Category Archives: Projects

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Interior Design, Projects, Studio

Studio 877: Khushru Irani Design Studio

December 8, 2015 Matter 1 Comment

Working with an intuitive palette of materials and minimal interventions, Pune-based Khushru Irani Design Studio (KIDS) artfully restore an old structure combining contemporary detailing with much of its original splendour, partly to be used as their studio and a space for events open to the community.

Occupying an idyllic corner of a busy thoroughfare within the Pune Cantonment area is a 100 year old building. An unassuming verandah peeps down on to the street midway from its three-storeyed façade – the entrance to the studio of Pune-based architectural practice Khushru Irani Design Studio (KIDS). With its sloping roofs, a verandah with wooden railings, seasoned doors & windows, a stone staircase and plastered brick walls, the building bears a distinct characteristic. It may feel akin to chancing upon on a long-forgotten secret. Continue reading Studio 877: Khushru Irani Design Studio →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Projects, Studio

Casa Rana: Made in Earth ONLUS

October 16, 2015 Matter 2 Comments

A unity of unassuming mediations, forms and experiences, Casa Rana is a foster home for HIV-positive children in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu – an expression of the purposeful and paracentric intentions of Italy-based Made in Earth ONLUS.

The form sits low; an intriguing image occupied by several fleeting instances: colourful volumes interrupted by intricate textural pattern of bamboo inset within speciously unmoored solid planes anchored readily amidst patches of shrubs. An assembly of these fragmented scales, the structure is raw, compact and porous acknowledging the light, its users’ desires and the site. Continue reading Casa Rana: Made in Earth ONLUS →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Projects, Studio

Eye on the Lake: Shabbir Unwala, Design Workshop

October 1, 2015 Matter Leave a comment

Eye on the Lake, a weekend retreat in Khadakwasla, principled by Lonavala-based Shabbir Unwala’s critical understanding of architecture, is a veritable effort to intervene responsibly in a natural landscape.

How not to build on mountain slopes and how I learnt to design ‘Diet’ buildings.

Having relocated to Lonavala in 1988 to get away from the architectural madness called Mumbai, I started my practice in 1989 in Lonavala and began immediately to unlearn all the lessons learnt of how to build in an urbanscape that the college and offices I had worked had taught me. Continue reading Eye on the Lake: Shabbir Unwala, Design Workshop →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Furniture Design, Projects, Studio

Young Weavers’ Training Centre: Young Citizens

July 28, 2015 Matter Leave a comment

Melbourne and Mumbai-based practice Young Citizens curates the transition of a derelict bus shelter into a training centre for WomenWeave with a hands-on engagement with the process, context and the users. Sian Pascale, Founder of Young Citizens elaborates on her ideas and experiences with the project in an interview accompanying the feature.

A simple space furbished with locally-sourced materials and textures conducive to the needs of the users.

Continue reading Young Weavers’ Training Centre: Young Citizens →

Architecture, Contemporary Practice, Projects, Studio

Office & Laboratory Block, Goa: Sachin Agshikar

July 15, 2015 Matter 1 Comment

Away from the urban context, a conspicuous red office and laboratory block designed by Sachin Agshikar injects substance and presence into the banalities of an unconscious, utilitarian aesthetic of a cement factory.

While the architectural discourse of the day is focused on diffusion and the unease of influence and inspiration of globalisation, there exists a set of environments far more informed and standardised by thoughts and needs, an identifiable cyclical progression untouched by visually referenced design, located often in the fringes of our cities. Continue reading Office & Laboratory Block, Goa: Sachin Agshikar →