The joint family still forms the backbone of many Indian households, and accommodating the varying tastes and aesthetic sensibilities of each generation is no easy feat. Yet, these multi-generational homes walk the line between tradition and modernity with practiced proficiency, bridging the gap between nostalgia and contemporary ideals. Here is our curation of homes, culled from the AD archives, that have a strikingly multi-generational spirit.
A Modernist, Vastu-Compliant Villa In Ahmedabad
Sonali Rastogi of Morphogenesis observed that her clients were well aware of the strong architectural tradition of Ahmedabad. While they wanted something a little different, they didn’t want to go very far from their roots. The home had to be contemporary, liberal, yet maintain the Gujarati ethos, without simply being a post Louis Kahn or Corbusier structure. This bungalow is home to three generations of a family of five, their ages spanning from the late teens to the 70s. While the lower floor is occupied by the grandparents, the parents and daughter use the upper floor as a private space…which, however, overlooks the lower space, so there is no alienation.
A combination of strong vertical as well as horizontal lines, the exterior of this Ahmedabad estate home takes cues from the works of modernist icons such as Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier. The facade is an amalgamation of concrete, HPL wood and Dholpur stone. “Courtyards (aangans) have been an intrinsic part of the Indian vernacular for centuries, maximising daylight and cross ventilation while simultaneously serving as the social heart of a home,” says Rastogi. This traditional planning principle is used to create a series of cascading courtyards that strike a balance between private and public areas for each generation. A swing–the iconic symbol of Gujarati homes–takes pride of place in the central double-height courtyard which unites the entire volume physically as well as visually.
Original text by Devyani Jayakar, edited for context.
A Breezy, Beachside Villa in Chennai
Chennai-based architecture practice Studio Context took on the designing of a beachside villa in Chennai for a multigenerational family that had lived for three decades in the American countryside. “When they moved back to Chennai, they wanted their children to connect with their roots while also enjoying the same sense of space they had previously enjoyed,” explains Raghuveer Ramesh, one of the lead architects of the project.
Studio Context also introduced large overhangs throughout the villa in Chennai to minimise direct light and promote continual ventilation. “You can smell the sea indoors,” says Raghuveer. “There’s always a breeze.” Most mornings, that breeze also pays a visit to the verandah, which resembles a thinnai, the shaded sit-out traditionally fronting bungalows of yore. “We imagined it as a communal space,” says Srinivasan, “a space where grandparents could go about their morning routine while kids played and ran about in the front yard.” Indeed, for the family, the home may be different from their last, but it’s just as familiar—and no doubt equally special.
Original text by Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar, edited for context.
A Thrissur Villa With An Old-World Façade
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Designing multi-generational homes is always a challenge—marrying the needs of the grandparents while sticking to the aesthetics the couple has in mind, and also ensuring the house ages well with the growing kids. With this in mind, Abdul Latheef of Atelier Republic Architects set out to design a family home for the Rahat family of Thrissur, Kerala. The key focus for this 3,000-square-foot house was ensuring the house gets ample natural light and ventilation, capturing the styles of the three generations living here and most importantly, ensuring there is a dedicated private zone for the family when they have guests over.
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Latheef explains that the facade of the building was thoughtfully designed to seamlessly blend old-world charm with contemporary elements. “To achieve this harmonious fusion, a combination of glass and brick cladding was incorporated in a modern and aesthetically pleasing pattern. This mixture of materials added a depth and texture to the facade, creating an intriguing visual contrast that celebrated both traditional and contemporary design aesthetics.” The roof tiles play a pivotal role in enhancing the overall architectural appeal. They not only served a functional purpose but also contributed to the building's character as it drew inspiration from Kerala's traditional architectural elements. “This thoughtful incorporation of old and new elements in the facade design resulted in a visually captivating and culturally rich exterior that honoured the past while embracing the present,” he adds.
Original text by Kasturi Gadge, edited for context.
A Mumbai Home With South Indian Roots
Rohini Bagla's clients, a South Indian family, requested a home that would serve as a reflection of their culture. Contemporising the suggestion, Rohini stayed away from heavy wooden carvings or Tanjore paintings. In her understanding of the brief, wooden columns recalling South Indian architecture have been used liberally in the home — at the periphery of the intersection between rooms and balconies and as posts for beds. Except that these columns are slim, scaled down to be appropriate for the size of the apartment, without being overbearing or in-your-face. More of the south is recalled by brass touches, used as surface accents on furniture, or standalone accessories. “The family had a large collection of artefacts,” says Rohini.
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Throughout the apartment, doors were repositioned to increase functionality. The design of this home in Mumbai straddles traditional and contemporary, with classic mouldings at ceiling level, skirtings which contrast with walls, and borders on floors. “In each room, the inlaid borders on the floor have been created by us to provide a personalised touch,” says Rohini. Bed-backs are arched, padded, and layered in an old-world sensibility which adds visual interest. The walls are clad with a wainscoting till waist-height, a touch which doesn’t see frequent use in contemporary design. The colour palette has calm, muted earth tones, with no pops of colour or contrasting accents.
Original text by Devyani Jayakar, edited for context.
A Contemporary Villa In Chennai
Tucked away in the heart of the Royapettah neighbourhood, a 9,300-square-foot villa in Chennai embodies a delicate balance between tradition and modernity. The structure has been designed by a senior architect, a friend of the family who resides within. However, the task of transforming it into a functional and elegant home was handed to architect Revati Narayan of Studio RN. What emerged is a home where contemporary minimalism meets the vibrant history and rituals of a multi-generational family.
