Personalized Ethos

By Savitha Hira

Photography: BharathRamamrutham; courtesy the architect

 

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Evolving design sensibilities are truly taking over, blurring boundaries in a holistic global outlook; as seen in this apartment in Mumbai, designed by a firm in Mexico...

An Indian family has sought the services of Mexican architects Arquitectura en Movimiento Workshop to design 3 duplexes in their 6-storied fit-out in central Mumbai. 

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The family comprising of an old couple, their two offspring and their respective families occupy one duplex each; all three families’ had distinctive requirements and design sensibilities and have found their design solutions in the avant-garde ambiences created by the architects.

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Talking about the penthouse duplex (it adjoins the roof garden, which is presently being completed), whose design revolves around its sculptural staircase, the architects say that they executed this as a pragmatic option to installing a simple chic staircase and a good sculpture in the earmarked area.  The resulting staircase with open risers made of slats of metal clad with walnut engineered wood exemplifies fluid lines that define the height of the apartment and is at once the cynosure of all eyes. While it is fundamental to the layout of the apartment; it also stands apart for its high aesthetic value – even more so, since it is visible from all public areas of the apartment.

 

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The design augments the plush feel of the rest of the home as it is replicated in other elements such as blinds and ceiling; each room stands in signature attendance with every detail meeting a special character of the users – every colour, every picture, every kitchen utensil, and every piece of furniture and fabric being specifically chosen to make the home unique.

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Just as the public areas, each bedroom has a different atmosphere and is especially furnished with pieces selected from the furniture fair in Milan. We also see a wide variety of exclusive designs, paintings and sketches by Amitava Das, Ratnadeep Gopal; sculpture by Rainer Lagemann; rugs and tapestries; the living room carpet designed by Starck carpets, New York and made in Nepal has the names of the clients woven all over it; the staircase is designed in Mexico but handcrafted by carpenters in Mumbai and is polished with natural oil for a chic finish; mosaics applications, custom-designed ceilings, pooja room doors, arabesca to marble and walnut wood that contrasts with the white of the shell...

Locally being monitored by Ar. Vivek Prabhu, the home is a fitting symphony of the co-existence of custom-design and off-the-shelf; global influences and deeply entrenched Indian values.