This Delhi home by Satish Gujral was built as a living sculpture

The late painter and sculptor designed the house which is the current residence of the Portuguese Ambassador to India, Carlos Pereira Marques and his wife Susana

By Feroze Gujral

Photography by Ashish Sahi

24 December 2021

They say a house chooses the people who live in it and this house that Satish Gujral built has the right people living in it: my dear friends, Susana and Carlos Pereira Marques, the Portuguese ambassador to India. It was originally built for Ranjana and Shakhat Singh, who often quotes Satish saying, “This was a gift from an artist to a poet.” The Portuguese residence in India is unlike most of the embassy residences, not in the usual conclaves of the embassy grounds in the hallowed area of Lutyens’s Delhi, but in a grand leafy lane of the exclusive West End Greens, on a large plot in the farm area that we call the green belt of New Delhi. A haven far from the madding crowd.

The New Delhi home of Carlos Pereira Marques, the Portuguese ambassador to India, was designed by the late artist-architect Satish Gujral. This space serves as a connection between the lounge and a small sitting room. The walls of the lounge retain their original raw-brick appearance, contrasted by the greenery of the inner courtyard, which is seen through the large arched window. The window above opens to one of two symmetrical suites on the first floor. The vase lamp is antique Murano glass. Portuguese and Persian carpets add a touch of colour to the room.

To live in a house designed by the late Satish Gujral is not easy, for it is not simply brick and mortar but has indeed been built as a living sculpture, to hold and to have life in all its myriad moods meander through its organic shape.

The entrance lobby—all the walls on the ground floor are in brick, and all the floors in the house are in Jaisalmer stone. The pashmina shawl hung on the upper landing is a 19th-century piece from Kashmir; the cloth hanging below, which depicts the Portuguese coat of arms, was made in India; the Caucasian Shirvan runner is also 19th century.

The anteroom by the main bedroom is decorated with 19th century Portuguese furniture and furnishings—including the bookshelves and side table; the ceiling light, also 19th century, was bought in Goa. The traditional Arraiolos rug is from Portugal. The couch upholstery and cushion are from Sarita Handa. Besides a host of books, the large table also features Surf, a centrepiece bowl by Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos. The terracotta piggy banks on the table, as well as the vase atop the bookshelf, were picked up in Rajasthan.

In his early years as an artist in Mexico, Satish met Frank Lloyd Wright and posed the question as to why Mr. Wright had not used a mural by either David Alfaro Siqueiros or Rufino Tamayo, both eminent Mexican artists and dear friends of the architect, in any of his buildings? Mr. Wright answered that only dead walls demand a mural whereas he never builds any dead walls in his projects. This thought cast a deep impression on a young Satish who, after years of creating many murals on various institutional buildings, found him self creating his own language of living sculpture.

A traditional Arraiolos rug occupies the centre of the room. The floral cotton upholstery on the armchairs and the cotton-velvet jacquard on the sofas are from Sarita Handa. The cabinet in the space connected to the lounge is an 18th-century Portuguese antique. The earthenware monkey suspended from the ceiling is Portuguese, by Bordallo Pinheiro. The pair of 18th-century vases on the console are Portuguese, from Massarelos, Porto. The painting on the right is a 2016 work on wood by Lisbon-based contemporary artist Pedro Vaz.

Left: A Golconda Palampore tree of life tapestry by Peter D’Ascoli takes pride of place on a dining room wall. The furniture and silverware are Portuguese, as is the Domo Gold porcelain dinner set from Vista Alegre, the gold porcelain leaves from Braz Gil. The glasses are vintage Baccarat; the table runner is from Sankalpa Art Village in Andhra Pradesh. Right: The large kantha tapestry in this powder room is from West Bengal. The chest, in the D. João V style, is Portuguese; atop it is a 1994 ink drawing by Lisbon-based contemporary artist Pedro Proença.

Influenced by the strong, imposing strokes of Islamic architecture and its dominating domes, the earthy material of South Asian brick with its beautiful colour and porous nature, and his imagination as a sculptor, Satish created incredible fluid forms that allowed for a new language of architectural design that denied the straight line its corners and corridors their limiting visuals.

This house of Carlos and Susana welcomes you through a central, gradually angled drive, flanked heavily by mango groves, that reveals to you a façade of multilayered sculptural forms. Some bare bricked and others deeply covered in creepers and ivy.

