The Michelin Corbett project site is located 42km south of Delhi, in the immediate proximity of the town of Ghamroj, and the Sohna-Gurgaon Road, which provides a strategic artery for the future development of the area. On geographical scale, the site lies on the flat and fertile lands of the Indus-Gangetic Plain, fed by the river Ganges collecting its waters from the Himalayas. The land of this area is organized on a regular grid of 60 by 60 meters, forming a regular and uniform territory, with a clearly pronounced human presence.

This strong geometry and horizontality, especially articulate on the agricultural land, is at times punctuated by differing typologies; most notably the long rows of trees highlighting some of the perimeters of the grid, and the blocks of orchards set inside and subdividing the system. These elements give a welcomed variation of mass/void and foreground/horizon to the space, which again diversify the experience, and help the general orientation in the landscape.

Opposing many of the recent developments on the Plain, which have ignored the singularity of the physical geography and its cultural history, our proposal inscribes itself fully to the existing condition.

The proposed plantation, extending the structures of the territory, is organized in lines of trees on the boundaries and varying blocks of fruit trees within the site. This forms a platform for gradual transitions between the surrounding territory and the proposed architecture. It creates an intimate and complementing relationship between these two elements, accompanying a fluid and agreeable movement between spaces of very different scales and qualities – from the interior of the building to the spaces under the canopy, from the garden to an open sky and horizon.

The orchards are planted on a grid of varying densities and species, which facilitates the perception of changes in this landscape, and the natural processes which flow through it. The regularity of the general system accentuates the richness of the planting palette; the diversity in size, form, color, texture, leaf shape and so on. The changes in planting density, varying between 3.3 x 3.3 and 10 x 7.5 meters, provides a setting for a diverse play of light and shade, and offers adequate space for strolling around and exploring these living structures.

The ground surface materials vary from an open lawn to a permeable paving with grass joints, and from coarse, large stone slabs for circulation to a more refined, light Indian stone for the courtyards. Thus, the character of the ground material gradually changes from rustic to more refined and sophisticated, as moving inwards from the boundary of the site.

Water pools are situated underneath the canopy, providing reflections of the architecture, the landscape elements and the forever changing sky. This traditional and essential feature of Indian Landscape Architecture also provides an additional rhythm to the space, offering natural places for gathering and socializing, in the most protected and intimate part of the garden.