Modern Transparent House | The Net House | Matharoo Associates

Though less prevalent today, in our childhood we slept outdoors under a simple net held up by intersecting bamboo poles which once we tucked in, became our private domain, a safe haven. When the brief for a weekend house in the fringes of the city asked for a place that is open to nature yet shields you from its harsher aspects, memories of the net and the protection it offered came to mind.

A Virtual jungle of hoardings, telecom towers and temporary structures now make up the Indian city skyline. This same image reverberates in the light, hand fabricated steel and concrete trellis that holds up the slab and leaves the floor below free and unencumbered. Centered around an all encompassing cabinet, the 40’ x 40’ column less space thus formed is enveloped in gossamer layers of sliding mosquito net to protect from insects, roll up bamboo chiks to provide shade from the hot tropical sun and folding glass so the space can be air-conditioned. All these layers providing desired degrees of privacy, shelter and exposure to nature, resulting in the NET HOUSE.........more