CASA ARAVALI

Jodhpur, Rajasthan Private Residence · 2025

A courtyard house shaped by the relationship between light, stone and landscape.

The Idea

The house is organized around a central courtyard, creating a sequence of shaded and open spaces that respond to the intense climate of Jodhpur. Rather than treating the courtyard as an enclosed garden, the design uses it as the connective heart of the home.

Rooms open gradually toward the courtyard, allowing light, air and landscape to become part of everyday life. The resulting spaces move between enclosure and openness, creating a rhythm that changes throughout the day.

The Site

Set within the dry landscape of Jodhpur, the house responds to a climate defined by intense sunlight, high temperatures and dramatic changes in light throughout the day.

The design turns inward where necessary, using courtyards, shaded edges and deep openings to create a gradual transition between the harshness of the exterior and the calm of the interior.

Local stone and restrained planting allow the building to sit quietly within its surroundings rather than compete with them.

Spacial Organization

The house is organized as a sequence of spaces around the central courtyard. Living areas open toward the shared centre, while more private rooms are positioned deeper within the plan.

Movement through the house is deliberately gradual. Narrower passages open into larger rooms, creating moments of compression and release as the visitor moves between interior and exterior.

Floor Plan

Section Plan

Materiality

The material palette is drawn from the landscape of Jodhpur — warm sandstone, lime plaster, timber and muted mineral tones. Each material was chosen for its ability to respond to the intense desert light and to age naturally over time.

Rough stone establishes a sense of permanence, while softer plaster surfaces catch and diffuse the changing light. Timber introduces warmth at points of touch, creating a quieter transition between the architecture and the landscape.