My Life in Design: Arjun Rathi
"Architects, designers have the power to push indigenous products and creations and help the local market grow," says the talented designer
Aditi Sharma Maheshwari
25 September 2017
Blogger, dog mom
This series takes a look at the aesthetics, influences and practices of some of India’s biggest names in the field of architecture, interior and product design
Architect at a Glance
Name: Arjun Rathi
Firm name: Arjun Rathi Design
Design style: Partial to materials experimentation in products and a fusion of rural and modern styles in interiors
Education: Bachelor in Architecture from Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture, Mumbai
Photos courtesy: Arjun Rathi Design
Architect at a Glance
Name: Arjun Rathi
Firm name: Arjun Rathi Design
Design style: Partial to materials experimentation in products and a fusion of rural and modern styles in interiors
Education: Bachelor in Architecture from Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture, Mumbai
Photos courtesy: Arjun Rathi Design
Tell us about your beginnings as an architect.
After completing my graduation, I worked with a few interior and conservation firms in Mumbai. Then for a while I moved to Switzerland and found a job at an architecture firm there. Moving to Europe and travelling across the continent taught me a lot – it exposed me to good architectural practices. I came back to Mumbai after a year and was contemplating what I really wanted to do in the design space here. That’s when I decided to give product designing a shot and experimented building a table made from a Kelvinator refrigerator door. Finally in 2012, I started my own practice, Arjun Rathi Design, a multidisciplinary firm offering services in interiors, architecture and product design.
After completing my graduation, I worked with a few interior and conservation firms in Mumbai. Then for a while I moved to Switzerland and found a job at an architecture firm there. Moving to Europe and travelling across the continent taught me a lot – it exposed me to good architectural practices. I came back to Mumbai after a year and was contemplating what I really wanted to do in the design space here. That’s when I decided to give product designing a shot and experimented building a table made from a Kelvinator refrigerator door. Finally in 2012, I started my own practice, Arjun Rathi Design, a multidisciplinary firm offering services in interiors, architecture and product design.
How did you formally venture into product design?
When I was in Switzerland, I went to meet a couple of my friends in Finland; they were doing their internship at that time. The house that they were staying in was rented out to them by their carpenter – a very interesting scenario of architects staying in the home of a carpenter! They needed a table to make their drawings. Buying furniture was extremely expensive, especially with their modest internship salary and so their carpenter just removed the door of an old fridge and set it up it on the floor as a makeshift flat table for them to work on. This gave me the inspiration for my first product – the Kelvinator table. In 2012, I designed the Ambassador lamp made from the headlight of the Ambassador car, surprisingly as a gift for the same friend in Switzerland. That lead to my first few custom designing jobs for architects and companies. Early in my career, Ashiesh Shah allowed me to design and experiment with lighting and furniture for several of his projects, which gave me a greater understanding of materials and allowed me to experiment more. Later, I took this passion ahead on my own to explore new products and ways of making them.
See how this Delhi home celebrates recycled furniture
When I was in Switzerland, I went to meet a couple of my friends in Finland; they were doing their internship at that time. The house that they were staying in was rented out to them by their carpenter – a very interesting scenario of architects staying in the home of a carpenter! They needed a table to make their drawings. Buying furniture was extremely expensive, especially with their modest internship salary and so their carpenter just removed the door of an old fridge and set it up it on the floor as a makeshift flat table for them to work on. This gave me the inspiration for my first product – the Kelvinator table. In 2012, I designed the Ambassador lamp made from the headlight of the Ambassador car, surprisingly as a gift for the same friend in Switzerland. That lead to my first few custom designing jobs for architects and companies. Early in my career, Ashiesh Shah allowed me to design and experiment with lighting and furniture for several of his projects, which gave me a greater understanding of materials and allowed me to experiment more. Later, I took this passion ahead on my own to explore new products and ways of making them.
See how this Delhi home celebrates recycled furniture
What challenges do you face in the Indian architecture and design industry?
