Curated by Shabnam Gupta and Preeti Singh, this first-of-its-kind digital exhibition celebrates and showcases techniques, crafts and innovations that are being explored and experimented with by the top architectural and interior design practices across India. It strives to bring attention to the extraordinary work that goes behind the scenes in design studios while making a product or a space. It aims to inform about the craft being utilised to finesse a creative idea.
ABIN DESIGN STUDIO
ADS presents wall partitions composed of custom moulded concrete blocks and recycled terracotta roofing tiles. Bridging the gap between the old and new, this technique features laterally and cross-sectionally split terracotta modules arranged between concrete blocks, anchored with cement mortar on an MS framework. These partitions are inspired by Char, a natural landform produced by the accretion dynamics of riverbanks in Bengal. Taking cues from historic structures and restoring them, this indigenous technique echoes the firm’s sustainable design ethos.
ANAGRAM ARCHITECTS
Leveraging various permutations of brick masonry, Anagram Architects demonstrates the technique of chinaaee. Since the value chains of craft brickwork today are threatened by the advent of modern industrialised processes, the firm attempts to employ technological tools via contemporary design to help propagate and sustain regional craft brick masonry. While the conventional process of brick masonry offers no potential for selection, employing local masons and integrating innovative experimentation by the firm has resulted in redefining this craft. Anagram Architects display masonry skills in various patterns – stepped, staggered, wave-like and vaulted through their projects.
ATELIER ASHIESH SHAH
With a mission to reinvent traditional crafts for a modern world, Atelier Ashiesh Shah showcases the artisanal technique of weaving with their Brahmaand collection (in collaboration with Jaipur Rugs). Embodying fine Rajasthani craftsmanship, this handcrafted collection represents an exploration of visual dimension through gradient and texture. In this technique, the hand-knotted rugs undergo more than 18 finishing processes, from picking and hand-carding the wool to spinning it into fine yarn. Intricate zardosi embroidery and precise gultarashi weaving create timeless motifs and constellations that illustrate cosmic discourses on being and not-being, illusion and reality.
CLaY ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS
Take Me Along, designed by CLaY Architecture & Interiors, is a portable lamp made from waste materials. It is crafted from a vintage wooden water wheel that houses the LED driver, a wire mesh shade made from recycled metal scrap, a handmade paper casing made from leftover cotton fibre, and uses a nine-watt LED COB (green technology). By leveraging local recycled materials, this exhibit, which meets both utilitarian and aesthetic goals, highlights the studio’s environmentally conscious approach.
ARCHITECTURE DISCIPLINE
Inspired by their context-centric approach, Architecture Discipline showcases the construction technique using glued laminated timber (glulam), a form of mass timber known for its structural integrity and low carbon footprint. Glulam structures are made by bonding together individual laminates or layers of solid wood with adhesives, which are further used as prefabricated elements in construction. This technique is demonstrated in one of their residential projects, where the superstructure is built of eleven glulam portal frames with diagonal steel connectors, completely prefabricated in Delhi and assembled on site in Goa.
THE BUSRIDE DESIGN STUDIO
The studio explores the esoteric urban craft technique of using stained glass installations in spatial contexts. Stating that craft practice exists in suspension between the esoteric and the exoteric, they emphasise how the factor of speed influences the creative process. Stained glasswork is an art form with unbroken lineages of skill. As much as it is about colour and lead, it is also about idyllic visions.
ORI – FOLDED DREAMS
ORI exhibits the Japanese technique of origami art in a rigid metal like aluminium. Using the play of folds and perforations in metal, this folding technique allows for infinite possibilities. First, the sheets are laser cut to ensure precision, then folded manually, powder coated, and painted, thus celebrating the confluence of artisanal craftsmanship and technology. The perforations in the object serve as tiny windows that let light through, creating stunning shadow play in the surrounding context.
SHROFFLEON
Collaborating with artist Visakh Menon, design firm SHROFFLEóN demonstrates the stone inlay technique in the flooring of one of their residential projects. Renowned for their unconventional artistic approach, the designers attempt to create innovation in this process as well. Employing the stone inlay method, an abstract artwork is created on the flooring by a composition of parallel lines of varied lengths and thicknesses using a diverse material palette.
KUNAL MANIAR AND ASSOCIATES
Kunal Maniar and Associates demonstrate the sustainable technique of using redundant materials from a construction site to create a functional object, in this case, a minimalist lamp. First, an old reinforcement bar is welded to create an elegant armature and stand for the unused glass brick. A light source is then precisely positioned inside the glass brick, through which the light passes, creating a gleaming effect. By demonstrating the durability of the waste materials beyond their original use to create these pieces, this technique invites consumers to reassess their notions of value and beauty.
MATHEW AND GHOSH ARCHITECTS
Mathew and Ghosh Architects showcase a hand-crafted innovative light fixture, The Bison Light, using recycled waste materials and designed for a weekend home. The Bison Light features a three-dimensional geometric frame made of teak wood measuring 5 feet by 16.5 feet. An in-groove recessed 3000K LED light strip illuminates the fixture.
