In his essay, The Wise Fools of Moira, Professor Lucio Rodrigues writes, “Moira is a beautiful village in the taluka of Bardez, in the tiny western state of India, Goa. The village is famous for many things, among others for its banana plantations, which yield big, long bananas, called munnouchinz kellim in Konkani, and each fruit is equal to a square meal. But the bananas are not Moira’s chief claim to fame. The people are as famous, if not more for their kellim, so famous indeed that they have passed into simile and proverb and legend. They are among the most industrious people of Goa…”
This cozy hamlet of wise fools is a stunning locale. Pristine, verdant and tranquil, with the old Moira Church forming the nerve centre. No wonder, an artist as evolved as product and interior designer Vikram Goyal chose this beautiful landscape to conceptualise a home here. But then, this is no normal home. The building is a marvel of sorts, an expansive canvas to showcase its creator’s superior design aesthetics.
The man, who is the brain behind the internationally renowned design atelier Viya Home, has been known for creating exquisite pieces and spaces using the superior indigenous craftsmanship of Indian artisans. But Goyal’s work is hardly Indian in look and feel. That is the very basis of Viya Home’s design vocabulary. It celebrates the heart of Indian workmanship through a global approach. Which is what is reflected in this Goan home.
Moira by the Church is an award-winning two-level 710 sq m villa built on a 1,297 sq m plot. The house overlooks the charming Moira church on one side and a Shiv temple on the other. The lush paddy fields further soothe.The beauty of the property is enhanced by its modernist architecture. “We used local materials because the house should be one with the place it is built in. We tried an innovative inclusion of laterite in the construction, interiors and landscape. The textured surfaces give it a rustic and earthy feel and the exposed, concrete ceilings gives it that expansive look,” says the design maestro.
The interiors are dotted with custom-made sculptural pieces from Viya Home, which happily inhabit the space alongside original Art Deco and antique Goan-Portuguese furniture. The house, an art work in itself, has won several laurels, including the All India Stone Architectural Award for landscaping in 2016 and the Commendation of Italian Dedalo Minosse International Prize for Architecture and Design.
The surface of the house is rugged and the walls are made of exposed laterite — a local Goan stone that is rust-coloured, like terracotta, which is contrasted with the masculine luxury of the rest of the nest. The colour scheme inside, used in the upholstery or objects, revolves around hues of beaten gold, khaki, brown and black, giving it an earthy feel. Indeed, a place to put up your feet and heal your mind, body and soul.