There’s a mindset issue where people feel that if a product is made in India, it should be cheap. However, what they don’t understand is that if it is cheap, it won’t be of equal quality [to international products]. We, as designers, have to build a really strong body of work to prove that we can deliver original, unique products of international repute. There is a huge opportunity for Indian designers to get into the customisation market, tailor-make designs for clients where they can get something original, locally made, relatively cheaper and truly unique.
Also, large companies in India do not invest in local design firms. The brands that mass manufacture do not commission their product designing to local creatives, as opposed to international companies that either have an entire panel of in-house designers, give them royalty for their designs and create collaborative products. The whole manufacturer-designer relationship is absent in India. Large brands here create mass-produced replicas that are made in isolation from the local design community.
There’s a mindset issue where people feel that if a product is made in India, it should be cheap. However, what they don’t understand is that if it is cheap, it won’t be of equal quality [to international products]. We, as designers, have to build a really strong body of work to prove that we can deliver original, unique products of international repute. There is a huge opportunity for Indian designers to get into the customisation market, tailor-make designs for clients where they can get something original, locally made, relatively cheaper and truly unique.
Also, large companies in India do not invest in local design firms. The brands that mass manufacture do not commission their product designing to local creatives, as opposed to international companies that either have an entire panel of in-house designers, give them royalty for their designs and create collaborative products. The whole manufacturer-designer relationship is absent in India. Large brands here create mass-produced replicas that are made in isolation from the local design community.
How hard or easy is it to compete with the global brands? How does Indian craftsmanship compare to global standards?
I think the craftsmanship in India is world class if not better. Many global brands manufacture in India, take back the products to their country, label them and sell them back to us at exorbitant prices. The carbon footprint of these pieces is incredible! This is why I feel there is huge opportunity for Indian designers. We, for one, at our studio are trying to better ourselves against the global brands in the scale of production. Where it comes to mass-producing pieces and objects, we are trying to increase our offerings and make things that truly stand out.
Take a look at these 6 young brands that champion Made in India
I think the craftsmanship in India is world class if not better. Many global brands manufacture in India, take back the products to their country, label them and sell them back to us at exorbitant prices. The carbon footprint of these pieces is incredible! This is why I feel there is huge opportunity for Indian designers. We, for one, at our studio are trying to better ourselves against the global brands in the scale of production. Where it comes to mass-producing pieces and objects, we are trying to increase our offerings and make things that truly stand out.
Take a look at these 6 young brands that champion Made in India
How can Indian homeowners be encouraged to choose Indian products over International ones?
Many architects and designers in India have a very strong hold on their client’s decisions – they can take a call if they want to source from product designers in India or import things from abroad. There is a gap in ready products in the Indian design industry but it is slowly filling up with smaller studios making mass, ready-to-use products. Many a time a client does not take a decision for purchasing an expensive product; the architect or designer at the site has to recommend it and strongly support it, only then does the client follow through with it. So, in my opinion, architects and designers can really push Indian product designers and indigenous creations and help the local market grow.
Many architects and designers in India have a very strong hold on their client’s decisions – they can take a call if they want to source from product designers in India or import things from abroad. There is a gap in ready products in the Indian design industry but it is slowly filling up with smaller studios making mass, ready-to-use products. Many a time a client does not take a decision for purchasing an expensive product; the architect or designer at the site has to recommend it and strongly support it, only then does the client follow through with it. So, in my opinion, architects and designers can really push Indian product designers and indigenous creations and help the local market grow.
Could you share a trade secret that consumers should know?
I think clients should know that they can get something unique, world class and original for their site if they hire somebody from India. There are many studios that can create something very different and beautiful for clients who want their interiors to stand out.
Whose works do you admire?
In terms of architecture in India, I’ve been a big fan of Charles Correa and Anant Raje’s work – these two are the masters of Indian architecture. On the product end, I think Klove Studio produces some great designs. I also like Sandeep Sangaru’s work with bamboo furniture – it’s interesting how he uses a single material to manifest so many different forms. However, a lot of my inspiration comes from process experimentation and that sets us apart.
