Cafe Monique, along with his mother Rama Gupta Tandon, the property is an homage to the ground it stands on. “The design language of Anvaya is leaning heavily towards Modernism, especially California Modernism, because that style of architecture was a ‘design philosophy’ that largely examined the relationship between the architecture and the landscape it was sitting in. This was also a part of the 60s’ Delhi Modernism, in which areas like the Lodhi Estate where a couple of projects done by architect Joseph Allen Stein talked about materiality that was local, and how it responded to local climate, flora and fauna,” says Dar. Think India Habitat Centre and India International Centre in the capital, both of which evoke a sense of harmony with their surroundings, much like Anvaya, which Dar did not approach as an architectural project, but as an artistic one.

The campus is split into three distinct sections of the reception, the residency and the pavilion, which, although separated from each other, are woven in together with the common thread of neat lines and minimal adornment. All six suites are located in the main residential block, and overlook the deep green of the forest.

A sustainable work of art

Much like Dar’s sculptural artwork,  Anvaya, too, unravels like a labyrinthine sculpture that plays with light in temperamental ways. “Architecture, to me, happens in extreme bursts and spurts, and that too when I would like to choose a project,” he says, adding that he approached Anvaya as he approaches his art, which is site-specific and not gallery-bound.

The space grants ample room for flights of fancy through its simplistic form that lets its surroundings assume centrestage. The yellow on the exterior wall seems stolen from the friendly amaltas; on the inside, mosaic flooring, pure teak wood furniture, luxurious skylight and striking paper lamps add to its idyllic beauty. The structure breathes, and the only reason this was accomplished was because the creator got into the trenches to let the land wash over him.

“We were very clear that we would work with an architect who, not just at the outset, but through the course understands and stays committed to the vision, which Vishal did. The harmony with design, consciousness and nature was imperative,” says Gupta, as this method of work also guaranteed sustainability. The property does not use any plastic, and 80 per cent of the produce used in the kitchen is grown in-house, freshly plucked for every meal. The kitchen also employs a zero-waste culture, with every discarded scrap being reused as plant compost.

De-developing and rethinking sustainability

According to Dar, only tribals can claim to be truly sustainable—in the most logical sense of the term—in their architectural practice, being the sole ones who build in response to the indigenous landscape, using materials the land has to offer. “A sustainable structure has to breathe naturally, so the moment you introduce air conditioning, you become unsustainable—no matter how green you say your space is—because you are breathing mechanically,” he says.

However, sustainability that’s realistically achievable involves “de-developing,” he says, or dismantling the idea of development hardwired in us by modern capitalist machineries, by stepping back and consciously cutting down on unsustainable practices. At Anvaya, Dar used lime instead of cement to construct with a material that settles and ages slowly. “But one of the main differences between cement and lime is that the former crumbles with age, whereas the latter only grows stronger with time. However, since it’s a slower material, it also involves higher costs,” he points out.

The larger dialogue on sustainability often eludes the economics it involves, which, according to Dar, is a problematic trend, since the money directly impacts lives. “In this case, we used lime, which would take three days to settle for a brick wall, as opposed to cement settling in a day, which meant labour costs would triple,” he explains. “We think cheaper materials would lower our costs, but that is never the case. Because artisans and people who handle that material are long gone, so we have to revive an artisanal practice, which means that human beings are to be trained. That’s an expensive exercise.”

It is at this point, the architect believes, that the client needs to be convinced of the merit of choosing a sustainable approach that shall hold the structure in good stead for years to come. Thankfully for him, Gupta did not need much convincing. “This is a destination for slow living surrounded by nature and guided by principles of respect for the environment and emphasis on use of mindful practices as a way of life,” says Gupta about the sanctuary where peacocks are often spotted strolling by the pool.

The many moods of a structure

Anvaya invokes a certain kind of dynamism, with its moods changing through the day, the months and the seasons, because “it’s thought through that way,” says Dar. He calls it a joyous space, one where he spends a lot of time just soaking in everything it has to offer. The reason the structure blends seamlessly into not only the land it stands on, but also the sky it lies under, is because Dar spent a lot of time—almost a year during the second wave of the pandemic—studying and befriending it. “I can’t think of light that way if I don’t know the sight that well. By that I know where the sun rises and sets, and I  know the sun paths of both summer and winter. So, if I know that information, I can harness it and make use of it in the architectural form,” he says.

Evidently, there is something for everyone at Anvaya, where even with the slow life, things barely ever feel banal. Because how can it, when one is living inside a shape-shifting work of art?

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