Personalisation in Rental Spaces is the Future
In India, home ownership among the urban middle class appears to be low at present. The reason is multi- fold, with high interest rates and property prices among others acting as major disincentives for people looking to buy homes. Today, about 30% of urban Indians live in rental housing, as per a 2019 Knight Frank report.
What is intriguing is that our popular typologies have not addressed designing for tenant centric housing. Even while work opportunities have brought the younger generations to Tier 1 cities over the years, the cities themselves have not been allowed to accommodate this migrant diaspora. As architects, we have not been able to break through the existing proponent systems to design successfully for dynamic tenure- based housing models.
While quite a few issues have been spotted in this typology of residential projects, the most daunting is the widespread acceptance of ‘ renting’ as a ‘ revenue generation mechanism’ for middle- and high- income families. This could easily be the reason that most renters feel disconnected to their homes, which in turn results in the failure of this model.
The perception of the young renter about building comfort is significantly different from other communities and their interpretation of the built environment, and thus, their ways of engagement with it are unique. To understand how they alter the built environment to satisfy their demands, one needs to critically evaluate interpretations of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by this generational community. Its preliminary gothrough suggests that these young professionals view the Maslow’s pyramid as a concentric circle, indicating their will to achieve all parameters at once. It is important that a practitioner of the design and built community understand this physiology of the tenant, so that personalised homes can be planned even for shorter tenure stays and the liveability index is improved for this particular cohort of our population.
Understanding and rationalisation of this anomaly in the housing landscape for personalisation of the living space has been taken up by both young architectural firms and creative professionals. We look at a few works to deconstruct the values that define a modern take on rental housing.
CONCEPT INTERIORS
■ The Living Hearth
The ideology of bringing meaning to a space through art— by using the art to customise the space and set a tone in pale- coloured apartments— is not new. But being able to use art as the central concept to bring meaning to the spaces we inhabit every day is an interesting take. Here we see a Mandala of Jnanadakini sitting centrestage in the dining room of the Raas residence in Gurugram. Seen from above, this Tibetan masterpiece from the late 14th century depicts a palace presided over by a female Buddha, Jnanadakini. The central deity, Jnanadakini ( Tib. Yeshe Khandroma), the ‘ sky- going goddess of pristine awareness’, is a dark- blue manifestation of Vajrayogini and Vajravarahi who belong to the Caturpitha Mahayogini Tantra cycle. The concept proposed by the architectural firm, Urban Academe was clear and simple: To setup the main living space of the residence under the goddess of awareness and a heightened feeling of mindfulness.
■ Small Office Home Office: SOHO
This year saw an unprecedented setup of home
office spaces; while some were makeshift, a few were well planned for. “This office den was setup to replicate the old- world charm of a work space,” says UA Director Sagar Gupta. With elegant upholstery, a vintage bookshelf, a Persian carpet and a wide work desk, the mood here is set for a cosy day at the office. The highlights in this room include the old- school wooden chair and ottoman.
Here, monochrome doodles are added to the space as artworks.
■ The Reading Room Most avid readers would find this nook with stacks of books piled high in every corner a sheer heaven. This is the reading room at the Sebastian- Bawa residence in Noida. This journalist couple clearly enjoy reading and took it on themselves to design this space personally. While the walnut- coloured shelves add warmth to the cream- toned walls, a set of rugs add deep hues to the white tile flooring. As the space is void of any windows, a full
The ideology of bringing meaning to a space through art— by using the art to customise the space and set a tone in pale- coloured apartments— is not new. But being able to use art as the central concept to bring meaning to the spaces we inhabit every day is an interesting take.
length mirror is used to reflect the intended lighting in the room, giving it a sense of great openness. The idea of keeping all the shelves in the same tone of wood allow flexibility, for when the couple needs to move next. The notion of having all movables in a colour scheme of choice allows for adaptive flexibility in between tenures.
■ The Boudoir The term derives from the French verb ‘ boudoir’, which means to sulk or pout. In this residence that finds itself adapted into a cosy office and reading space, with a splash of yellow- ochre taking over the upholstery, the chances of it being used to sulk seem slim. Once again, a play on an informal office space, this form of customisation increases the usability of the space. As the young tenants seldom need a guest room, they’ve found interesting usage for the space that allows most out of the floor plates, instead of having them pristinely laid out for guests that drop by once in a year. This space finds its modern interpretation from a 1920’ s concept, wherein a notion of private living and working space gives rise to a typology that is feminine.
While a great struggle still remains in the non- aesthetic planning of rental spaces, firms like Urban Academe seem to be making an attempt at changing this landscape— simply by adding personality to a space. In a recently conducted survey, 78% of rental residents agreed that they put off personalisation of their space by not furnishing to the fullest. In this niche market, there is a new approach that is beginning to be applied— the concept of resettable interiors where the movables within a space are designed/ planned for, so as to maximise the space usage of the rental property. The philosophy of customisation is closely linked with improving the mental health of the occupant, as a strong sense of belonging is achieved by it, which in turn improves the liveability index of the habitat typology. It would be interesting to see more architectural ventures personalise this indicative to bring about a change in the mindset of the existing renters and see more and more boutique projects in the rental sector.
The philosophy of customisation is closely linked with improving the mental health of the occupant, as a strong sense of belonging is achieved by it, which in turn improves the liveability index of the habitat typology.