BRICK AND MUD

STRUCTURES
BY :

Mud Structure
UD HOUSE-ANANGPUR VILLAGE
Mud House at Anangpur
Village, Surajkund,
Haryana is a small
residential building
designed by REVATHI
KAMATH

Located on a land that

was once a quarry, mining
quartzite and Badarpur
stone dust.
Ecology of the area had
been devastated by the
mining
Original scrub forest had
been chopped and ravaged
for fire wood.

A two storey structure

Has load bearing walls made
of sun dried, hand moulded
mud bricks.

Intermediate
floor is made of
sandstone slabs
supported on the
mud walls

Maximum use of natural

materials found in surroundings
Minimum and judicious use of
non-renewable, non-biodegradable and fossil resources
such as metals, stone, stone slabs,
plastics, cement, lime etc.

Network was also made to

channelize the rainwater into the
ponds
Ponds - major source of the clay
and silt used to make the mud
bricks for the construction.
Green roof with live grass and
vegetation tops the two storey
structure.
Structure has High thermal
capacity thick walls , green roof

BRICK
STRUCTURE

BELGIAN
EMBASSY

INTRODUCTIO
N
TheEmbassy of Belgium in New Delhiis the
diplomatic missionof theKingdom of BelgiumtoIndia.
Theembassyis located inShantipath, Chanakyapuri.
The construction was designed and managed
bySatish Gujral. It was designed and completed
in 1984.
The embassy was one of Satish Gujral's most
challenging assignments, winning him national
and international awards.
In 2000, the building was recognised as one of
the 1000 best buildings in the 19th century.

ARCH
The front facade consists of two large cupolas with
E
ITECTUR
a central fold
above the entrance.
The entrance opens into a courtyard with stone masonry and
greenery within. The building is constructed with red bricks.
The ubiquitous red brick construction of the building has been
compared to early architectural forms prevalent inMohenjo-daroand
thebuddhist architectureinSanchiandNalanda.[

The design
resembles a
fortress of rocky
outcrops. The
building complex
includes the
administrative
buildings of the
embassy,
chancellor's
residence,

Some parts of the

building near the
entrance are open
to visitors, while
the parts hosting
the residence and
the administrative
blocks are not
accessible to the
public.

Placing it in context of history of

design Arjun Thapar(an architect) feels
that it made architectural history, in
the manner it broke norms of office
buildings.
It was probably the first time that
exposed bricks were used for a formal
building, bricks were usually
considered and informal medium.
The use of exposed bricks however
was not new, considered that Le
Corbusier had built almost the entire
Chandigarh with this look. Bricks are
also problem material because they
allow for leakage unless until the
roofing has been properly treated,
especially in context of the Embassy
the wall merges into the roof shaped
like a dome.
The designer remarks that in the 15