LIJO.RENY.ARCHITECTS X STUDIO VINTON
Collaborating with Studio Vinton, LIJO RENY architects demonstrate the technique of metal fabrication to design a five-foot circular wall-mounted kinetic metal sculpture for a residence. In the initial stage of fabrication, stainless steel sheets are cut, hammered, creatively crushed, and bent using customised wood mounds. A deformed sheet is then cut, moulded, and fastened to an edge frame or web to make a five-foot diameter disc with a curvilinear projection toward the centre, which is further hammered for the necessary textural gradation. After polishing and buffing, a centre-rotating mechanical system is installed, which lends it a kinetic character when rotated manually, making it different from other artworks by provoking engagement with it.
PIECES OF DESIRE
Designers Nishita Kamdar and Veeram Shah create a handcrafted Wave Swing using the wood sculpting technique. The swing is made using an inclusive methodology and crafted by skilled karigars who chisel every dent on the back. The three-week process involves joining multiple strips of wood in an organised manner and sanding the wooden edges to perfection to achieve the unique undulating shape of the swing. The result is a beautiful and meticulously crafted object that showcases the power of handcrafted design and the limitless potential of human ingenuity.
SAKA STUDIO
Saka Studio showcases the indigenous traditional craft of laterite carving from Coorg through mouldings, cornices, and jointless detailing using laterite stone on the facades and interiors of two residential projects. With meticulous experimentation, laterite details were employed across column bases, wall copings, the framing of doors and windows, freestanding walls, niches and baluster copings. To ensure their durability, a matte, the water-repellent coating was applied to these details.
RAVI VAZIRANI DESIGN STUDIO
Using a unique confluence of workmanship and flair, Ravi Vazirani Design Studio showcases a product using the technique of sand casting, also known as sand moulded casting. In this technique, metal is cast or objects are produced using sand as the mould material. Over 60% of all metal castings are produced using the sand casting process, which is carried out at factories known as foundries. Crafted using the ancient art of sand casting, these objects designed by the studio pay homage to the technique and celebrate notions of simplicity and texture.
PS DESIGN AND SUNDAY WHITES
PS Design, in collaboration with Sunday Whites, presents The Embalming Project, a coffee bar table made with floral preservation, resin pouring, and carpentry. The table features 42 transparent resin blocks that house a floating Chrysanthemum flower, carefully selected and preserved to maintain its white colour. The multi-step process involves flash-freezing the flowers, preserving them with a chemical mix, making wooden moulds, filling them with resin, and de-moulding them after five days of curing. The resin blocks are then installed on the Ashwood table and lit from the base to highlight the beauty of the flowers.
SANJYT SYNGH: SPACES + OBJECTS
Dream Face is a sculpture crafted using a technique titled assemblage, usually created on a defined substrate that consists of three-dimensional elements projecting out of or from the substrate. Assemblage is an artistic form similar to collage, a visual arts medium used to develop sculptures formed through an arrangement of “found” objects. These objects may include anything organic or human-made. Dream Face is made using a composition of small stainless steel bars and a fibre mould, forming a dreamy face sculpture. To achieve the desired sculpture, these bars were welded piece by piece on the negative side of the fibre mould.
STUDIO PKA
With a design philosophy of embedding a strong sense of context and identity, Studio PKA showcases the process of highlighting and accentuating natural textures and tones using a palette of raw materials. According to the studio, the innate tactility of these organic surfaces is brought to light by employing and experimenting with natural materials in spaces. Being leveraged in their purest forms, these materials function as independent entities that complement, contrast, and articulate design by breathing life into spaces.
SJK ARCHITECTS
SJK Architects demonstrate the technique of using textured grey wash — a raw, handmade finish for walls and other horizontal surfaces. The firm used this finishing technique in one of their showroom projects as a continuous application from wall to stepped levels to form a display surface. A robust finish that acts as a raw, harmonious backdrop for the display of this vivid, edgy brand elevates the tactile experience.
STUDIO LOTUS
Studio Lotus demonstrates the craft technique of Pattachitra (cloth-based scroll paintings), incorporated in Krushi Bhawan, a public administrative building in Odisha. Pattachitra is a traditional art form from Odisha that depicts mythological narratives and is practised on cloth scrolls. In keeping with the studio’s design ethos of reinterpreting indigenous skills and providing a new meaning in contemporary times, the technique was adapted as bas-relief carvings on laterite stone. The design firm employed this technique in collaboration with Sibanand Bhol-led Collective Craft, working with over 100 highly skilled artisans to execute the project’s craft narrative, lending the space a sense of belonging.
TEJAL MATHUR DESIGN
Design firm Tejal Mathur Design showcases a coffee table crafted using the handcrafted technique of hand-trowelled lime plaster with sand granules. Inspired by the narrative of human life and the quest for inner perfection, the form of this table showcases the erosion of a coarsely textured, multi-faceted ego and the emergence of a smooth, rounded-edged nucleus in gold, reflecting inner purity. Using this technique, lime plaster mixed with sand is applied manually, resulting in a rough and uneven texture around the edges to indicate the deeper layers that may not peel away with ease. This is followed by PVD plating and, for a smoother finish, gold acrylic painting.
