Magnus Opus

On the sands of Mumbai’s Juhu Beach sits a clean-lined, art-filled home that Ambika Hinduja Macker designed for her brother

- Mozez Singh

Cymatics is Greek for the phenomenon of waves, because sound travels in waves. Throughout history, there have been people who have observed and investigated the unique ability of the vibrations of sound to effect and shape different substances. While none of the structures created by sound are living creatures, they are all individualistic and utterly original, and it is believed that because of their singularity and uniqueness they are directly connected to the divine.

The house that Ambika Hinduja Macker built, with its novel, over-30-year-old octagonal design fused together with its current and contemporary rectilinear shape, is not just a hybrid of the old and the new; it is also the creation of a maverick design form that may have been borne by the sound of the waves that wallop its periphery. This exquisite sea-facing home in suburban Mumbai is a stand-out work of architecture and a perfect example of the theory of cymatics—if one is to let one's imagination run wild.

STARTING POINT

Noted architect Phiroze Pantaki designed the original octagonal structure for what used to be the family guest cottage and the late Parmeshwar Godrej did the interiors. When Ambika’s brother Shom inherited the property, he wanted to transform it into his sanctuary: “a place where he could relax, reflect and rejoice”, says Ambika, who was the first and only person who Shom approached to realize his maison de rêve.