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You can pick one wall or an entire room to be dressed up. Photo: H. Vibhu
The Hindu You can pick one wall or an entire room to be dressed up. Photo: H. Vibhu

Wall of fame

Dressing up your wall involves more than just picking from a palette of dull single-toned shades, writes Oishee Mukhopadhyay Talwar. »      1 comment
A stone stairway in the garden

The forest library

You’re reading by a balcony that faces a stream when you notice the squirrel. He is the red-bellied species, and sports a bushy tail that seems to have a life of its own. He darts between branches... »
Floored by choice: Pick a tile that suits the room's function

Some tile tales

Floor tiles are the most common interior décor item, and yet the most misunderstood. Here’s a primer. »
The swank new airport in Chennai suffers from a host of problems. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan
May 31, 2013

Just plane careless

Chennai’s new domestic terminal is making news for all the wrong reasons. It should have been the latest addition to the city’s growing list of world-class infrastructure facilities, but instead i... »      25 comments
Don't water the plants when the sun is at its peak
May 31, 2013
The plot

Summer care

The plotAs the mercury continues to rise, it’s up to us to take care of the plants that adorn our garden. Here are a few simple ways to make sure they’re still thriving and receiving... »
MODEL HOUSE: This house has been built in a way that it can collect the entire precipitation over the built-up area of the plot. Nearly two lakh litres of rainwater is available annually.
Bangalore, May 25, 2013

Act now, get water 24 x 7

He personifies the ideas he conceives and would like the State and the people to pursue them. A. R. Shivakumar, Principal Investigator for Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) at the Indian Institute of Scie... »
There is a need to rethink public spaces
May 18, 2013
CITYSCAPE

The living tree

In early April, just around the time when the summer heat begins to get oppressive, a close group of college friends from architecture school and I came up with a brilliant idea. We woul... »
Residential buildings are fastest taking to the green building segment. Photo: G. R. N. Somashekar
May 17, 2013

New fund, old problems

About two years ago, Germany and India met to see how the former could help our country with energy-efficient construction. Industry leaders and experts were invited to share ideas.They came... »
Rupa Gopal
Chennai, May 15, 2013

She brought the roof down

All around us in Chennai, I see priceless old homes and charming bungalows demolished to make way for skyscrapers and apartment complexes that look like beehives. When you renovate an old house ins... »      5 comments
A mood board: For a singe woman's cozy, living cum TV room
Chennai, May 10, 2013

Enter, home stylist

That big, bulky coffee table that you purchased on impulse is now taking a lot of space in your living room. Your friends are either too nice to tell you to get rid of it or you don’t trust their... »
A view of a compound wall using eco-friendly coir.
Mysore, April 26, 2013

Building walls around us

Can any of us guess the resources spent in building compound walls around us? Statistics can be mind boggling – and here it goes. A typical owner of 30 x 40 ft. plot in Bangalore builds 450 sq. ft... »
Outer facade designed with pine and eucalyptus wood with a straw and grass roof
April 26, 2013

Spaces

It has been a dream of architect Praveen Rao's to have a home of his own on the East Coast Road (ECR). A number of years ago, he had to use the very same road every day, while studying at The Gover... »
A screenshot of Apna Ghar
May 31, 2013
SHOP TALK

Click and own

For anyone looking to buy a home in a different city or country, the opportunity to view the property or interact with the sellers becomes a challenge. To help overcome this is a website that offe... »
Pebbles and other trinkets spruce up a corner
May 27, 2013

Spaces

If you have just one small space as your ‘outdoors’, you could start by curtaining off the utilities area for clothes drying etc. with screens or blinds. Says Sriram Aravamudan, founding member, M... »
CLEAN TECHNOLOGY: Waste water goes through a precise sequence of aeration, sedimentation and removal of clear water.
May 25, 2013

A sewage treatment plant for every home

A cool breeze welcomes me at Kannan Pasupathiraj’s home in Muttukkadu. We sit down in the garden. Just as I am about to sip my tea, I hear the sound of water flowing beneath my feet.Seeing m... »
If rain water percolation and ground water recharge can be properly managed, parts of site can be left at natural levels and money saved.
May 17, 2013

Getting the most out of setbacks

When we read about the rate of urbanisation in India, among the many implications discussed, the less focused has been developed land area as a limited earth resource. With the increasing land pri... »
May 17, 2013

Siena’s building secrets now unveiled

Secret passages high up in the rafters of Siena Cathedral have been opened for the first time after decades of restoration, offering a rare view of midnight-blue ceilings and the Tuscan panorama.»
The stark wooden staircase that leads up from the ground floor. Photos: Nagara Gopal
Hyderabad, May 10, 2013

Spaces

Even before the house was planned, Mrudula Alla had compiled what she calls her wish file, a folder of designs and décor ideas, of what her future home should look like. It all went into creating... »
These graffiti-covered walls are nothing but wasted opportunities. Photo: Ganesh Ramachandran
May 7, 2013
CITYSCAPE

Great walls of India

If there is a singular building element that distinguishes middle and upper income households and apartment complexes in Indian cities it is the perimeter walls also known as ‘compound walls’. Whi... »
A lot of research and experimentation went into the construction as bamboo is susceptible to climate changes.
Mysore, April 26, 2013

The timber house

Introducing unique concepts, themes, and facades is an integral part of architecture, built to make a statement. Thus, experimentation with proportions and formstakes place, using different materi... »
Move the couch to a corner, get some colourful lights and throw in a plant or two.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 26, 2013

Makeover on a shoestring

Making your home the sweet home you want it to be requires diligent attention. Without regular makeovers, you run the risk of being stuck in a bygone era with the home unable to live up to your gr... »
Slideshow
Tennis star Sania Mirza inaugurated The Hindu Habitat Living Spaces-2013 in Hyderabad on 13 April 2013. Photos: Mohammed Yousuf
more slideshows »