Ida-naazhika
A Modern Nalukettu in the Paddy Fields of Kuttanad
Project Type
Architecture and Interior Design
Location
Nedumudy, Kuttanad, Kerala
Project Area
5,000 sq.ft.
Designers
Desume Studio
Selected among the Top 50 in The House: Interiors 2.0 by Archdais (2026), from 900+ designers across five countries, judged by a jury including Sir David Adjaye.
A House That Keeps Time by Sunlight
Ida-naazhika (ഇടനാഴിക) joins two Malayalam words — ida, "in-between", and naazhika, an old unit of time — the space between moments, where sunlight moves and everyday life gathers. Set in the paddy fields of Kuttanad, the lowest-lying region in India where rice grows below sea level, the home is a contemporary reworking of Kerala's traditional courtyard house. The structure is gently raised in answer to the monsoon, and a bamboo deck reaches out toward an uninterrupted green horizon.
A Sequence of Courtyards, Tuned to the Sun
Where the traditional nalukettu holds one central courtyard, Ida-naazhika unfolds as a sequence of them, each tuned to a part of the day. The east-facing entrance catches the first soft light for morning rituals — the newspaper, a kolam at the doorstep. The central nadumuttam is the social heart, opening to the sky for festivals like Onam. A western courtyard gathers the family at dusk around a nilavilakku while buffering the interiors from the harsh afternoon sun, and a kitchen backyard keeps cooking the shared act it has always been in Kerala households.
Craft and Material Drawn from the Land
The palette is local, tactile, and honest: lime wash, red oxide flooring, terracotta, wood, jute, and laterite — materials that root the interiors in Kerala's craft culture and stay cool in the tropical climate. Kerala mural art turns functional: rotating painted panels filter the south-west sun, and traditional line drawings set between glass panels cast shifting shadows across the lobby floor through the day. Furniture continues the conversation — the chaaru kasera, the oonjal, and built-in chaaru padi seating that turns a threshold into a place to linger.
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