When you visit a home as a guest, a tourist, or even a potential buyer, the first thing you see is the outside. The exterior of a home can speak volumes about what is contained within and about what is important to the home's inhabitants as well. In a residential area of Palakkad, Kerala in southern India, we find a stunning exterior that certainly tells a major story. The home, known as The Skewed House, is from the team at LIJO.RENY.architects. Its exterior design looks as if mismatched boxes were simply stacked on top of each other precariously from some angles. From another perspective, however, it is easy to see how this creative shape could be interpreted as a modern, man made answer to the town's surrounding mountains, as a statement about man and nature, and as a testament to how man can indeed shape his surroundings with the right materials and some tenacity.
When you are able to look past the unique shape of the home, you can see how those shapes interact with one another, and with the home's 4650 square foot (431 square meter) interior. Light emanates from within in bold streaks and subtle slivers, keeping the home private but also a bit welcoming.
Once inside, simplicity takes over. Although elegant details like vaulted ceilings and sumptuous furniture create a space to be reckoned with, the a calming white palette and low, clean lines are ultimately easy to experience. This minimalism is not necessarily what you might expect from the way in which the exterior seems to shout.
The home's central staircase is an interesting design focal point. Encased in glass and made from bent steel plates, it stands as an industrial inspiration in this otherwise contemporary minimalist design. While the steel itself has the echoes of a warehouse or loft, its delicate thickness could easily be a nod to the act of human flight itself -- light, airy steel, seemingly a juxtaposition but suddenly aloft.
The modern style dining chairs you see here are Panton S by Verner Panton.
The yellow accent continues with the gorgeous decorative vases.
The upstairs bedrooms have their own personality, with slit windows that cause the outdoor lighting effects and provide circulation. Overhead grated skylights are more than just vents, though, giving a beautiful openness to the rooms.
