[IN]SIDE | MATTER

With Canna Patel (HCP Interior Design Pvt Ltd),
Sandeep Khosla (Khosla Associates), and
Ambrish Arora (Studio Lotus)

This three-point discussion sought perspectives and viewpoints on the perceivable aspects of interior design and the emerging tangential domains of the discipline – interior decoration / visual décor and styling.

01.
INTERIOR DESIGN PRACTICE IN THE CONTEXT OF INDIA

Canna Patel:
An interior design practice when placed in the Indian context gets tied to not just our culture and aesthetics but more importantly, to how it is practised. In India, interior design has not been separated from architecture as a result of poor or no legislative or licensing control. It has, therefore, become a profession that architects adopt to create liquidity more often than not – an intermediary ball to keep rolling between architecture projects.

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By Anusha Narayanan

On the 14^th of January, 2020, Aziz Kachwalla met with a tragic and fatal accident. Aziz Kachwalla’s work pushed the limits of material understanding through an involved and iterative design process, for objects that he often co-authored with architects and designers his firm worked with. His work demonstrated an intuitive grasp of the nature of materials he worked with, and he was often instrumental in the development of decisive details for complex design issues in products and spaces. A contextual and textural comprehension enabled him to create organic and surreal products, emanating the honesty from which they were conceived.

To many, Aziz was an enabler, a co-conspirator and a bridge to a good product, a complex spatial assembly or a new way of looking at a material. There are very few individuals of his calibre today, who appreciate the finesse and humility demanded to execute compelling ideas with dexterity. This editorial was originally authored by Anusha Narayanan in June 2018 for [IN]SIDE Volume 01 and Issue 02. This article is republished in memory and as a tribute to Aziz Kachwalla.

ORIGINAL: Edited from 2018 text.

With over 20 years in the product, industrial and interior design space, Aziz Kachwalla runs a practice around experimentation with materials and forms overlaid with fine craftsmanship. He is also a frequent collaborator for other architects, designers and artists of renown.

The space/studio Aziz works out of now, is a double-heighted, gritty, imperfect yet honest warehouse-turned-workshop tucked away in one of the lanes of Mazgaon, Mumbai. It has nothing to hide, no lies or pretense, similar to the nature of the designs it is home to. Resembling a theatre backstage, pieces are strewn about the space but upon observation, the emphasis on understanding each material is hard to miss. Continue reading In Memoriam: The Objects of Aziz Kachwalla →