unlike design co. for godrej design lab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the past few months, we have been working to develop a new design prototype with Godrej Design Lab and Elle Decor. The lab is an initiative by Navroze Godrej of Godrej & Boyce to promote and support Indian design and designers. Unlike Design Co. were amongst eight designers and studios selected to be part of the first edition of this very welcome initiative by a proudly Indian consumer product giant.

Our product proposal with the lab began with a wall utility unit designed for speedy urban lifestyles. Placed next to the main door of the apartment, the idea was to provide the functions of a mirror, shelf and hooks, all installed by the user without much effort. In close collaboration with the team at Godrej, this idea has now further developed into KVIKK – a versatile wall system offering further flexibility and enjoyment for the user.

 

This week, the prototype developed as a result of this process was presented at the India Design ID 2015 – an annual design event dedicated to interior and space design. The response has been more than enthusiastic from potential consumers, architects, interior designers and retailers.

More details to follow as the lab continues to gains momentum. In the meantime, stay updated at: www.godrejdesignlab.com

Photographs © Vikas Dutt Photography / © Zero9 / © Unlike Design Co. / Video © Godrej Design Lab

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The TV series CNBC Young Turks recently covered the Godrej Design Lab as a unique initiative by Navroze Godrej. Watch the video here.

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new products at salone satellite 2014

Last month at the Salone Satellite 2014 in Milan, we showcased our new furniture and accessories.

The Milan furniture fair is the largest of its kind in the world. Come April and the entire city celebrates its love for design through events, exhibitions, launches and shows. At the heart of this activity is the Salone Del Mobile trade fair that spreads across the Rho Fiera grounds, a complex designed by the Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas. Within this mega fairground, the Salone Satellite exhibition takes up a portion of Halls 13 and 15 in an area large enough to park two Boeings.

Founded and curated by Marva Griffin Wilshire (We think her interview here is a great introduction) since 1998, the Salone Satellite brings together almost 700 young designers below the age of 35 from proposals that are examined and evaluated by a prestigious Selection Committee drawn from a pool of international professionals from the world of design, architecture and media. 

The focus of the Salone Satellite is to connect young designers with the big guns of manufacturing. Designers showcase their design prototypes with the objective of signing design contracts with a now almost global list of brands and manufacturers. Extensive press and media reports on these prototypes is only natural and an added benefit.

We received our letter of confirmation in November last year and designed and developed these product prototypes to be launched at the fair in April. Focusing more on furniture complements and accessories, our work looks at ‘functional decoration’ – a balance of utility coupled with the pleasure of its visual and emotional ownership.

 

 

As a holder of stationery or as an object of decoration, AMMO provides the freedom to decide how and where to use it. Handcrafted in hand rubbed leather, walnut wood and turned eucalyptus wood.

 

MARGIN is a colour reversible side table in two colored leather that can be flatpacked and assembled easily. Made of plywood and clad in leather. 

 

KVIKK is a modular wall unit consisting of a mirror, shelf and hooks. Made of ash wood and aluminium, it allows for quick installation with the help of only two screws. The shelf, hooks and mirror slide and lock into the slotted wooden block. A handy assistant while entering or leaving the house.

 

The HOMETOWN lamp is inspired by the decorated cycle rickshaws from the old city of Banaras. Hand embossed by the same rickshaw craftsman in aluminium, the embossing creates an interesting visual texture even on the inside.

 

Using only wood and decoratively knotted natural fibre rope, the reversible TEJA frame uses a rope fastening method to do away with cold and un-emotional hardware. No hinges, clasps, wire or hooks. An attempt to return to a sense of functional romanticism. 

 

Designed in accordance with our approach to decorative function, the SOMEWHAT mirror is handcrafted in leather and offers the additional function of an incorporated shelf.

 

Adding to the function of a mirror, the ALSO mirror is handmade in leather and includes an inbuilt anodised aluminium hook. 

 

The SLOT shelf is cut from a single piece of MDF in a way that each piece slots into itself to form a wall shelf.

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Delhi, though vast and very resourceful, is not an easy city for a designer to make prototypes to exact and intended specifications. Add a strict deadline, and you’re headed to almost certain disappointment. Within these situations, it is a pleasure to be able to work with Cuir Inde (the manufacturing arm of designer Parminder Pal Singh), BeeHive (the workshop and studio of designer Pankaj Narain) and The New Black Design Studio (by designer and dear friend Rohit Kumar). Them, we thank.

All Photographs © Unlike Design Co.

 

the center of corbusier’s chandigarh

For a country that’s still grappling with the appropriate behavioral protocol towards design and architecture (art can wait), its a pleasure to know of the well preserved existence of the Le Corbusier Centre in Chandigarh. This shy, almost introvert structure served as the office of Corbusier and his team as they conceived the rest of the city. It is the studio, the brain, the center.

 

This is a picture of a picture of early Chandigarh. Corbusier mentioned sunlight, space and greenery as three important human rights that architecture must grant to its inhabitants. This is a beautiful thought in itself, for it speaks of what architecture does and not of what it is.

 

The old fireplace, the brick flooring, the vast collection of chair and desk prototypes all exude an aura of exciting times in Chandigarh’s history, maybe the best days of all. Over the fireplace is a picture of one of Chandigarh’s most interesting structures. Corbusier called it the Tower of Shadows – a building he constructed to study the sunlight and from it, the height of windows, the width of rooms and the orientation of the city itself.

 

Corbusier’s writings mention ideas that are seemingly outrageous at times, yet having spent time with them, one realises that they are the disciples of a thought process that promised a solution to the chaos we now inhabit. And of course there have been many dreamers and many ideas and such is the world.

 

“The city of Chandigarh is planned to human scale. It puts in touch with the infinite cosmos and nature. It provides us with places and buildings for all human activities in which the citizens can live a full and harmonious life. Here the radiance of nature and heart are within our reach.” – Extract from the Edict of Chandigarh (Le Corbusier)

All Photographs © Unlike Design Co.

The Le Corbusier Centre is open weekdays 10.00am to 06.00pm. The address is: Le Corbusier Centre, Old Architects Office Building, Sector 19B, Chandigarh 160019, India | Telephone: +91 172 2777077