A Luxurious and Minimalist Nordic-Style Apartment for a Family of Five in Mumbai, India

A Hint of Azul is a luxurious nordic-style apartment located in Mumbai, India. It was designed by Dig Architects, this minimalist contemporary house is divided into rooms by walls, the movement of bodies and infrastructure follows the logic of a landscape, extending and contracting spaces.

by Gemma Oct 8, 2022 27 Images

A Hint of Azul by Dig Architects

The common critique of a house has been of a dead narrow passage connecting different spaces. Hence we hoped to create spaces that hold social relationships of the family and the movement relationship between body and space. Here the house has been articulated in a way that the passage has become a transition from one space to another space. It has been looked at as a journey in itself, where space expands and contracts as one moves through it.

The apartment owner is a family of five. They have been a part of the construction industry for a very long time and built their own networks through their work. Their main requirement was to have a simple and calm space. They had a desire to have a space that has Nordic roots and allows an atmosphere for other people to come together.

The site being a twin flat, remained a basic house of 4- bedrooms even after reimaging the plan. Breaking the main partition in between gave a huge central space with all rooms opening into it. The huge rectangular (Maidan) shared space wouldn’t allow appropriations to happen. As a design strategy, we then used Soft Curves as a tool and started scooping out spaces to create thresholds.

The main transition space becomes the dining from which the rest of the spaces branch out further creating various kinds of niches and soft curves. The soft curves create niches that smoothen the flow across spaces to follow the crux of overall planning.

One enters in a niche, which allows a pause and does not directly enter into the space. The bench at the entrance is a doubly curved surface which emphasizes its geometry and hence builds upon the language of the fillet(soft curves). There are tiny moves in the entire house e.g.- Coffee table, Bar console where these geometries then continue to generate their form.

Since the interior design is retrofitted on a structural layout designed for a different plan, the false ceiling becomes an organism that extends itself from the outside into the bedrooms, creating thresholds between the inside and outside. This false ceiling also houses services, i.e. the HVAC system and electrical lines with devices like projectors. It demonstrates that while the house is divided into rooms by walls, the movement of bodies and infrastructure follows the logic of a landscape, extending and contracting spaces to connect daily practices.

The material and Nordic style make the apartment feel very intimate and minimal. The soft-looking crystal white stone sits on the entire floor in the common areas and the wood wraps the intimate spaces which further enhances the greys in the rest of the space. The artworks which are more like installations are particularly customized for the space-enhancing a hint of Azul.