DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR WINTERS
Ar Rajkumar Kumawat
Winter brings with it a slowing down of time itself. The days are shorter, the sounds are muffled, and a home starts to have a different kind of presence. Winter is a season to be designed, and designing a season, comes from three core ingredients: light, materials, and silence.
Light
Light is the primary and most potent instrument in winter. Compared to the blinding quality of sunshine during summer, the quality of light during winter is subtle yet directional. Light during winter penetrates spaces at an angle, staying longer with an attention to textures that may otherwise remain inconspicuous. The role of light is that of an inconspicuous assistant, where light is defined in terms of rhythm rather than drama. Light penetration occurs in calculated spaces with the intention of allowing homes to naturally heat up. Lighted floors, muffled shadows, and subtle patterns instill serenity that may be difficult to achieve with artificial lighting.
Material
Material comes in as the second layer in the dialogue. In the winter season, textures are not only a visual experience but a sensory one as well. Material that exudes warmth and a sense of memory, stones that are softened, wood that showcases its grain, lime plaster that is breathable, and fabric touchable are all good for winters. Such materials age well and handle temperature changes in a sensitive manner, giving the interior a grounding experience over a styled one.
What marks this material vocabulary is self-control. Winter interior design lacks opulence when it concerns texture, it is opulent. It contains subtle hues and earthy shades that bring homes comfort without making them feel weighed down.
Silence
The third and subtle part of winter philosophy is the concept of silence – it doesn’t mean absence of sound but the presence of calm. The planning of spaces is carried out carefully. The circulation route is not planned in a way that requires forced transitions to and from spaces. The private areas are withdrawn from the active space in a gentle manner. The thick walls reduce the outside noise and make the house a refuge against the outside world.
This quietness also extends to space usage. Winter houses are meant to facilitate quiet, reading nooks bathed in the warmth of the afternoons, seating that encourages talk, and a sense of being in a cocoon-like bed rather than an isolated one. There is layered and warm lighting, none of which creates glare, allowing the space to change naturally from day to night.
Behind this ideology lies the need for passive comfort. With orientation, insulation, thermal mass, and material intelligence, comfort is achieved without much mechanical help. And, comfort can become seamless when architecture is directly related to the climate.
In the end, it is the aesthetics of listening that encompasses in winter design ideology, that is, listening to the season, materials, and how people relate with their spaces. Light leads people, materials retain heat, and silence allows spaces to breathe. These elements accrue spaces that do not scream but give refuge.
In winter, when the world turns in, architecture also has to learn to soften. In this lies the truth about the luxury that good design provides.
Rajkumar Kumawat is Founder and Principal Architect at Rajkumar Architects
