What Did Houses in Ancient India Look Like?

Let 3D Power put some lights on houses of Ancient India.

The beginnings of civilization on the Indian subcontinent sprang up with urban centers that thrived around the Indus River. Between approximately 2500 and 1700 B.C., the Indus Valley Civilization flourished in what is now the Punjab, an area spread between modern-day Pakistan and western India. Most evidence of ancient Indian houses comes from remains in this area. These houses were built with comfort and security in mind. They were simple structures, grouped in clusters around a shared common space. They had few windows and small entryways.

Building Bylaws
In the Indus Valley, urban houses were built and ordered based on a greater consideration of the city as a whole. This order and structuring was laid out in various building bylaws which specified how to arrange the houses in a city, where and how to plant trees, and the arrangement of homes based on the Indian social hierarchy called caste. Higher-caste groups had taller, multilevel houses, while those of lower caste lived in smaller structures. Households of the same caste were grouped together, meaning houses on the same street were of equal height.

Ancient Homes Uncovered
The most extensive remains of the Indus Valley Civilization have been uncovered at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, sites located in present-day Pakistan.The houses found in Mohenjo-daro varied in size from the large impressive structures of the upper castes to small two-room homes of the poor. Archeologists described the dwellings as plain, and designed more for comfort than for style. Most of the homes included a bathroom, a system of covered drainage and a well. Vertical drainpipes have been discovered in remains of some homes with upper levels, indicating that larger homes had multiple bathrooms.

Communal Living
In these ancient urban centers, houses were built to accommodate communal living. Blocks of houses owned by different families were constructed around an open space in the center. The back sides of the houses faced outward, forming an enclosure that protected the enclave from the outside, broken only by small entryways between the homes running in from the street. The shared space in the middle was used by all inhabitants. The communal system of living is a cultural phenomenon still practiced in India today.

Construction Materials
The walls of the homes were made of hand-formed baked bricks while the foundations were laid with sun-dried bricks. Instruments were used to ensure the exact vertical alignment of the houses. The interior and exterior walls were covered with plaster and often painted. The roofs of the homes were flat and made of wood. Although bricks were the standard building material in the north, wood was more frequently used to build houses in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent.

John Abraham’s Sea Facing House In Mumbai

John Abraham’s house at Bandra Bandstand is an AJA or Abraham John Architects project, which is the interiors firm run by his father Abraham John and brother Alan Abraham. This project has won the National Runner-Up at IIID Anchor Awards and was also nominated for the World Interiors News Awards in 2013.

His duplex style house covers an area of around 5000 sq. ft. and has two storeys. John wanted his personal space to encompass nature and has used wood and glass to convey his thoughts of simplicity. His bathroom has all the modern accessories including a Jacuzzi and a 130 inch projector screen. The terrace consists of the media room which has a home theatre system.

There’s a staircase that goes from the living and dining space to the room, which was previously the outhouse and now renovated into an entertainment centre. Since John hates bright colours, the central theme of the house has been kept warm, earthy and functional with no unnecessary clutter; his walls have no photographs or wall hangings.

His furniture and accessories are from the Genelec, Paola Lenti, BoConcept and Villeroy & Boch collections. The sleek, contemporary spa bathroom, gives great view of the sea and greenery outside. The master bedroom suite is an expensive space which includes a private terrace looking onto the ocean, a functional walk-in wardrobe and a lavish open plan spa bathroom which has no walls anywhere.

There is an open kitchen with a brushed stainless steel island platform which is accompanied by an enclosed kitchen. Careful attention has been paid to the automated lighting which can be changed according to the mood.

The entire home was renovated in 14 months into a sleek residence with two labourers working on it.

Stunningly Beautiful & Modern Homes

When your home is beautiful, everything in your life becomes a little bit easier. But beauty comes in many forms. These apartments’ renderings done by 3D Power are beautiful and sunny. Each has comfortable living areas, cozy, simple bedrooms, and welcoming dining spaces that are perfect for entertaining. These lovely designs comes as no surprise, since our previous coverage of 3D Power’s renderings has included lush contemporary bedrooms and clean, modern apartments. Step inside these dream apartments and get inspired.

Whether it’s about creating, shading and texturing of an image of a bungalow or creating two-dimensional images and animations showing the attributes of a proposed architectural design for a bungalow is a very tough task. 3D Power, being excellent at that, gives you elevations designing services for your dream home in the form of images; we name it 3D views with different file formats as per the client’s requirements. It can be bungalows, twin bungalows, villas, farm houses, row houses, etc. It helps you to picturize your dream home before it is actually constructed which in turn saves your time, money and gives you option to change, edit the unwanted areas and its aesthetics.3d views can be visualized in night view, day view, bird’s eye/aerial view and worms eye view.