Hafele TFOD Profile of the Week: Ar. Abin Chaudhury, Abin Design Studio, Kolkata

Having an education in architecture from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Industrial Design from Domus Academy, Milan, Abin Chaudhury set up Abin Design Studio at Kolkata in 2005. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they have acquired an overflowing bouquet of accolades in this short, but significant, oeuvre so far. To name a few recent accomplishments ADS was a finalist in the ‘completed buildings category’ of the prestigious World Architecture Festival in 2015 for their cultural memorial ‘Nazrul Tirtha’ at Kolkata, received the International Architecture Award’ for 2015 from The Chicago Athenaeum and was featured among the best commercial designs in 2015 by Home and Design Trends magazine. They were named among the hottest ten architects and designers in India in 2015 by Architecture and Interiors India and among the top four young architects in India in 2012 by Design Today. The Kartik puja pandal installed in Bansberia, about 78 km from Kolkata in Hooghly district won ADS much acclaim. It was later included as part of an exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Spaces by ADS, over and above being joyful functional experiences, are visual delights. As their mission statement proclaims, architecture to them is about transcending the purely utilitarian purposes to create artistic expression. And this art they do with a masterful finesse that creates visual frames that one can never tire of watching, again and again. Be it the soulful yet modern facade of the Nazrul Tirtha, with bold larger than life inscriptions of quotes from the poet’s work standing out, but not screaming, of almost bare grey walls subtly lighted up by diagonally and infrequently placed narrow slit windows; or the odd shaped courtyard flanked by walls of 6 or 7 variously oriented blocks, no two of which are at all similar, yet result in a sublimely harmonious visual treat. The proposed building for the School of Planning and Architecture at Bhopal sees every facade framing a refreshing artwork which finally blends into the generally placid desert aesthetic. Be it the minimalist white, glass and shade magic of the Courtyard House in Bangalore or the application of cutting edge technology to create the uber colourful look of the International Management Institute at Kolkata, Abin Design Studio never fail to delight with their artistic master stokes.

By their own admission, Abin Chaudhary and his team endeavour to ‘put a soul in the shell’ of every building they design. That is, perhaps, the reason why their designs hold such a firm grip on any observer. They say that their architecture does not culminate with a creation, but continues as an endless search, perhaps for a more meaningful design idiom, a better harmony, a higher aesthetic. The same sensitivity adorns the homes designed by ADS - with Courtyard House in Bangalore as an excellent example.

It’s a pleasure to note that the India of the future would have contributions to its skyline from such a fountainhead of talent and commitment to the craft. In a scenario of chaos which we find in the country today, it is only the youth which hold out a promise of hope. Abin Design Studio is a true mascot of this youthful hope by the merit of the energy they infuse through their designs. The ADS profile on TFOD is a reflection of all that the portal stands for – youthful hope, promise and energy in the future of design. So, for today, we take immense pride in the small gesture of crowning Abin Chaudhury and his team at Abin Design Studio ‘Hafele TFOD Profile of the Week’.

We wish Abin Design Studio a long and wonderful journey, full of amazing adventures and delightful discoveries to enable them to enrich the world design scene.