Life follows a straight line to come full circle-
A journey from one milestone to the next. A seemingly endless pursuit of activity and hustle, in the quest for survival, excellence, growth, happiness and material prosperity.
In the full knowledge that at the end of it all, it just ends. Yet, 'Karma' being both a carrot and a stick, keeps us going.
The Modern Indian came to us as a very interesting project with the fact that almost a first time a private Residential client had a pre-brief of more than 10 pages long weaving a story about themselves, their lives, personalities and their meaning ,perception , dreams and expectations of home, life and family. We instantly fell in love with the clients’ brief though challenging and the space that this was going to evolve into as we could visualise it become something truly interesting, meaningful with every element for a reason, a story, a memory. What else could a designer ask for
A way to interpret the concept as ‘Shunya’ which is the circle of life. This has to do with the idea of family and passing the values and teachings through generations. The idea of introducing almost an invisible loop as a feature throughout the house is to express this idea of continuity or ‘flow’ of energy which was also enhanced by the correct Vastu based planning generating a strong Brahmasthan right in the virtual center of the house from which all the positive energy flows happen. A constant energy loop originates from that virtual point and connects different planes into a single entity, allowing the entire space to come together as a whole.
As clearly gathered from the client's brief and detailed discussions over the first few months, the design responded to a central idea resonating with finding a sanctuary and an escape from high fidelity urban life. The Client had said once during one of the initial meetings, “The concept must be real, and not retrofitted to common trends. We will be able to see through that sort of thing. We are looking at a home, not a hotel suite .”
The brief demanded it should be premium and chic, but not over the top and had to exude warmth and thoughtfulness as a priority. The concept for this home, the clients story listening and brief, was born out of this simple fact that life is both a straight line and a circle of Shunya and life with occasional complexity and ups and downs of life in the form of details and patterns. The design philosophy finds a balance of the modern luxuries and comfort reflecting the hard work, milestones achieved by the clients whilst never forgetting their roots and culture, their strong parenting philosophy and the place they come from which is seen in the strong Indian influence which weaves beautifully in the modern without feeling forced or out of place. The palette naturally started with light warm greige and taupe mood boards, clean lines, with accents and highlights using art ,hand made forms of artistic expressions not just aesthetic and a cultural and Indian story attached to it but also functional.
Spatially, this is a four 4 bedroom apartment on the 15th Floor of the beautiful Windsor Grande Terrace of 2500 square feet with 550 sf of balconies with city views, good daylight and strong breeze all along.
The tones are muted with a base taupe palette throughout the space and layers of textural material adding to the aesthetic and functional aspects, with a touch of luxe to remind oneself that a little bit of indulgence is not a bad thing. The sun-kissed home exudes a global, contemporary vibe, yet remains solidly rooted in Indian ethos and craftsmanship. The art and key pieces have been planned from the beginning and commissioned with various Indian designers and artists including art that has been collected by the clients over the years.
The home has a beautiful high floor to ceiling height, clean layout, large master bedroom with walk-in closet and four bathrooms, balconies in each room, spacious well-lit kitchen and the layout was changed from the original to turn the 4th bedroom into a semi-openable den, study cum guest room yet having a very strong visual connect to the living area.
The unconventional entry screen which is a complete woven and dyed wool handwork karigari art piece created in collaboration with Studio Avni inspired by the clients love for all things Pichwai, lotus, a motif and memory from their own wedding. It stands tall right next to the magnanimous showstopper yet humble custom-handmade Pichwai painting made from Nathdwara Rajasthan. The wall is further subtly highlighted and zoned by the Mandir which is custom designed with a modern yet traditional handmade Thikri pattern work which when closed has an intricate metal lattice screen. The Brass Dokra Wall Mural depicting the Dashavatar from Baaya which is the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu above the dining console and the unique serigraph painting in the passage speaks a lot of their love for art, culture and history.
