studio aro’s meditation gazebo engulfed in india’s greenery
Studio Aro’s ornate Meditation Gazebo sits beside a modern family residence in a small town in Tamil Nadu, India. Intricate yet robust, the structure is encircled by a rich landscape of greenery for a quiet meditative experience in touch with nature. In its form, the gazebo is further constructed purely out of natural materials, including cane and local bamboo harvested and treated by the team, ensuring its longevity and dialogue with its land.
A sequence of multiple arches and ring beams form an underlying framework which gives the structure its strength, atop which rest two sculptural, undulating levels of roofs. Three openings were also integrated on the upper side for light and ventilation, and a ringed skylight was improvised during the process of construction to illuminate the geometry of the intricate lattice work.
all images by Shahul Shibili
an ode to original structure’s traditional form
The Meditation Gazebo has been constructed on a void of land left after the owners demolished their original holiday retreat to build a more permanent family home adjacent to it. In an ode to the original traditional home and what it symbolized — a serene getaway to enjoy the area’s rich biodiversity — Studio Aro’s gazebo fosters a relationship with nature and echoes the previous structure’s typology. Further, as the new house was constructed in a modern minimalistic style, to offset its simplicity the architects designed the gazebo to be much more sculptural and ornate in nature.
Bambusa tulda was used for the sculptural main roof structure and the roof mats
a natural, home-grown structure
Like its many other natural architectural projects, Studio Aro’s Meditation Gazebo is built from bamboo harvested and treated by the team itself to ensure a high standard of quality and longevity. The team treats mature bamboo with naturally occurring salts to preserve it and increase its durability by several decades, making its use viable in permanent structures.
The gazebo was built using several types of bamboo and cane: Bambusa balcooa was split for flexibility and then bunched together to create the arches, and Bambusa tulda was used for the main roof structure and the roof mats. Cane was integrated for finishing and all the finer details.
a space for meditation while enjoying the encircling biodiversity
‘Also, there is a unique uplifting quality to contemporary bamboo structures that is difficult to achieve with conventional materials. We believe that one of the most attractive features of a modern bamboo structure lies in its intricacy and ability to invoke a sense of awe and wonder in anyone who engages with it. For us, the meditation gazebo stands as a testament to the beauty and versatility of bamboo, and what it can be used to create,’ notes the team at Studio Aro.
Bambusa balcooa was split for flexibility and then bunched together to create the arches