Onwards and upwards: Creative journeys 2018 and beyond!

IAnD Exclusive

Trends Special 2018

Compiled by Beverly Pereira

Photography: Courtesy the architects & designers

Read Time: 2 min 30 secs 

(l-r) Top row: Ankon Mitra; Samira Rathod & Sumessh Menon
Bottom row: Sandeep Khosla & Amaresh Anand; Simeen & Riyaz Qureshi

Team IAnD gets five acclaimed Indian interior designers and architects to reveal their most-looked-forward-to projects in 2018 and beyond…

Each of us has a little dream lying stashed away under layers of routine engagements. Sometimes, we get a little closer to realizing, maybe a part of it; maybe something similar; maybe the dream itself coming to life! Here’s what these five much-admired creatives are waiting to get on… 

Creative Professional: Ankon Mitra, Co-founder & Design Director, Hexagramm Design

Excited about: Origami Wonderland

Imagine walking through a dream land of fantastic forms, spaces and colours - all created out of paper. Immersing yourself in this meditative space will soon be a reality, when Ankon executes this installation at a paper biennale later this year. Of relevance is the fact that Ankon views origami as more than just a sculpture; it is architecture or, as he puts it, Oritecture. 

Red room ©Ankon Mitra

Yellow room ©Ankon Mitra

Of whorls & vortexes ©Ankon Mitra

Titled Origami Wonderland, the reputed designer, inspired by the concepts of light and spatiality in the works of James Turrell, will bring to life this installation marked by the powerful and striking presence of single-colour spaces in which a single colour is split into hundreds of shades by the chiaroscuro and sfumato of origami folds. In one of these upcoming oritectures, for example, red becomes magenta, merlot, crimson, currant, blood, garnet, ruby and scarlet. We’re waiting to see it too!

Creative Professional: Sumessh Menon, Interior Designer, Sumessh Menon & Associates

Excited about: Hospitality project in Dubai 

Step aside all restaurants in Dubai; the upcoming stand-alone, three-storeyed, Silver Beach Café with framed views of the Dubai Creek is being designed by the prolific Sumessh Menon!

First look -Silver Beach Cafe ©Sumessh Menon Associates

First look -Silver Beach Cafe ©Sumessh Menon Associates

Initiated a few months ago, the eatery will bear the SM stamp of ingenious use of materials; meticulous craftsmanship and the unique touch of whimsy that we’ve all come to recognize so well.   Among its other highlights, Sumessh speaks of its 14ft high volume with floor-to-ceiling openings that will be framed by metal fins and custom-textured glass, and a dedicated 2100 sq. ft. outdoor space. Sumessh is excited about anointing the 3600 sq. ft. project with patterns and techniques of design that he has not worked with before. 

Having dabbled in international projects earlier, in Africa and New York, Sumessh is looking forward to “unquestionably exploring the international market in the upcoming year on a magnified scale”. And that translates to many happy tidings for a lot of foodies the world over!

Creative Professionals: Simeen & Riyaz Quraishi, Moriq Interiors & Designing Consultants

Excited about: Luxury-car-themed villa in Bahrain

Villa in Bahrain ©Moriq Interiors

The new year brings on a new challenge for designer-duo, Simeen and Riyaz, who are eagerly looking forward to the design of a private villa in Bahrain for a family with a passion for luxury cars - a facet reflected in the curves and angular lines of the edifice. The villa will take shape as a subterranean home with landscape covering a major part of the plot. While cars will, of course, remain an integral part of the interiors, extending to the upper levels too, the villa will co-exist with the region’s micro-climate to keep its residents cool in summers. How cool is that!

Creative Professionals: Sandeep Khosla & Amaresh Anand, Principal Architects, Khosla Associates 

Excited about: Calcutta Riverside Club, Kolkata

Renowned for their timeless architecture, Sandeep and Amaresh are looking forward to the completion of yet another classic - the Calcutta Riverside Club, a sprawling 1,00,000 sq. ft. recreational club that draws inspiration from the long colonnaded verandas of Kolkata’s colonial clubs, the vast ‘beels’ of rural Bengal and the intricate terracotta temples of the region. 

CRS club  ©Khosla Associates

CRS club  ©Khosla Associates

Aerial view of CRS club ©Khosla Associates

The architects have broken the otherwise orthogonal plan by designing two dynamic sloping and skewed roofs, lunging towards the existing mature trees on the east and west of the plot. We should soon be bringing you this masterpiece of climatically sensitive architecture!

Creative Professional: Samira Rathod, Principal Architect, SRDA

Excited about: A Wall as a Room

Can a single wall ever serve the purpose of a room? Or even an entire home? Making sense of this seemingly absurd premise, is the acclaimed architect Samira, who has conceptualised an installation that plays with material, proportion and scale in a bid to redefine space. ‘A Wall as a Room’ defines a 3ft. thick wall that transforms into a habitable space, a home, a self-contained unit that takes a cue from the innovation of requirement one often sees in the homes of urban squatter communities. By expanding the thickness of the wall and sculpting it to accommodate the functions of a home, she envisions the creation of multiple slices through a home with the hope to illustrate that the wall, as a building element, can be repeated, while allowing for interesting permutations; without the paraphernalia that is customary of conventional living quarters. 

'A wall as a room' wax models of the concept  ©SRDA

'A wall as a room' concept  ©SRDA

While she has a full-size installation of the same at Jaipur for the upcoming architectural festival, Samira is eagerly waiting for the chance to actualize her theories; and perhaps create a breakthrough concept in cost-efficient, space-efficient, habitable spaces for the frugal at heart!