Pankhasari Retreat: Ratti Associati & sustainable tourism in the Himalayas

Carlo Ratti Associati is a design and innovation office based in Turin, Italy, with branches in Boston and London. Embracing every scale of intervention - from city master plans to furniture design - the work of the practice focuses on innovation in our built environment and daily lives. Noteworthy achievements at the urban and architectural scale include the masterplan for a creative-hub in the City of Guadalajara, the Future Food District at Expo Milano 2015, and the Digital Water Pavilion at Expo Zaragoza - named Best Inventions of the Year by Time Magazine. Product design projects range from experimental furniture for Cassina to light installations for Artemide to responsive seating systems with Vitra. Since 2014, Carlo Ratti Associati has been involved in the launch of two startups: Superpedestrian, producer of the Copenhagen Wheel, and Makr Shakr, developer of the world's first robotic bar system. 

Pankhasari Retreat is a digitally connected destination for co- living and co-working in the Indian Himalayas. Located in a mild-climate valley, not far from the famous hill- station of Kalimpong, the site is in West Bengal, near the border with Sikkim. The project intends to promote sustainable tourism practice in addition to providing a flexible environment of living-and-working in a digital era. The site is a south-facing mountain bound by a swift river and waterfalls. Close to the site is the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga. 

Urban designer Melvin Webber famously wrote in the 1970s with regards to digital technology, “For the first time in history, it might be possible to locate on a mountain top and to maintain intimate, real-time, and realistic contact with business or other associates”. The Pankhasari retreat aim to materialise that very vision. “Though a mountain top might be a bit extreme to some, the Himalayan valley of Pankhasari is an ideal place for staying connected and testing new longer- term concepts of international living and working, trying to build a bridge between the local and the global communities.” said Carlo Ratti, professor at MIT in Cambridge and founding partner of Carlo Ratti Associati.

“The complex includes residential, business, sport, and farming facilities. The houses, built with local materials like stone, farmed teak and sissoo, reinterpret the verandas and overhangs of the vernacular architecture, protecting residents from extreme rain and sun conditions. Each unit can host three or four people at a time, with living space, studio, kitchen, two bedrooms and bathrooms. Built-in furniture serves as a focal point in each of the three volumes that compose the complex, creating a “living around the fireplace” model where all activities take place. The Retreat exemplifies the ongoing changes in our lifestyle facilitated by the emergence of global communication networks. High-speed Internet connection and extensive teleworking facilities permit international travellers to stay for longer periods of time at Pankhasari living in one of the planet’s most remote and beautiful corners while at the same time engaging with communities around the globe.” reads their official release statement. 

The retreat is designed to respond to the setting by incorporating bioclimatic principles in architectural design, with emphasis on cooling and shading, natural ventilation, and protection against monsoon. The building is built in lightweight materials in a way that its members could be easily dismantled, eventually restoring the land to its original state. The sacred black boulders that disrupt the site are assimilated into the design, by spreading over three stacked volumes connected by a covered foot bridge.

The design of the retreat has evolved through an interactive process that involved local residents, craftsmen and practitioners from the surrounding area. “We wanted to oppose both architectural choices that are indifferent to their geographical context, and any uncritical cult of a local tradition”, says Ratti. “The result is a more collaborative architecture, opened to the influence of people from different backgrounds and with different skills." 

“The project unfolded over many years, allowing us to involve many different talented individuals, each with their own unique perspective. I think these buildings stand out as an example of how you can reconcile the opposite dimensions of local and international architecture, utilizing an open-source design approach”, says Ratti. "Pankhasari has a unique flavor, located at an equal distance between the global zeitgeist - the spirit of the time which is reflected in contemporary architecture - and the genius loci - the profound spirit of a place.”