I think clients should know that they can get something unique, world class and original for their site if they hire somebody from India. There are many studios that can create something very different and beautiful for clients who want their interiors to stand out.
Whose works do you admire?
In terms of architecture in India, I’ve been a big fan of Charles Correa and Anant Raje’s work – these two are the masters of Indian architecture. On the product end, I think Klove Studio produces some great designs. I also like Sandeep Sangaru’s work with bamboo furniture – it’s interesting how he uses a single material to manifest so many different forms. However, a lot of my inspiration comes from process experimentation and that sets us apart.
Which product really stands out among all others that you’ve designed?
Every product has a very strong emotional connection for me – there is a story behind every piece. As a studio we have been exploring a lot of sacred geometry, which is a technique of calculating and deriving definitive proportions for furniture, interiors and architecture. We use these mathematical proportions to create spaces and apply them at a micro scale to lighting, furniture and product design. Each element we work on has a lot of emotion attached to it, apart form the proportions. One of the recent, more fun products that we created was the Cat Castle, which we made for a cat shelter in Andheri, Mumbai. It was inspired from late architect Gaudi’s work – it has a fluid, fun, pop form and is made with MDF, paper tubes, handwoven cane and terry-cloth fabric used for towels. We dyed the fabric in green and beige so it could fit into any decor or design scheme of a place. Every product that we make has a lot of material experimentation in it.
What are you currently working on?
We are experimenting with embroideries and resin. We are also extensively working with cast glass which looks like frozen ice. It takes 10 days to make it and we are using it for furniture and lighting. We are doing a 2700-square-metres (30,000 square feet) bungalow in Gandhidham. We are also working on this new theory called the Rural Modern style of design. It’s based on the fact that a huge populace has moved from tier-2–tier-3 cities to metros and are now buying large houses, flats or building homes back in their hometowns. As a throwback to their roots, we design spaces with their inherent ethnic Indian ideologies and fuse it with modern design to create a new kind of aesthetic.
Read more:
My Life in Design: Puru Das, Brian DeMuro & Kanu Agrawal
My Life in Design: Dominic Dube
Tell us:
Do you think Indian product design is at par with global standards? Share your views in the Comments section below.
Every product has a very strong emotional connection for me – there is a story behind every piece. As a studio we have been exploring a lot of sacred geometry, which is a technique of calculating and deriving definitive proportions for furniture, interiors and architecture. We use these mathematical proportions to create spaces and apply them at a micro scale to lighting, furniture and product design. Each element we work on has a lot of emotion attached to it, apart form the proportions. One of the recent, more fun products that we created was the Cat Castle, which we made for a cat shelter in Andheri, Mumbai. It was inspired from late architect Gaudi’s work – it has a fluid, fun, pop form and is made with MDF, paper tubes, handwoven cane and terry-cloth fabric used for towels. We dyed the fabric in green and beige so it could fit into any decor or design scheme of a place. Every product that we make has a lot of material experimentation in it.
What are you currently working on?
We are experimenting with embroideries and resin. We are also extensively working with cast glass which looks like frozen ice. It takes 10 days to make it and we are using it for furniture and lighting. We are doing a 2700-square-metres (30,000 square feet) bungalow in Gandhidham. We are also working on this new theory called the Rural Modern style of design. It’s based on the fact that a huge populace has moved from tier-2–tier-3 cities to metros and are now buying large houses, flats or building homes back in their hometowns. As a throwback to their roots, we design spaces with their inherent ethnic Indian ideologies and fuse it with modern design to create a new kind of aesthetic.
Read more:
My Life in Design: Puru Das, Brian DeMuro & Kanu Agrawal
My Life in Design: Dominic Dube
Tell us:
Do you think Indian product design is at par with global standards? Share your views in the Comments section below.
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amazing story. loved arjun's work. thanks for sharing