Work Space Mumbai: The Architect.
One of the best walls in India are at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. I love Mir Yousuf Ali aka Salar Jung 3, who not only travelled, but also brought back stuff that we can all look up at awe at that amazing museum.
Over the last two years, my work has taken me to homes and work spaces of creative people across Mumbai - Film makers, artists, architects, writers, businessmen, etc. There are two interesting things that I look out for, among other things. The walls and the book shelves. The walls usually talk about their physical journeys, the bookshelves reveal where their mind travels or what they they want to show the world about where their reading takes them. Just like Salar Jung's collection spoke about his interests almost all the creative types filled their walls with their travel stories.
One of the most interesting work-spaces that I visited belonged to the one that is being created by Architect Saket Sethi, for his own firm in Goregaon. (You can read about what Saket believes here in the My Space section in the latest issue of Home Review.)
Right now, the walls show Saket's journey, influences and inspiration. It shows his love for skyscrapers, the artists he adores, wonderful drool worthy maps of Manhattan, the map of campus he honed his skills at. It also charts his journey in life from Bombay to America and back to Mumbai. Saket's drawings, a message from his guru, a copy of the first payment he received and the buildings he created.
His work space wasn't ready yet but the parts that are ready is a functioning work space. But if I was an architect straight out of college, I would've wanted a job there, right away.
This is what he had to say about his work space:
"Although
I was born and bought up in South Mumbai, I find the North/South divide in our
city to be completely over-hyped. Couple that with a requirement of an artistic
showroom/work space for clients to experience our ideas. We were lucky to
find a space that met aspects of that search.
My
workspace goal is to attract talent and create an emotional bonding – a
transparent showroom of sorts that in reverse, allows clients to see design at
work. An unpretentious organic think-tank of changes, if you will -
spilling from room to room, engaging in volume and concept. I made a
conscious departure to not engage a commercial vocabulary and
pre-conceived notions of a final product - focusing on a boutique feel,
straddling contemporary and classic cues, textures, materials and colors.
I want this diverse workspace we have to represent the diverse portfolio
of work we have done."
I saw it as his personal and professional journey and an invitation for clients and architects to share his dream.
Zhya who?
I hope it is not this Bandra Boy, Zhya.
I asked him, which is your favourite city?
Ans: If I said “Mumbai York” would that count?
