Queen of Quirky Furniture

By Jahnvi Sreedhar
Photography: Courtesy the designer

Lekha Washington with her furniture collection

Actor by fate and designer by qualification, Lekha Washington is an oddball in many ways. IAnD finds out what makes the creative tick with her ‘odd-product company’ and the masses... 

A product design graduate from National Institute of Design, Lekha’s journey began as a sculptor, hobnobbing with films, theatre and music along the way; even whilst she established Ajji-the odd product company in 2012.

The Pink Sink Chair

Blessed with a quirky sense of humour, the furniture pieces that she designs seem an extension of her; perhaps a reason for the peculiar company name! But a lot of thought goes into this idiosyncratic production, informs Lekha. “Interactive” is how she terms her furniture, its dynamics brought to the fore through an engaging tête-à-tête with the user.

Atomic Pieces

The Dot Chair

The Square Dot Chair

Her first product ‘Pink Sink’ was a chair made of fabric and stainless steel and took six years in the making. The patented chair, which appears forbidding at first glance, is actually very comfortable to settle into. Then came the 60” dia Dot, which can be easily latched-on to a wall - an exercise in drama and simplicity, subtlety and precision; followed by the dramatic, futuristic and space-changing Drop!

The Squair Chair

Simple geometry intrigues the designer to try out different seating solutions and she captures her imagination to create engaging and visually arresting pieces. Inspired by almost everything – from food to architecture – “ideas are a slow-burning process for me,” she informs “and not necessarily do I end up with what I started from!”

Kiku Lights

Latest on the scene are the ‘Bent Lights’ that are cable wire-like flexible lights that behave in completely different ways; and ‘Kiku Lights’, also based on the same principle.  Speaking about the challenges in this genre, Lekha rues the largely prevalent ‘Chaltahai’ environment and feels that utmost efforts are needed in the area of quality control, personally thinking through things to the very last detail.

Bent Lights

Alternating between public art installations, movies and furniture design, Lekha is thoroughly seeped into the balance of roles in her life, and professes to be quite unhappy if even one of them is taken away!

Pillow Lights

Ascribing to the SOUP (Simple, Original, User-driven Pieces) philosophy, the young designer, who has also been recently listed as among the top 50 designers in India, finds strength in the belief that “there is always a great idea that hasn’t been explored yet!”

Lekha’s furniture can be purchased at select stores in Delhi(viz a viz), Mumbai (Upstairs, Pinakin) and Chennai (Malgaadi) or directly from her website www.ajji.in