Goa is one of the first places to be inhabited by foreign people, hence it holds a strong influence of foreign culture and tradition. One can see a strong blend of Portuguese architectural style in the houses of Goa. The neighbourhood of D’Mello Vaddo is located in Saligao, which is a major junction for transit between the two main cities of Mapusa and Panjim.
Various kuccha lanes running perpendicular to the main road, where we turned left, a few steps in the lane and it was as if the somewhat bustling main road was left far behind. Traditional old houses, almost covered by large trees and boundary walls. Nothing but the narrow road was visible, even the sounds of stepping on dry leaves seemed too much.
“Small entrances, almost disguised by the shrubbery, leafless trees and the chilly breeze around the house, subtly tried to welcome us in.”
And between all this, a large wall, much bigger than the normal human height, completely covered in green creepers. Between it, much smaller than the wall a bright little red iron/steel door made a creaky sound when we walked inside into a large courtyard, with sudden streaks of sunlight flooding the ground. To the right, a gigantic verandah opened up to us, right after a small flight of stairs. A perfectly well-shaded verandah in contrast to the bright and well lit up courtyard with blotches of magenta and tangerine flowers. With every step we took the transversely long verandah slowly started opening up to us and there it was a grand entrance with five large doors, one right in front of us and the other four on either side of the centre. A man three times as tall could walk into these large wooden doors. The outer grills of the doors and windows gave the dark window plank some design. The walls had a burnt yellow paint which comforted the dark brown to black furniture and inside details of the house.
The scale of the spaces in the house depended upon the purpose of the space; semi-public spaces like living room were quite huge and had long length walls, personal spaces like bedroom were small comparatively. All the structural elements were kept visible and were not kept hidden.
The architecture inside the house was also a bit contemporary due to the changes that had been made. Modern elements like glass partitions, air conditioners had been added but care was taken that these added elements didn’t affect the true essence of the house.
More and more the house engulfed us into her, with all the tall walls and the large encompassing roof, made us feel infinity small. Through the thick walls and dark dead furniture, the light that entered the house from the windows were filtered from the white thin curtains, so light that the little breeze that entered the house blew the curtains making them look like large lanterns of light. By afternoons this view changed completely. The entrance lead us to a well ornamented and furnished living room; with teapoy, sofas, reclining chair, tables. One could see the roof, its details and joineries running through the whole length from this space. The yellow walls started looking brighter and warm, other than being lit in sunlight the red and green-tinted glass got in some colour in the monochromatic cold mansion.
During the process of documenting the house, we saw the house unravel in front of us. Room by room, furniture by furniture, every detail spelt out the mystery of the house. Photographs and paintings, mirrors and reflections, the flow of the curtains, the streaks of light, and it came undone. Walking through the house felt like we were reliving time. Every piece of furniture was planned and placed to evoke that particular quality in the space. It was one of the main features of the house, making the experience more homely. The bulky laterite walls allowed enough space for the windows to have seating. Almost every window had well-cushioned seats. While the other in the kitchen served as side tables.
Sometimes the walls had in-wall storage cupboards, these cupboards allowed a lot of free space to walk around in rooms. After a couple of large rooms followed by a broad passageway like dining room, ended with the large double-height kitchen. The large house came to an end with a square well, which opened right after the kitchen back door. One after the other, the main door, opened to the living room, the second door, opened to the multipurpose room, and the third door to the dining area. Clinging onto the wall, and almost overshadowed, one lean long staircase went straight up to a small blank wall. Climbing up the staircase, just like a tall claustrophobic walking down a narrow passageway, we reached the top of the staircase, and probably the roof. When we pushed open the door to the left a large bedroom opened itself. Four large windows on either side of the room, with cushions and the white thin fabric curtain puffed up like large lanterns of sunlight. Soft wooden planks under and a high roof with visible Mangalore tiles, above. A comfortably placed large bed, with two study tables on two opposite walls, one smaller than the other, and a smaller bed at the side which was probably used as a couch.
As we were about to leave, in one small corner we found a petit washroom. Compared to the other large washrooms in the house this couldn’t even be classified as one. As rhadamanthine as the room was, almost disappearing crayon drawings of flowers and some curly lines running across the room, gave life to this lone room.
An unyielding house. True to its time and the process of decay. Resolutely standing tall on its ground for a thousand years. Unlike others, the house had a mystery of its own, an untold story lurking around between the thick walls and tall roofs. The house, when presented to us was, raw. The bare roofs, the unpainted walls. There was no effort taken to change the house to make it look grand and young as it would have in its earlier years, but allowing the onset of senility.
This project was done as part of a Measure drawing exercise in my third year of Architecture.
Explore all the drawings made as part of this exercise under,
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Great work Bhat! So happy to see this come to fruition! Push harder you talented bird! More power to you girl!
Wow like wow 🤩