a new Mumbai storefront, Various at Dhobi Talao, by Chirag Shah & Monica Sampat and banduksmithstudio, assembles a collection of works of furniture, objects, foods & uses projects at the intersection of art and architectural practice to generate a dialogue about design process and modes of making. By day, it is a storefront for well-crafted, carefully detailed works of furniture, objects, and sensitively fashioned foods,
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by night a platform for creative collaboration and dialogue. It brings together collaborators in craft—carpenters, weavers, fabricators, metalsmiths, designers, architects, cooks—in the creation of furniture and product concepts that blend time-tested material techniques and skills with currently relevant forms and tastes. A curated collection of products designed and produced locally, along with inserted artwork, exhibited temporarily, aims to generate a dialogue about beauty and purpose, technology and function. works contains furniture pieces and their elements, well designed, crafted and finished, bring together ideas that originate in architecture to create works that engage space and detail. foods works with the philosophy that season matters and natural, simple ingredients make the best things. With space there comes great responsibility – and we plan to put it to good use through a series of projects and collaborations at the intersection of art and architectural practice, which engage concerns about design process and modes of making. about Chirag Shah & Monica Sampat
Chirag Shah, is a financial markets professional for over two decades besides being a food and design enthusiast. Monica Sampat, a JB Petit alumnus, a trained speech and drama coach, tutors kids with learning disabilities and those belonging to the economically weaker sections. bound by their interest in well crafted, handmade furniture and other traditional crafts, they bring to you various at dhobi talao in association with banduksmithstudio. about banduksmithstudio
banduksmithstudio is an architecture, urban design, and research practice founded by Sachin Bandukwala and Melissa Smith, and based in Ahmedabad. Their work engages processes of making through research on unique construction methods, both institutionalized and inventive, and built projects that explore the boundaries of material and craft in the context of contemporary Indian construction. Projects come at any scale, and the practice shifts from furniture and object design, to interiors, renovations, additions, residential, institutional and commercial architecture. For them, 'Various' is a way to explore making in ways that architectural practice doesn’t offer. Here they work closely to innovate with artisans—carpenters, fabricators, metalsmiths and others—accepting only the best, with no limitation from the client. In food, they explore processes of making with a similar regard for perfection and a commitment to quality and traditional knowledge. And happenings allows initiatives to discuss these processes with others engaged in them, to develop a dialogue among a cohort, and to reflect on processes, rather than simply produce.
