Architectural Digest • 31st January 2023

This earthy Jaipur apartment is a beautiful marriage of old and new

The living and dining areas, the staircase, and the two bedrooms gleam with Italian marble flooring, while the wooden panels of the den and the remaining bedrooms serve as a warm, muted counterpoint. With earthy stucco finishes, the walls cut an incomplete avatar, as if someone mottled them up, went off on a lunch break, never to return. In some places, Bohra used wallpaper to introduce pops of colour and patches of print—a convivial cure, no doubt, for the surrounding swathes of rust. For Sura

Architectural Digest • 27th January 2023

This brooding bungalow in Chennai is designed for two humans, two cats and a dog

In Chennai’s Mahalingapuram hides a bungalow with an antique Chettinad front door. But besides the door, there’s hardly anything Chettinad about the house. “It’s a wild combination of Neo Gothic and Japanese styles,” says Raghuveer Ramesh, co-founder and principal architect of Studio Context. Evidently, the "wildness" manifests in more ways than one—the kitty playroom, a classic case in point. “They’re devoted to their fur babies so a lot of the spaces were designed for animals in equal measure,

Architectural Digest India • 26th January 2023

This 680-square-foot Brooklyn Heights apartment has the best window seat

The block was idyllic, the layout efficient, and Carrie was captivated by the bay window nook, with original Tiffany stained glass, overlooking the street. That said, the home was in desperate need of some TLC. And she couldn’t think of anyone better to deliver it than Erica Padgeutt of Decorum Design Build, who was recommended to her by past clients. Not only was Erica a talented designer with great attention to detail, but she was also a fellow woman entrepreneur (and one of very few general c

Architectural Digest • 23rd January 2023

A dainty Gurugram home that feels like stepping onto the set of Netflix's Bridgerton

When Nishtha Duggal and Rohan Gera—principal architects and co-founders of New Delhi-based The Concreate Story—first visited the Kharbandas' Gurugram home, they were enchanted by their vintage cabinet. "It was ironic, because it was never part of the plan," says Mugdha Kharbanda, a CA who works as a tax consultant. "The previous owners could never move it out of the house due its height. Thus, it was ours by inheritance." In Duggal's eyes, the accidental acquisition was a lucky little windfall, and so, when it came time to create the design blueprint, the showcase naturally emerged as the centrepiece.

Architectural Digest • 17th January 2023

This Mumbai apartment is home to a couple, their cat, and 100 pairs of sneakers

Lots of colour and lots of shoes. That’s what you notice when you step inside Sangeet and Nisha Paryani’s Santa Cruz apartment—although the latter, not quite immediately. As owners of multi-brand sneaker chain Superkicks, the shoes are hardly surprising. “They own more than 100 pairs, so we had to be really sneaky with storage—no mean feat in a 1,000-square-foot apartment,” says Oormi Rohra, founder and principal designer of Studio of Dawn and Dusk, who was tapped by the Paryanis (and their cat,

Architectural Digest • 16th January 2023

This 680-Square-Foot Brooklyn Heights Apartment Has the Best Window Seat

The block was idyllic, the layout efficient, and Carrie was captivated by the bay window nook, with original Tiffany stained glass, overlooking the street. That said, the home was in desperate need of some TLC. And she couldn’t think of anyone better to deliver it than Erica Padgett of Decorum Design Build, who was recommended to her by past clients. Not only was Erica a talented designer with great attention to detail, but she was also a fellow woman entrepreneur (and one of very few general co

Architectural Digest • 12th January 2023

Chennai: This sea-facing apartment is a Friday-to-Sunday escape

In the Nanavatis' living room on Chennai's Old Mahabalipuram Road, the Pichvai paintings on display are more than just art. "They're quiet reminders of our Gujarati heritage," smiles Shweta, who had them made by an artist in Jaipur. Funnily enough, the 'home away from home' significance doesn't stop there. It's multiplied by the fact that the property isn't the couple's permanent residence, but a weekend retreat they like to spend time in to escape the city buzz.

Architectural Digest • 9th January 2023

[Print] The Brilliance of Tara

As a child, Gita Wolf was an avid reader: "I was mostly fed on Anglo-Saxon books, where it seemed to me that fun and adventure seemed to happen only to children in other places. And I wondered, why not right here?" Many years later, as a mother to a young son, the question, in her mind, still remained unanswered. Little did she know that she would find the answer herself, blazing a new trail for children's books in India, and shining a light on indigenous folk art along the way.

Architectural Digest • 9th January 2023

[Print] Notes from Bhutan

Bhutan has long been hailed for its inherent spirit of optimism, something the Himalayan kingdom has managed to parlay through the pandemic with a renewed focus on art and culture. The latest case in point is the country's largest-ever overseas art exhibition, christened 'Healing With Happiness', currently on view in Brussels. Organised by Voluntary Artists Studio of Thimphu (VAST) in collaboration with the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Brussels and the Belfius Bank, the exhibition—which spotlights 175 artworks by 68 Bhutanese artists—commemorates the wedding anniversary of Bhutan’s king and queen, and holds a mirror to the king’s vision of creating ‘art to touch people's lives'. Inaugurated in October 2022, it will remain open for viewing at the Belfius Bank until the end of March 2023.

Architectural Digest • 9th January 2023

[Print] Heartfelt Memories: Melissa Joseph

As a child growing up in rural Pennsylvania, Melissa Joseph was deeply influenced by her father's Malayali heritage. "From the lungis he wore everyday to the appams he taught me to make, and the Malayalam music and movies that were constantly blaring from speakers around the house, there were reminders of Kerala everywhere," recalls the Brooklyn-based artist of her bicultural upbringing (her mother, an American, hailed from Pittsburgh). And yet, for Joseph, the only tangible reference to her Malayali roots was photographs. "These images were my connection to family far away, whom we would visit every few years. I would see my aunts and uncles and cousins, my grandparents and my great grandmother, and hear stories about them at the same time I was learning about figures from the bible and reading fairytales. All of these characters took on an almost mythical existence."