The lower lobby is decorated with an Arraiolos rug, a brass pot (from India), and a 1960s wall sconce, one of a pair, by French-Portuguese decorator Lucien Donnat.

In this area between the lounge and dining room, a door looks out to the inner courtyard. The rug is a Persian antique; the tablecloth is from Jaisalmer and features aari embroidery. On the table are 19th-century Portuguese silverware and crystalware; the Bellhop table lamp is from Flos.

The generous veranda embraces the east side of the lounge room and opens to the main garden lawn; the upholstery is traditional Kashmiri embroidery and the antique chest is from Goa.

From outside, the house conveys a feeling of strength, with its turrets, domes, high balconies, and arches. Its massive volume and reddish patina, contrasting with the surrounding lush greens, evoke an old fortress or a lost temple. This is the realm of fantasy, of niches, of windows at improbable heights, of arches—of which there are more than 100—of amphitheatres and passages. The bold combination and quality of indigenous materials, the beautiful Jaisalmer stone floors, the tall traditional brick and stone walls, the solid teak doors and windows are powerful and evoke again a strong sense of heritage.

A moat-like walkway leads you through a great arched doorway where this mysterious feeling of history continues, but what is more striking is the geometric organization of the space, as you enter into a theatre like atrium where the eye leads you down flowing, double, ‘open palmed’ stairways into a joyous lobby filled with light from a central open arched courtyard. This is the heart of the house, replanted with care by Carlos, to remind the family of courtyards at their home in north Portugal.

The armchairs, bench, and ottoman in the lounge are upholstered in a paisley-jacquard fabric from Sarita Handa. The painting in the centre is a 2017 work by Portuguese contemporary artist Pedro Calapez; above the doors on either side are two 18th-century golden altar pieces from Goa. On the left are an 18th-century religious painting on glass from Portugal, an Aubusson tapestry that dates back to the 16th or 17th century, and a 16th-century Martaban pot. On the right are Kaftan, a frog sculpture by Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos and a 19th-century miniature of an Udaipur maharaja. The coffee table runner is by Japanese textile designer Chiaki Maki.

The fluid circulation through interlinked rooms, with great beams of natural light pouring in, adds to the magic of the place. The house also plays cleverly with different levels and heights; some of its rooms are grandiose, others more intimate, almost secretive, like in old castles.

A low ceilinged study expands into the double height, vaulted splendour of a living room, both grand and intimate in its enveloping octagonal shape, leading you past a courtyard to a formal dining space the house entices with endless views to emerald lawns, turquoise pools and small planned groves, one that has a Shiva lingam nestled at its centre, prayed to by the staff in dire COVID months. This house is built to surprise.

A view of the main bedroom’s balcony—the outside of the house is partially covered by a creeping fig vine (Ficus pumila)

Left: The view from the upper terrace—the two symmetrical brick shells are openings for the lounge room below. Right: The driveway leading to the front of the home—arches feature prominently throughout the property.

Spaces are simply canvases that allow one to create environments that elicit emotions, and this house has many created by Susana and Carlos. Striking contemporary art from Portugal’s Joana Vasconcelos—a close, personal friend of the couple—and Bela Silva’s unusual pieces hold forth along with Susana’s passion as a designer and her love for textiles that boldly adorn the walls in the most unusual way.

Personal passions show through—from a study table covered in family photos under a glass top to a wonderful screen hanging with a small but extraordinary collection of Indian contemporary miniatures, and a magnificent collection of traditional, square patterned needlepoint rugs from Arraiolos, a small village in the south of Portugal, adorning every floor through the house. Carlos’s interest in old artefacts is evident as you notice beautiful carved wooden balustrades and small Christian figurines—all lovingly restored by him. This, here, is a wonderful marriage of the aesthetic of Indian architecture and artistic Portuguese interiors.

Ambassador Carlos Pereira Marques and his wife Susana in a lounge area— the big arched window looks out into the inner courtyard. On the floor are a 19th-century Caucasian Shirvan runner and a traditional Arraiolos rug from Portugal. The bench is local, the cushion is from Sarita Handa, and the lamps on either side are antique Murano glass.

The magic of the house lies hidden in its sacred geometry, enhanced by its arrangement of furniture and objects that transport you to Portugal and the adventures of its current residents. “Living in this Satish Gujral house is a unique experience we will never forget,” say both Susana and Carlos. Nor will the house forget you, for it sits in its perfect harmony at this moment in time.