The Matrimandir/ Auroville by Roger Anger

Auroville is a universal township where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.

The Matrimandir/ Auroville
Design Team: Roger Anger
Location: Tamil Nadu, India
When to visit: Weekdays- 10 am to 1 pm, 2 pm to 4.30 pm, Sundays- 10 am to 1 pm only. Access to Auroville and Matrimandir is free of charge.

Auroville is a planned universal township for up to 50,000 people under development in south east India. Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity. In its centre, next to the great Banyan tree, there is an enormous golden ball called Matrimandir, in Sanskrit, means "Temple of the Divine Mother".

It was the brainchild of Mirra Alfassa, a French citizen of Ottoman-Egyptian origin, known in Auroville simply as 'The Mother'. The man charged with building that city was a French architect and urban planner called Roger Anger. A futurist and part of the Parisian avant-garde scene, he was best known for building what was at the time the tallest residential complex in Europe, the 98m-high Ile Verte in Grenoble.




In close coordination with The Mother, Anger drew up the master plan for a galaxy-shaped city. It was divided into four sectors that spiraled outwards from a central Peace Zone, in the middle of which stood the Matrimandir. Matrimandir’s inner chamber is the conceptualization of Mother’s vision. She actually visualized each and every dimension of this structure .The globe structure as a whole was designed by Architect Roger Anger.

Suspended several metres above a lotus pool on four massive supports, the 36m-diameter Matrimandir or Temple of the Mother, is a giant geodesic sphere. Its outer surface is covered in huge, gold mosaic-clad concave discs, a little like inverted frisbecs. Its inner surface is covered in an opaque fabric that tints the light filtering into the cavernous interior with a warm orange glow.

At the end of the two slender glass and white marble ramps that spiral 20m high in the interior of the sphere, there is a room. Inside it, 12 white marble columns emerge from plush white carpet, but they do not support the ceiling. In the centre of the ceiling there is an opening, through which a beam of white light shines down into a perfectly spherical, 70cm Zeiss crystal ball placed in the centre of the room. The light illuminates the ball, capturing the images of the people sitting around the room cross-legged. It then passes through an aperture beneath it. through the cavernous space below and out of the base of the sphere, where the reflection bounces off the lotus pool beneath.




Surrounding the sphere are 12 red sandstone 'petals' containing 12 egg-shaped, windowless meditation chambers, painted in 12 vibrant colours. A white marble platform is suspended in the middle of the chamber. There are small round white cushions on the floor. A light on the wall facing the platform serves as a focus. The space is secular. There are no statues, images or mantras.

The Matrimandir is the psychic heart of Auroville. From above, it resembles a giant bud. Viewed from the ground, its sandstone chambers closely resemble stylized clods of earth, pushed up by the sphere as it exits the earth. From here, the Matrimandir seems a shining new world, captured in the process of being born.




Photo credits: theflame | dharmasphere
via Auroville

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Bodegas Ysios by Santiago Calatrava

The building is conceived as an element completely integrated in the surrounding landscape and, at the same time, as an autonomous site-specific sculpture.

Bodegas Ysios
Design Team: Santiago Calatrava
Location: Laguardia, Spain
Cost: $6 million
When to visit: Completed 2000

The Bodegas and Bebidas group wanted a building that would be an icon for its prestigeous new wine "la Rioja Alavesa" and at the same time accomodate the precise and rigorous program of spaces needed to make, store and sell wine.

The site is uneven, with pronounced grade changes of as much as 10 meters from the highest levels in the north, to the lowest in the south. About half of the site is occupied by vineyards.

Calatrava adopted the strategy of giving a volumetric treatment to the roof and walls - physical limits of the landscape outside and the winery within - so that continuity between the two spaces is achieved through the "static movement" of the enclosures. Two 196 meter long concrete, load - bearing walls, placed 26 meters apart, trace a sinusoidal shape in both plan and elevation.

The roof, composed of a series of laminated wooden beams, supported on the staggered sinusoidal cornice of the lateral walls, is treated as a continuation of the facades. The result is a ruled surface wave, which combines concave and convex surfaces as it evolves along the longitudinal axis.

The building is outlined as a simple rectangular plan, along an east - west axis, to accommodate the linear program for the wine making process. Two entrances in the side facades emphasize this linearity.




