Huang Yulong’s “Be My Side” series (2015–20) puts a whole new spin on the term benchwarmer. Each sculpture, available in a limited edition of eight, features a faceless bronze figure seated in a distinctive pose on an aluminum park-style bench. “I took half a year to ‘shape’ the concept,” puns the well-known Chinese sculptor, who uses a blend of bronze and crystals to conjure his anonymous marvels, speaking on a video call. “I was sitting alone on a bench one day, struggling with the idea of ​​

With her “Transitional Objects” series of soft sculptures, Gabriela Noelle has reconceived childhood imaginary friends as zany, swish avatars. She took their name from English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s term for the comfort objects held dear by young children. But unlike the companions he was describing, quickly outgrown by their juvenile inventors, Noelle’s creations have no expiration date. “They exist in an alternate dimension where they can only be seen and felt when liberated from th

The New Delhi-based designer takes cues from darkness to create playful and immersive meta-luxury spaces As I sit across from him in his New Delhi studio, it’s hard to differentiate between Sanjyt Syngh the person and Sanjyt Syngh the designer. “It’s not a job for me. It’s a way of life. Even when I’m in bed, I have a sketchbook and my laptop at arm’s length. I am constantly designing. The best ideas come to me at 3am when I am curled up in bed and it’s all dark,” says the New-Delhi based desig

For designer-architect duo Ayush and Geetanjali Kasliwal, co-founders of interdisciplinary lifestyle design studio AnanTaya, launching a clothing line that reimagined ethnic block prints was merely an extension of their architectural ambit; a blueprint transmogrified from walls to wearables. The garment collection, christened 'Naksha', is an outré take on ancient Indo-Persian architecture. The inspiration for the collection is the Persian architectural abstraction of hasht-behesht, or 'eight he

The dollhouse was fashioned out of MDF; with individual pieces precisely laser-cut to size, primed, painted and assembled. The walls and floors were hand-painted to channel exposed cement and Jaisalmer flooring, and the wooden herringbone floors and bathroom tiles were printed and hand-embossed to mimic real tile patterns. In designing the furniture, Nambiar adopted a scaled-down, real-life approach. "All the couches and chairs were made like real furniture; they had wooden inner frames which we

It's impossible to miss the characteristic Princess Pea—an anonymous enigma, an undercover artist known to only a precious few. In 2009, she gained acclaim at the India Art Fair wearing an oversized pea-shaped mask, a face that has not only become synonymous with her brand of art, but garnered a frenetic worldwide following. Her latest launch, a sculpture named ‘Kali', is a re-imagination of Goddess Kali in an avatar sans embellishments and trims—in her truest and rawest form. What began as a m

The exhibition, which launched on 6th June, will showcase works over a ten-day window, with sale proceeds going directly to Concern India Foundation's relief fund. The fund currently provides support for ventilators, ECG machines, portable X-ray machines, PPE, N95 masks, and food programmes for orphanages, old age homes, daily wage workers and migrant labourers. Of particular note, is Poonwalla's three-mask series, which projects her signature butterfly motif as an enduring emblem of colour and

Imperceptible, intangible, yet entirely indispensable. Such is the enormous nebulous garb of clean air. “And because of its invisible nature, the extent to which it is polluted is unfathomable,” says architect and founder Tejas Sidnal, whose company Carbon Craft Design has set a world record for successfully converting air pollution into carbon tiles. “91% of the world's population lives in places with poor air quality, resulting in 7 million premature deaths per year,” explains Sidnal, who hold

Mia Castenskjold, Klaus Weiskopf and Stefan Zschernitz never intended to start a marble product company. Yet, what started off as a passion project—a dining table made from salvaged marble offcuts—parlayed into an opportunity to discover and create more. “The table got some attention, and we received a considerable number of requests. In that vein, we decided to team up and start the company as a side project. Our main objective was to experiment and build well-crafted, unique objects, and most

Walala's stylistic references are emblems of bold architecture, unbridled colour and flamboyant expressions. South Indian architecture, in particular, has deeply influenced her design ethos. “Some postmodern houses in South India are not designed by architects; the people there just like strong shapes and colourful facades. This type of architecture was one of the inspirations for the Memphis movement, which, in turn, has been the strongest reference point for HOUSE OF DOTS,” says Walala. Works

Seoul-based designer Hyukjoon Choi's invisible furniture range is an architectural feat that could comfortably masquerade as a magic trick. The series features shelving and storage units that seek to elude the mind's eye, coalescing into the background and providing its contents with a curious illusion of levitation. Choi's designs hold a mirror to the question, ‘what if furniture was invisible?' Characterised by indiscernible outlines and gossamer shapes, Choi's creations have a diaphanous qua

Envision a folding, wall-mounted contraption that masquerades as an on-demand shower seat to fill in for your wheelchair. Or a cup—bolstered by a base, coaster and lid—to guide your shaky arthritic hand from table to tongue. In a world geared towards conventional ability and accessibility, a clutch of emerging, innovative designers are catalysing a gentle revolution in inclusive design, introducing adaptive furniture, product and interior design concepts for the ones with special needs. Here are