The villa's layout has been meticulously designed to cater to the varying needs of a large family. Upon entering through a large motorised gate, one steps into a verdant garden that connects to an expansive entrance verandah. This outdoor sit-out area, echoing traditional South Indian homes, sets a tranquil tone for the property. Ascending to the first floor via a striking stringer-beam staircase—a modern reimagining of a staircase found in the family’s ancestral home—the focus shifts to private spaces. The first floor accommodates four bedrooms, including the master suite, guest room, daughter’s room, and the parents’ room. Each space has its own distinct identity, yet the materiality and colour palette link them together.
Original text by Rupali Sebastian, edited for context.
An ‘Afternoon House’ In Coastal Gujarat
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There’s a particular feeling that some homes are able to conjure, specifically in the tropics and specifically in the middle of the day, when the sun is bright but somehow still soft, the pressures of day-to-day living seem far away, and every closed door looks like it could lead straight to Narnia. These conjure up images of ‘Afternoon Houses’ maybe because this sense of tranquil otherworldly-ness always seemed more pronounced in the afternoon, when the world was quiet and the grownups were sleeping. AD100 firm MuseLAB’s most recent design for a multi-generational villa on the sunswept Gujarat coast is the perfect embodiment of this sentiment.
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The bones of the five-bedroom multi-generational villa had been designed by a Baroda-based architect, and MuseLAB was effectively taking over a bare-shell interior. There was one little detail that the previous architect had included on the facade, however, that piqued MuseLAB’s interest; the filleted arched windows, reminiscent of the mid-century villas of the Mediterranean riviera. “We carried that forward within the space, since it went with the whole Mediterranean concept the clients wanted, and it became a sort of base canvas to build our design upon,” shares Jasem Pirani, who heads MuseLAB with Huzefa Rangwala. Most prominently, the arches adorn the vaulted ceiling of the double-height family room, mimicking the structure of a medieval grotto, but reimagined in the cooling wood and limewash tones of tropical modernism. This sort of cultural interplay continues through the rest of the home, into the formal living room, the muted yet playful dining room and through to the five bedrooms, where the leitmotifs of Gujarat, specifically texture-laden finishes on wood, glass and natural stone found in Kutch, are channeled through a mid-century Mediterranean lens.
Original text by Avantika Shankar, edited for context.
A Light Filled Surat Penthouse
The Surat penthouse designed by Ayushi Gajjar and Harihar Lacewala, Principal Architects at H+A Studio, was a 3,200-square-foot project crafted for a multi-generational family of nine. The client’s brief was succinct: a home that could adapt easily to the evolving needs of a growing family. Beyond a space that was stylistically minimal, the clients wanted a home open enough for the family to stay connected, without compromising the privacy each member needed. “Each generation needed its own autonomy,” Gajjar and Lacewala describe the ethos of the design. With that in mind, the layout of the Surat penthouse was envisioned as a free-flowing space that would usher in ample natural light and support smooth daily movement.
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Louvered windows and the colour grey are through lines in the penthouse that give the whole space a contemporary Brutalist look. Whilst the windows instil “a sense of permeability,” grey is what the architects have called the “primary palette of restraint” for the house, which, coupled with teak veneer walls, and the lightness of the clients’ old furniture, like the ones salvaged from their old home for the dining room, become “the foundational material language” for the entire space. By baptising the penthouse “Surface and Silence,” Gajjar and Lacewala wanted a name that would encapsulate the core design ethos of the project where an emphasis was on “material minimalism.” By carefully juxtaposing contrasting elements of wood and grey against marble, red concrete, and stainless steel they have orchestrated tight harmonies, luring in the emphatic amid a largely placid material landscape.
Original text by Rohit Chakraborty, edited for context.
A Bengaluru Home That Basks In Warm Memories
The construction of this Bengaluru home first started with the destruction of its pre-existing structure. “The original plan of the apartment adhered to a rigid, standardized configuration— each function was confined to its designated corner,” the architects explain, “the spaces felt disconnected, almost like isolated compartments, with no visual or spatial rhythm threading them together.” Srikanth and Ganesh had ambitious plans for the space, looking to embrace a more open concept for the home, and getting rid of the divisions between spaces like the kitchen and living room. However, their clients—a family of six—were not easily convinced. “One of the most significant challenges we faced was gently steering the clients away from conventional ideas of what a home should look like,” the architects shared. This involved a long process of building trust with the clients, as they had to put their fate not just in the hands of the architects, but also in the direction of the design.
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This Bengaluru home draws from a variety of aesthetics, “We explored the understated elegance of mid-century modern design, layering it with bold art deco accents and intricate touches of Indian craftsmanship,” the architects shared. These influences come through in the furnishings– the curved lounge chair reflects mid-century sensibilities, the brass wall scones and arched doorways take inspiration from art deco, while traditional Indian motifs make an appearance in the textiles of the home. As Srikanth and Ganesh aptly put it, “This home was made to embody a lingering emotion, a mood, or the gentle resonance that remains after an experience has settled, like light that clings to a room just after sunset. That lingering sense of comfort and stillness is what inspired us.” Their vision has been beautifully realised, and lingers in the mind much like the light that seeps into every crevice of the home.
Original text by Khushi Sheth, edited for context.
