Art, Architecture and Design Professionals On TFOD

A youthful and vibrant Usine Studio, led by designer duo Yatin Kavaiya and Jiten Tosar, has been creating significant ripples in and around Vadodara city. Not only have they created an enviable portfolio of interior design as well as architectural works within a short span of time, but have also garnered significant recognition for their design acumen from various institutions. They claim to wield an approach that lays emphasis on functionality while constantly endeavouring to innovate, committing to produce designs that befit the clients’ personalities articulated in a minimalist contemporary format, and undoubtedly executed with the greatest attention to quality and finish. But, Usine Studio’s deliveries go far beyond this modest claim, stretching towards the horizons of design excellence. The said clean-lined functional minimalism rides on a very evidently heightened sense of spatial aesthetics, and the profusion of detailing of a mind-boggling variety that this taut format is artfully juxtaposed with makes every single visual a joyful surprise.

Samruddhi Bungalow, recently completed by Usine at Vadodara, is an ideal showcase of their talent as the owner, an ardent art lover, sought to ‘curate and celebrate art at every turn’ in his new residence. Vadodara, being a cultural capital that is home to one of the country’s premier art schools, was doubtlessly an ideal location for such a ‘house of art’ to source its artists from. We take a look at how this talented team made the most of this brief, by not just erecting an ideal live-in showcase for beautiful artworks, but by creating a delicate artwork of the house itself.

One of the perkiest and most impactful elements of any space design is the lighting. Be they the looks of the light fixture, its operational aspects or the quality, quantity and mood of the luminance emitted, all aspects of lights and lighting are very interesting to any designer and very consequential for the space as a whole. How a light looks and should be dressed as is a line of design thought that opens up a virtually bottomless can of ideating worms. So, here’s looking at light designs by some international talent pools, which are not just amazing in ingenuity, but also pure fun!

Kavita Shivdasani, founder of the NGO Dagar Pathway Trust, has come up with a brilliant idea – with a wonderfully therapeutic, remedial initiative called ‘Art From Behind Bars’ (AFBB) - organized across prisons in Maharashtra. The latest addition to this initiative is reputed Indian artist Chintan Upadhyay arrested in December 2015, alleged to be connected with the double murder of his estranged wife Hema and her lawyer Harish Bhambani. Upadhyay conducted a workshop at the Thane Central Jail yesterday. “The law teaches us that if there is a wrong done, there is a remedy for the wrong. Yet, redemption can be undertaken in various ways. Our remedy is art – to help them heal, to ensure their self-worth.” The Dagar Trust exhibits works created by inmates, and proceeds from the sale are either given to the inmates’ families, or credited into his/her account.

Education is said to happen as a consequence of exchanges between minds, and so, an educational institute is expected to provide impetus and space for these exchanges to occur, for interactions to take place, conversations to be ignited, ideas to circulate, germinate and grow their full potential.  This is, perhaps, exactly what was playing on Indian-American Dean and Provost Neeli Bendapudi’s mind when she announced an international design competition for the School of Business she was planning for her Alma Mater, Kansas University - the school for which she had raised an impressive funding in just two years of her term there. No wonder, then, that the high-energy Dean chose as the competition winner the high-octane, dynamic, innovative and, above all, highly interactive design proposal by Gensler, the undisputed American design giant.

Pinnacle Infraheights Pvt Ltd is a provider of Construction, Interior and Waterproofing Contracting services. Located in Navi Mumbai, and headed by Pravin Karnavat, a B.E. Civil from VJTI, Mumbai, Pinnacle executes turnkey projects across a gamut of sectors like Healthcare, Education, Hospitality, Commercial and Corporate Facilities. Involved in planning, design, construction and development of commercial and premium residential construction and interiors, Pinnacle’s GM – Interiors, Sudarshan Karnavat claims this week’s TFOD Profile Of The Week!