Weekend Plus Desk :
This weekend, Indian designers will showcase their work at the iconic Le Corbusier Mill Owners’ Association Building run by the Ahmedabad Textile Mill Association. Organised by curated platforms, Raw Collaborative and W-Trunk, this is the first edition of a furniture and design show in the city.
“We have created a platform to showcase the work of designers, who create exclusive handcrafted products with an inherently Indian expression. Most of the designers are from Gujarat; it is our way of celebrating local talent,” says Tanvi Karia, conceptualiser, Raw Collaborative.
“Many design studios have been closing down in Ahmedabad as clients prefer cheap products from China to design the houses. Even architects do not promote local designers and their techniques. Our main aim is to showcase the work of the young designers who are using traditional methods to make furniture and décor,” she says.
The local designers include A Cube Inc; Waylin; Rhizome; and Artemis Cast Stone. From Hyderabad there is N Square Studio; AKFD from Jaipur; Gomaads from Noida and Wood Inc. from Chennai. Nearly 21 designers will display furniture, lighting and accessories at the show. Designers Rooshad Shroff from Mumbai and Sandeep Sangaru from Bangalore will also talk about their process and methodology.
About the venue, Karia says, “We began by looking at the usual exhibition spaces such as Kanoria Arts Center and Gufa. But then by chance we thought of the Mill Owner’s Association Building, and it just worked out.” The 1954-structure was supposedly Le Corbusier’s proposal for modern Indian architecture. He took cues from traditional Indian wisdom in giving the building shaded screens, overhanging ledges and large halls.
Shroff, who recently exhibited his work at the exhibition ‘Design – The India Story,’ says, “When Raw Collaborative got in touch with me I was going to say ‘no,’ because I had already done exhibitions in Delhi and Mumbai. But the moment they told me the venue, I agreed. My work being displayed in a building designed by Le Corbusier is a dream come true. Here I intend showing my work of marble inlay and other furniture.”
For Ahmedabad-based Parshav Shah of Artemis Cast Stone, this is his first exhibition. “When I started in 2015 there were few takers. At this show, I hope to meet people from the industry and explain my work to them,” he says.
The 26-year-old designer uses dust and waste products which he collects from mines and quarries and recreates stones in different shapes and form. He is one of the first in the country to use caste stone technology in creating eco-friendly architectural products.
“Such exhibitions are held to honour the building. The legacy of the building is not just that it is designed by Le Corbusier but also because it has the history of the mill owners associated with it,” says Abhinava Shukla, secretary general of the Mill Owner’s building. The previous exhibition in the building was of IPS officer and artist Ajay Chaudhary’s paintings, which closed in February. n
This weekend, Indian designers will showcase their work at the iconic Le Corbusier Mill Owners’ Association Building run by the Ahmedabad Textile Mill Association. Organised by curated platforms, Raw Collaborative and W-Trunk, this is the first edition of a furniture and design show in the city.
“We have created a platform to showcase the work of designers, who create exclusive handcrafted products with an inherently Indian expression. Most of the designers are from Gujarat; it is our way of celebrating local talent,” says Tanvi Karia, conceptualiser, Raw Collaborative.
“Many design studios have been closing down in Ahmedabad as clients prefer cheap products from China to design the houses. Even architects do not promote local designers and their techniques. Our main aim is to showcase the work of the young designers who are using traditional methods to make furniture and décor,” she says.
The local designers include A Cube Inc; Waylin; Rhizome; and Artemis Cast Stone. From Hyderabad there is N Square Studio; AKFD from Jaipur; Gomaads from Noida and Wood Inc. from Chennai. Nearly 21 designers will display furniture, lighting and accessories at the show. Designers Rooshad Shroff from Mumbai and Sandeep Sangaru from Bangalore will also talk about their process and methodology.
About the venue, Karia says, “We began by looking at the usual exhibition spaces such as Kanoria Arts Center and Gufa. But then by chance we thought of the Mill Owner’s Association Building, and it just worked out.” The 1954-structure was supposedly Le Corbusier’s proposal for modern Indian architecture. He took cues from traditional Indian wisdom in giving the building shaded screens, overhanging ledges and large halls.
Shroff, who recently exhibited his work at the exhibition ‘Design – The India Story,’ says, “When Raw Collaborative got in touch with me I was going to say ‘no,’ because I had already done exhibitions in Delhi and Mumbai. But the moment they told me the venue, I agreed. My work being displayed in a building designed by Le Corbusier is a dream come true. Here I intend showing my work of marble inlay and other furniture.”
For Ahmedabad-based Parshav Shah of Artemis Cast Stone, this is his first exhibition. “When I started in 2015 there were few takers. At this show, I hope to meet people from the industry and explain my work to them,” he says.
The 26-year-old designer uses dust and waste products which he collects from mines and quarries and recreates stones in different shapes and form. He is one of the first in the country to use caste stone technology in creating eco-friendly architectural products.
“Such exhibitions are held to honour the building. The legacy of the building is not just that it is designed by Le Corbusier but also because it has the history of the mill owners associated with it,” says Abhinava Shukla, secretary general of the Mill Owner’s building. The previous exhibition in the building was of IPS officer and artist Ajay Chaudhary’s paintings, which closed in February. n
