Breathe, Bangalore, is a residence in pursuit of maximum energy efficiency and a thriving landscape fit for a bird enthusiast. The house takes up only a quarter of the site, the remaining land being utilised for crafting a landscape that supports the built. In the surrounding rain garden, water becomes one with land; swales culminate in a retention pond that helps recharge groundwater. Native plant species support the rain garden, creating a lush habitat for the animals and birds that frequent. Conscious use and re-use of existing materials is evident in the random rubble foundation and locally made bricks and rammed earth walls, for instance. Perforations have been strategically placed to aid ventilation, bring in sunlight in pleasing patterns, and create a breathing skin that invites birds to nest in them. The pergola brings in strips of light that fall over the courtyard. Handmade Athangudi flooring tiles are laid in a gradient. The wood in the staircase and window frames is upcycled, the tiles in the bathroom reused, and there are decorative imprints of local leaves on the concrete surfaces of the kitchen countertop.