Ajrakh studio was initiated by Ismail Khatri an acclaimed Ajrakh master craftsman belonging to the Muslim Khatri community of block-printers of Kutch, practicing a 4500- year old craft.
The brief embodied his concern, to disseminate knowledge, while imagining a model for other artisans to emulate their pioneering use of natural dyeing techniques. It highlights the creative use of vegetable dyes and minerals such as natural indigo, madder, alum, and lime. The local pastoralists continue to use Ajrakh fabric, which is also prized in the international textile design market.
Set within an amorphous plotted development built by the community, the site locates itself across a courtyard adjacent to their family home.
The plan draws from the dwelling typology of the desert settlements with layered spaces from the public to the inner private courtyards. The design comprises two volumes, oriented NS with inclined roofs defining an open court used to congregate and for drying fabric. The first volume holds the entry plinth, a small personal office, retail shop, storage, and a hall for public orientation to view films on the craft. The second is the printing workshop, flanked by a storage area, the wood-fired stove and a wash area for dyed yardage.
An apparent opacity reveals a porous interiority along the east-west axis, achieved by the large doors with operable wooden louvers affording a play of light and ventilation. Deep shade and patterns on pigmented lime-plastered walls provide ornament, depth, and refuge. The built response incorporates frugal strategies to counter heat gain, allowing nighttime cool air to dissipate heat, draining heat from the roof using stored rainwater, confined masonry construction using local lime- fly ash bricks, lime mortars, and plasters to improve resilience and counter seismic forces.
Study sketch, East-West Section © indigo architects
East-West Section © indigo architects
Ajrakh studio during construction - dolomite plaster finishing stage © indigo architects
Expressive Thermal Design Strategies © indigo architects
- Client: Dr. Ismail Mohmed Khatri
- Structure consultant: Ami Engineers, Ahmedabad
- Plumbing consultant: Chetan Vyas, Ahmedabad
- Civil engineer: Kishor Parmar, Bhuj
- Fabricator: Bhavesh Panchal, Khodiyar Engineering Works, Ahmedabad
- Carpenter: Dungersinh Mistry, Shiv Shakti Works, Ahmedabad
- Design Team: Uday Andhare, Mausami Andhare, Geet Khurana, Darshik Parejiya, M. Naeem Shaikh
- AJRAKH PRINTING: The word ‘Ajrakh’ has many myths and interpretations. It is derived from the word ‘Azarukh’ which means the colour ‘blue’ in Arabic and Persian. The predominant blue represents the universe or the dark sky of the desert, while the red is representative of its twilight. The night is represented as black. The white motifs spread throughout the printed fabric are the stars in the night sky. Ajrakh is traditionally worn by the male nomadic pastoralists of the region as a turban, a waistcloth, or a scarf. It is printed on both sides with the print matching exactly with the same depth of colour. This requires extraordinary skill to achieve and the process can take about 16 stages of alternate application of resists, dyes, and mordants with multiple cycles of washing and drying of the fabric. The art of making Ajrakh is a laborious process and takes three to four weeks to finish one fabric.
- ISMAIL KHATRI: The effort to establish and lead the community was spearheaded by Ismail Khatri. He belonged to one of the most famous artisan families, pioneers in the revival of natural dyes into the process, and an unbroken lineage extending 10 generations of Ajrakh printers. His skill as an artisan, coupled with a progressive vision for the community has made him the village headman. He was the first person from the community to learn spoken English. Before the late 1970s, there had been no contact of printers to the outside world, directly. Ismailbhai took upon himself to present the intricacies of the craft and allowed visitors to become familiar with its unique processes. The years following the quake saw huge interest and outpouring of support for the artisan communities of Kutch. Artisans from Ajrakhpur, led by Ismailbhai and his clan, travelled worldwide disseminating their knowledge of printing with natural dyes and inviting designers, institutional heads and textile scholars to Ajrakhpur.
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Aga Khan Award for Architecture, shortlisted nominations and winning projects 1980-2016. South Asia/SAARC, 2016.