Desert Dreams, Jodhpur

LSDA was approached by an avid gardener who wanted to design gardens for his twin houses in Jodhpur. The city is known for its harsh climate and the real challenge for our team was to create beautiful gardens that soothe the eye of its viewer in the glaring Jodhpur sun. In the first house, the awkwardly shaped plot created its own uniqueness. The attempt was to merge the outdoors with the indoors ensuring that the acute angle is camouflaged. For this, a circular form for the rear lawn was envisaged, which seamlessly flowed from inside, resembling the fluid form of the letter ‘S’. Then, a central open space was created as a sit-out area that could also be host to get-togethers, surrounded by plantations to create the intimacy of interacting with nature. A pergola was designed to populate the barren, narrow passage from the driveway to the rear lawn, and stone columns representative of the stark Jodhpur landscape were positioned at the entrance. For the second house, a Zen garden, dual landscaped pockets extending the lush feel of greenery, and impressions of Champa leaves captured on an accent wall were some of the diverse elements that worked to create a private oasis. Owing to the high plinth of the house, the garden space was carefully divided into two levels such that the garden flowed seamlessly from one space to another. Local craftsmen were involved in creating a stone feature wall having carved water plant leaves depicting the virtual presence of water in the otherwise dry landscape. Another panel was laser cut to give the impression of Champa leaves. Because of the harsh summer sun, the planting palette was restrictive. Large trees such as Badam, Kachnar & Amaltas were placed such that once grown to their full size would shade most of the other plants and would eventually help in diversifying the planting palette.