The interior of the winery unfolds in a roughly linear sequence on two levels, with hoppers of grapes entering on the west and finished cases of bottled wine exiting to the east. Calatrava exposed the utilitarian nature of the interiors, specifying simple materials and finishes and allowing the swooping ceilings and zigzagging walls to provide the visual excitement.






via arcspace | Santiago Calatrava

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International Criminal Court by Ingenhoven Architects

The architects ability to transform the criminal court into a 'happy building', which creates a new democratic image of a court and a deep philosophy to justice. The multiple visual connections create an open, transparent campus-like appearance.

International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague
Design Team: Ingenhoven Architects
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
When to visit: Completion 2014

The dunes in The Hague are a unique site for a prestigious international institution like the ICC. In the design this wonderful setting is literally pulled further towards the city: the new court building hovers above the extended natural dune-scape in a light and un-obstructive manner. The dunes float underneath freely and straight into the building in the shape of multiple gardens.

The layout of the floor plans is clear, allowing easy orientation and navigation. The three main areas of the prosecutors, the judges and the registrars are clearly separated from each other, still the building acts as an open house architecturally. While neither standing in the tradition of a temple like court building, let alone a fabulous palace of justice it transform and differentiates the modernist box by re-uniting the realm of the people with unspoiled nature in the form of gardens.




Views into nature, views into one of the several omnipresent gardens orientate both every-day users as well as visitors in the building as they are visually exposed to natural conditions such as weather or natural daylight at any time. The buildings architecture is light, careful, elegant and at the same time transparent. It is detached from any specific cultural context. The design is not an overly defensive 'security-architecture' but an expression of fairness and a court of law as a place of court hearings.

While nevertheless respecting the legitimate needs for privacy it promotes openness towards the public and the media, to make verdicts comprehensible. The building should help the public understand how it functions and not try to hide anything from the public eye.




via Ingenhoven Architects

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The Ennis House by Frank Lloyd Wright

A triumph of his California-inspired style, the Ennis House is the largest and boldest execution of Wright's iconic textile-block designs.

The Charles W. & Mabel Ennis House
Design Team: Frank Lloyd Wright
Location: 2655 Glendower Avenue, Los Angeles, California, US
When to visit: Anytime

The Mayan-inspired house is one of the first residences constructed from concrete block. This method of construction, favored by the Wright, features 16 inch cast concrete blocks that are stacked, without visible mortar joints, using thin concrete and steel reinforcing rods.

A gate opens to the generously proportioned motor court, off of which a door grants access to the home’s ground-level entrance. The billiards room, with a bar and open fireplace, beckons off the entry. A low, shadowed lobby introduces the interior of the main residence—a Wrightian device that prepares residents and guests for the dramatic burst of light and space awaiting atop the marble stairs. An elevated dining room with a massive fireplace serves as the centerpiece of the house. A soaring window is appointed with art-glass and facing windows feature mitered corners—another Wright signature to invite the outdoors into the house.




High ceilings and numerous art-glass windows affording sprawling views of Los Angeles enhance the living room. The glass-tile mosaic fireplace in the living room is one of only three ever created and the last remaining intact example in any Wright residence. A long window-lined loggia on the north side overlooks the pool and flows from the public rooms to the master suite, the guest bedroom suite, and a small Japanese garden.

The kitchen and pantry are accessed through an elevated hall above the entry. A small bedroom with a bath is also included in this wing. A bridge leads from the main residence to the chauffeur’s quarters, which are located above the four-car garage. The chauffeur’s quarters comprise a bedroom, bath, kitchenette, and comfortable living area.

Built for Charles W. and Mabel Ennis, the house was the largest of Wright’s four textile-block homes, as the Ennises liked to entertain. The residence has changed hands seven times since it was sold by Mabel Ennis in 1936, following Charles’s death in 1928. Various owners have contributed their individual imprints, but the original design has remained largely intact.




Unlike the other textile-block houses, interior details of the Ennis House, such as light fixtures, were not designed by Wright. Wright’s relationship with Mrs. Ennis was strained and Wright left the project before completion.

In 2009, the Ennis House Foundation has decided to place the Ennis House on the market for sale to a private owner with the vision and resources to give this house the level of care it needs and deserves.



Photos credits: Tim Street-Porter
via Ennis House Foudation | Christie's Great Estates

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