Landscape – Page 6 – akshay kaul and associates

Krishna Arup Residence

As I have grown on the banks of a monsoon streams and experienced the brooklets, streams, rivers and lakes in my home town Kashmir we bring in a natural love and poetics of water in all over projects including this one. Rainwater Harvesting and Storm Water Management were the guiding principles for design. Each drop of water is harvested and eventually finds its way into a detention pond filled with aquatics. The overflow from which is connected to recharge the bore well. In this garden we brought in for the first time in our Northern Indian climates plants that find mention in ‘ayurveda’.

Anuradha Farm

The brief for this project was to design a landscape on a two and a half acre lot on outskirt of the city for renting out the large house. The brief meant that it would be a generic client head of a corporate or a
diplomat or an ex-pat. Such building and gardens are designed on a low budget. The gardens however were designed keeping in view our environmental concerns which meant addressing issues of water
conservation, bio-diversity, wildlife issues and restoring the ecology in what ever possible way within the constraints of time and money. The project was completed in 2006 and we were able to photograph it again in 2008. However, with changing tenants – the character of landscape changes depending on how much care the tenant takes of the gardens.

Raas Haveli

Raas Jodhpur, India is a luxury boutique hotel in the old city of Jodhpur, which features 17th and 18th century period structures that have been restored using traditional crafts and materials. New structures and landscape gardens are designed to provide visitors with a sensual contemporary experience. The landscape responds to the historic city and celebrates the view of the fort in a modern and authentic manner without aping the past.

The Master Plan is contemporary and so are the resulting forms and spaces in the garden with craftsmanship integrated and adopted in a contemporary language. The gardens and architecture are constantly in a seamless dialogue. The gardens can be experienced from every guest room and in a unique manner while moving from one space to another. Each of these gardens varies in its character and has been choreographed into a unique symphony.

Issues of environment are addressed even in these small scale gardens. Rainwater harvesting is integrated in garden design and also most of the water that is used to irrigate the gardens is from the treated waste water. Sand stone which is available locally around Jodhpur and materials with low embodied energy are used in the landscape. Local sand stone has been used for the exterior of the traditional and new structures in the project and also in the landscape. However, the stone expresses itself in the landscape in myriad ways in a contemporary manner through the interplay of size, texture and relief.

Planting in this urban resort was a challenge because of the conflict with sight lines and the need to constantly preserve the view of the fort from the guest rooms and the gardens. Plant selection and location was done very carefully. Native trees and some of the native ones from the region are added where ever possible and naturalized indigenous shrubs have been planted in the garden. A small garden with herbs and fruits has been planted that is used in the kitchen. Aquatic garden is added that brings the birds and adds a unique character to the garden. Reeds are planted in the aquatic garden that provides privacy to the swimming pool area.

In the main court at the entrance a small garden with different varieties of jasmine are planted that bloom from time to time and sometimes in different times of the year. As one enters the garden the perfume and also predominantly white flowers draws the senses inward and has a magical effect on the guests. The trees and shrubs with profuse white flowering attracts different insects, bees, birds, smaller animals into the garden during the day and at night which was one of the objective of the landscape design.

The garden picks up reference and very subtly addresses historicity of water in the most contemporary manner. Water is used to highlight the landscape as channels or small troughs or cascade in this arid landscape. Poetry in water is expressed as floating pavilion and the floating garden At night the landscape transforms as the water and gardens elements, niches and the fort light up to create a sensual poetry.

Shreyas Retreat

This yoga resort is spread over 22 acres in the outskirts of Bangalore city. The landscape was designed to work with natural systems and processes with water as the starting point for master planning and design. A series of detention, retention ponds along with bio-swales were created that additionally served as opportunities for outdoor activities for yoga and recreation. Pavilion and deck were created for the guests near the ponds and in the landscape. The site was a coconut plantation that was suffering from an irreversible disease. Indigenous techniques were applied to improve the soil health and a variety of native trees, shrubs and grasses were planted to enhance the biodiversity. One 25 people can stay at a time on the 22 acre landscape and 5 acres were earmarked for organic farming to supply fresh produce for the kitchen. The guest gets the opportunity to work in the edible landscape as a part of their stay.

The Serai – SUJAN

We were involved in advising the client on selecting the 25 acres from the larger 50-acre parcel for master planning, landscape and architecture design. The project is located in the shifting sand dunes area of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan in India and is spread over an area of 25 acres. It is a luxury tented safari resort with a spa, organic farm, and poultry. The layout of the 25 tents is inspired by the Serai (temporary cities of the caravans of the nobles). It is laid out in a formal axial geometry with one end as the super-luxury tent with a private pool and the other as the swimming pool and the public spaces. The elevated swimming pool provides the opportunity to see the setting sun in the infinite desert horizon. The landscape reflects the wilderness and biodiversity of the desert predominated by regional grasses, acacias and thorny vegetation. A nursery was set up on site to collect the seeds of the grasses, native plants, shrubs and trees as none of them was available in any nursery. Wastewater treatment is integrated into landscape design and is used to conserve the soil moisture through an underground indigenous technique of irrigating the plants.

Athwajan Stone Quarry Park

Located in Srinagar, Jammu, and Kashmir, India, along the highway this existing quarry site was closed to make way for a park with playfields. It is located between the River Jhelum on the West and the Zabarwan Mountains on the East and North. This valley has been amidst political turmoil and almost a war like situation for the last 30 years with despair, hopelessness and high rate of unemployment and radicalization amongst the youth.

The 27-acre quarry site gets flooded annually as quarrying has lowered the ground level. The loose or fractured exposed quarried rocky surface forms the natural ground now. The site’s social and ecological context was the basis for the design. The core vision was to create a landscape that would be able to deal with annual flooding and through bio-engineering restore the quarried mountain slopes. Extensive social survey of the communities formed the basis of the program for the landscape. New and diverse sports activities were designed to engage all sections of the society and especially the youth with yoga, mountaineering, and Skate Board. Communities spaces for gathering, events, marriages have been provided and a wayside restaurant for generating revenue for operation and maintenance for the park. This wilderness and bio-diversity park would also function as an inspiration and new model for land development.

The ROW along the Highway has been proposed to be widened and parking is integrated with bio-swales and detention ponds that would take care of the runoff from the highway and the parking lot. The arrival court would give a stunning and filtered view of the mountain to the East. The circulation in the park is guided by the poplar trees that once formed avenues along important highways in the valley and would rekindle the association. Soil from the dredging of the lakes and River Jhelum is proposed to be re-used to establish the meadow and grass landscape. Meadows replace the traditional lawns that would now bloom in the spring and extend till the summers. The retention and detention ponds and bio-swales are lined with willow trees which has a traditional association of the natural streams in the valley. Native deciduous tree species are proposed as part of the urban wilderness to create tranquil spaces for yoga, meditation, healing, and contemplation. Fragrant perennial shrubs are proposed to attract bees, butterflies, and birds.