Architectural Digest • 6th January 2023

Japandi Chic and Midcentury Vibes Meet in This India Apartment

When Sumi Bose and Vivin Pai bought an apartment in Bangalore, they were sure about one thing: the kitchen wall had to go. “Well, two things, if you count the aesthetic we were going for,” says the couple, whose days are currently governed by the uproarious antics of their six-month-old baby and their two-year-old pup. For the young parents, the aesthetic of their future home had been dreamed up long before they had finalized—or found—an interior designer. “So when we landed on Aishwarya, we had

Architectural Digest • 6th January 2023

This book publisher has been creating magic with indigenous art for almost 30 years

For Wolf, who considers herself an accidental entrepreneur, it was important that each page inspire wonder. “I wanted to create books that would make children want to read—nothing preachy or moralistic. My other interest was in the visual: I was fascinated by picture books. I’ve always loved art, but it was never taken seriously when I was growing up.” She started off with little more than two book ideas and a few finished handmade pages. V. Geetha joined her in 1996 and the two have since maint

Architectural Digest • 5th January 2023

Pune: This couple’s dream home is an elegant nod to the sea

By day, Archana and Jeetendra Rathi are strait-laced CAs. But they're quite the opposite by sundown. "Easy-going and warm, they have a flair for entertaining," says Prachi Jain, founder and principal designer of Cubix Global, of the partners in life and career (the couple runs a chartered accountancy firm together). So when they acquired their own home in Pune, they knew that parlaying their open-door policy into their new home was the number one priority. The couple was familiar with Jain’s work, having followed her career for close to fifteen years. “When it came to the interior design, she was the obvious choice,” says Archana.

Architectural Digest • 3rd January 2023

A new exhibition by VAST Bhutan is a sanctuary of therapeutic Bhutanese art

For Bhutanese artist and curator Asha Kama—widely credited for having started the contemporary art movement in Bhutan—the curatorial ethos was informed by joyful things: people, landscapes, auspicious motifs, cosmic mandalas, and mythological icons and deities. The mediums vary widely, ranging from natural pigments and acrylic to mixed media, and installations of wood, mirrors, and traditional Bhutanese musical instruments. What doesn’t vary is the overarching theme of healing. As a platform fo

Architectural Digest • 26th December 2022

This Warm Parisian Apartment Nods to a Childhood Friendship

From classmates in kindergarten to best friends in high school, Samantha Hauvette and Sophie Gaillet have quite a history. “We have always had a sisterly bond, but over the years, we have also become close with each other’s families. Our kids are now best friends and we do absolutely everything together,” says Samantha, who serves as principal designer and one half of Paris-based architecture and interior design studio Hauvette & Madani.

Architectural Digest • 26th December 2022

Gujarat: This weekend getaway near Thol Lake Sanctuary is a red brick wonder

In the corner of one Gujarat kitchen sits a row of pickle jars with nary a pickle. Instead, fat bunches of white sholapith flowers spill out over each rim, in memory of the pickles that once inhabited each jar. "They hold a lot of sentimental value, these jars. They used to belong to the owners' grandparents and great-grandparents in Surat," says architect Vaissnavi Shukl who was was approached by a surgeon couple for a farmhouse project in Thol not long ago. Except, what stands on the site toda

Architectural Digest • 20th December 2022

This jewellery designer's South Mumbai home is inspired by the city's coastline

With two babies and several businesses, Kaabia Grewal and Rushang Shah have a thing for living life in the fast lane. (She is one half of fashion jewellery brand Outhouse Jewellery. He is a serial entrepreneur with a background in finance.) But when you enter their home at South Mumbai’s Malabar Hill, there’s nothing that alludes to the frenzy and chaos of what one might assume would come with round-the-clock adventures. The zen-like vibe, of course, is no coincidence. After all, with Nishil Sh

Architectural Digest • 19th December 2022

This weekend retreat on the outskirts of Kolkata sits nine feet above the ground

If you were to stroll past Macha House, chances are, you wouldn’t know what to make of it. At some angles, it could be a spaceship. At others, a supersized gazebo. Situated inside a guava orchard, amidst rural farmlands on the outskirts of Kolkata, nothing about it gives away its true identity. Not even the traditional wooden beds and modern glazed accents that allude, perhaps, to the presence of a family. When architect Abin Chaudhuri received the brief for a two-bedroom weekend retreat, there

Architectural Digest • 14th December 2022

This duplex apartment in Bengaluru is a sanctuary for the senses

For Sireesha C and Bharan N, the pursuit of stress-free living isn’t inspired by once-a-week spa treatments and stress balls the size of a bedroom. “We like to find it in the mundane,” says Sireesha. “Savouring the sunshine, watching the clouds, lighting candles on a cosy rainy day, the smell of fresh flowers—the things we usually take for granted.” The couple, who share a daughter, enjoys travelling, but when they aren’t, they’re almost always at home. So four years ago, when they purchased a t

Architectural Digest • 10th December 2022

Ishaan Khatter’s Mumbai apartment is a sunset sanctuary

When he isn't busy filming or promoting or air-dashing off to exotic locales, Ishaan Khatter likes to appreciate the little things in life. “On Sunday mornings, when time permits, I slip off for a bike ride. In the evenings, I like to watch the sunset with some music and coffee,” says the actor, who was last seen in supernatural comedy Phone Bhoot, alongside Katrina Kaif and Siddhant Chaturvedi. So when he moved in a three-bedroom apartment along the Bandra sea face, naturally, his first priorit