Mumbai-based architecture practice UnTAG has completed Villa Prakriti, a striking 4,500-square-foot home nestled in India's Western Ghats mountain range that seamlessly integrates biophilic design principles with terracotta-hued spaces and extensive plant integration. The residence, whose name derives from the Sanskrit term for mother nature, cascades down a hillside site while maximizing exposure to natural light, ventilation, and greenery throughout all interior and exterior spaces.
"The core concept of Prakriti lies in its deep reverence for nature - not as a backdrop, but as the very origin of life and space," explained UnTAG principal architects Gauri Satam and Tejesh Patil. "The home doesn't mimic nature, but aspires to live in its likeness - adaptive, rooted, generous, and ever-evolving. At its heart is the idea of biophilic living, where green inserts, natural light, earthen textures, and native landscape are not aesthetic decisions, but fundamental design elements that guide form, flow, and feeling."
The villa's central living area serves as the heart of the 418-square-meter structure, featuring natural ventilation achieved through perforated brickwork walls and sliding glass panels. A large circular skylight positioned overhead provides dramatic views of the sky and surrounding vegetation while flooding the interior with natural light. The living spaces extend seamlessly onto a swimming pool patio and connect to an upper rooftop terrace, with earth-colored concrete planters strategically placed throughout these areas, several incorporating integrated seating arrangements.
The home's architectural form consists of a central rectilinear living space that connects two distinct volumes - a kitchen positioned to the northeast and two bedrooms located to the southwest. These structures are crowned with oversized tiled gable roofs that mark the building's highest points before the design "cascades" down the hillside in harmony with the natural topography. The architects approached the challenging contoured site as what they described as "a poetic opportunity," allowing the house to flow gently with the terrain rather than fighting against it.
"The greatest challenge was the contoured site, which we approached not as a problem, but as a poetic opportunity, allowing the house to gently cascade with the terrain instead of resisting it," Satam and Patil noted. "This approach, paired with native plantings, verandahs and balconies that frame distant views, and minimal site intervention, ensured a home that feels discovered, not inserted - an ecological gesture more than an architectural one."
A mature mango tree positioned between the home's two main structures serves as what the architects describe as the narrative focal point around which the entire design revolves. The eastern living area overlooks this tree through a large glazed opening, while access to the bedrooms in the opposite volume requires passing beneath the tree and ascending a staircase alongside its trunk. Perforated brick walls throughout the interior help facilitate natural ventilation while maintaining visual connections to the surrounding landscape.
"The home's plan is centered on this tree, and the spaces choreograph around it as if orbiting a quiet deity," the architects explained. "Architecturally, it is framed through entry sequences, visual axes, and the living room, where it becomes a living sculpture." The integration of this existing tree demonstrates the project's commitment to preserving and celebrating the site's natural features rather than removing them for construction convenience.
Descending further down the hillside, the property's driveway creates a carefully orchestrated arrival sequence that passes a lily pond, bamboo trellis, and garden pavilion before reaching the garage, lawn area, and traditional well located alongside the village road. This thoughtful landscape design extends the biophilic principles from the main residence throughout the entire property, creating multiple opportunities for interaction with water, plants, and natural materials.
Villa Prakriti represents a growing trend in contemporary Indian architecture that prioritizes environmental sensitivity and biophilic design principles. The project joins other recent examples of nature-integrated residential design in India, including Studio Sangath's recently completed villa near Ahmedabad, which features a geometric layout of terracotta-toned forms organized around terraced outdoor spaces. Photography of the completed Villa Prakriti was captured by Pranit Bora Studio, documenting how the finished residence achieves its goal of living "in nature's likeness" through adaptive, rooted, and ever-evolving design strategies.
