{"id":3711,"date":"2025-08-16T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/?p=3711"},"modified":"2025-08-22T15:19:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T15:19:38","slug":"untag-uses-plants-and-earthen-textures-for-biophilic-villa-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/16\/untag-uses-plants-and-earthen-textures-for-biophilic-villa-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"UnTAG uses plants and earthen textures for biophilic villa in India"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Villa<\/div>\n

Architecture practice UnTAG has created a home<\/a> in the Western Ghats mountain range, India<\/a>, which has terracotta-hued spaces and integrated planting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Named Villa Prakriti after the Sanskrit term for mother nature, the 418-square-metre (4,500-square-foot) home steps down the hillside overlooking the surrounding mountain range.<\/p>\n

Informed by biophilic design<\/a> principles, Mumbai-based unTAG<\/a> designed the home to maximise its exposure to natural light, ventilation and plants, which have been incorporated into all of its spaces.<\/p>\n

\"Villa
UnTAG designed Villa Prakriti around biophilic design principles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The core concept of Prakriti lies in its deep reverence for nature – not as a backdrop, but as the very origin of life and space,” UnTAG\u00a0principal architects Gauri Satam and Tejesh Patil told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The home doesn’t mimic nature, but aspires to live in its likeness – adaptive, rooted, generous, and ever-evolving,” they continued.<\/p>\n

“At its heart is the idea of biophilic living, where green inserts, natural light, earthen textures, and native landscape are not aesthetic decisions, but fundamental design elements that guide form, flow, and feeling.”<\/p>\n

\"Circular
A circular skylight gives views of the outdoor greenery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nestled into its sloping site, the home’s central living area is naturally ventilated by walls of perforated brickwork and sliding glass, with a large circular skylight overhead giving views of the sky and plants.<\/p>\n

Extending outwards onto a swimming pool patio and upwards to a rooftop terrace, these living areas are dotted with large planters in earth-coloured concrete, several of which incorporate seating areas.<\/p>\n

\"Swimming
Living areas open onto a swimming pool patio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rectilinear form of the living space connects two volumes on either side \u2013 a kitchen to the northeast and two bedrooms to the southwest \u2013 topped with oversized tiled gable roofs that mark the highest points of the building before it “cascades” down the hill.<\/p>\n

“The greatest challenge was the contoured site, which we approached not as a problem, but as a poetic opportunity, allowing the house to gently cascade with the terrain instead of resisting it,” explained Satam and Patil.<\/p>\n

“This approach, paired with native plantings, verandahs and balconies that frame distant views, and minimal site intervention, ensured a home that feels discovered, not inserted – an ecological gesture more than an architectural one.”<\/p>\n