The lux bespoke furniture custom made by Chesterfield and Encasa interspersed with hand painted Kalam tables by Anantaya and the beautiful hand-knotted rug by Jaipur rug inspired by the Kolam art and cushions from Kanchi and Sarita Handa complete the setting near the balcony. The finer material details are the highlight of the room including the moon phase inspired circular marble inlay in floor in the dining zone, minimal contemporary lights by Arjun Rathi and the circular living room Hatsu light following the veneer clad ceiling edge details thus adding to the architectural finishing of the space details. The entire living area opens out into balcony zones with a casual comfort bench and swing and concrete coffee tables by Vakr along with high-stool seating looking into the city green views. Most of the green planters connect the inside and outside of the living space and the Champa trees and herb garden adds to the Indian ethos and the clients love for green by default. The Indian art is beautifully balanced by modern yet natural and rough finished ceramic ware by Defurn and Cotton & Satins.
The passage is designed in such a way that it gives a sense of depth with the use of mirrors, art and some custom-made lights always keeping the brahmasthan open and letting the energy flow which was the aim from day one of the project and flaunting some lovely art and serigraphs by Hussain and Vaikuntham.
The kitchen is highly spacious and luxurious and meticulously planned into clear zones of cooking , cleaning, organise along with a U-shaped island concept and high-tech and luxury based equipment with a contemporary and slick modular design with Collins using matt rose gold mirror finishes from the profile shutters to skirting and Blum and Peka hardware.The Caesarstone countertop and bits of wood finish contrasted well and the Equipment from Liebherr (ref), Siemens and Smeg adding the splash of colour , technology and modernity.. Open ledges for planters, pendant lights along with large windows and daylight lend varied mood setups for day versus night ambience.
The Den was carved out of the original 4th bedroom and powder bathroom out as a multipurpose room with a study and a downtime zone for chill and relax. It also doubles up as a guest bedroom with a sofa cum bed provided for the same. This open environment with natural light and glass partitions gave it a feeling of zen mode with modern blush shade PU and metal finishes balanced by an Oceanic theme ceramic artwork inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai and the beautiful Harshita Jhamtani earthen lamp and a lovely rug by Mirzapur rugs. The study nook is its own lovely zone with a sleek contemporary leather clad table with an elaborate step ceiling exuding the right kind of energy for the space with metal lattice designed open book shelves having a visual from the living area too. The well detailed Shoji black sliding door system turns the living room corner by adding the required openness to the den.
After a deep understanding of the ‘self explore, learn and unlearn’ methods of the clients parenting philosophies, The toddler’s room is designed with majority open space, flexibility and a complete play way method of the space itself encouraging the child explore space, art , observe at various eye-levels and gain independence on his own by making his own mistakes even. A splash of colour is added in this room yet keeping it mature, spacious and breathable with a happy and warm colour scheme. Opportunities are created for the child to use various reading and play corners, tent-role play, draw, spill, splash, play, remove his own art and painting furniture sets which go back into the inbuilt wardrobe when clear play space is required.
Parents' room is kept minimal yet beautifully detailed with fluted PU panels and light with a lovely airy reading ledge and bringing in modern Indianness with motifs in soft furnishings as well as commissioned art from Nawalgarh Rajasthan. A partially veneered dressing nook forms an interesting ceiling and architectural feature connecting back with the flutes of the wardrobe whilst reflecting them giving a sense of depth.The cane wooden chair with a study ledge makes for a lovely airy reading nook with a custom designed marble art with metal inlay by Studio Osmosis using the flooring inlay pieces.
The Master bedroom exudes a contemporary taupe palette modern Indian with the right level of spacious luxury is a little contemporary modern luxurious space with monochromatic colour and as a concept goes the highlights are the beautiful Sarita Handa handwoven art and Manchaha series Jaipur rug in the lounging space.
Master bathroom, beautifully wrapped in elegant panda white marble and having amazing panoramic views from the bathtub with a lovely chandelier above and double basin counter top is an epitome of space, luxury, comfort as well as elegance especially for Mumbai homes contrasted well by the well detailed black shoji partitions to create zones and semi privacy. One reaches this space passing the moody darker walk-in wardrobe area made with Collins floor to ceiling sliding system from Raumplus Germany with a black tinted glass and internal lights.
On other hand the kid’s bathroom has playfulness yet elegance through the installation of custom designed patterned with Piccolo tiles as the highlight of the bathroom with a unique contemporary yet fun colour lighting.