Master of Quirk

Abin Chaudhuri, 41 Architect, Abin Design Studio

Winning the illustrious International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and being regularly featured in

Architectural Digest India’s list of top 50 architects is no mean feat for even the most seasoned architects. But Abin Chaudhari wears his laurels with an unassuming air.

Chaudhuri’s love for mathematics helped him crack the entrance test for the architecture course at Jadavpur University. After brief stints at architectural firms, he studied industrial design in Domus Academy in Milan and came back to start the Abin Design Studio. One of his firm’s biggest turning points turned out to be getting a chance to design the building to house International Management Institute (IMI), Kolkata. Bigger projects swiftly came along after IMI grabbed eyeballs. The Nazrul Tirtha, a museum in New Town Kolkata, and the New Town School also in the same area, reflect Chaudhuri’s signature style and have quite organically become a part of Kolkata’s skyline.

Despite big projects like these, Chandhuri continues to be excited by smaller places he can “explore”. Especially places like 6 Ballygunge Place’s flagship restaurant which his firm handled along with Square Consultancy Pvt Ltd. The brief was simple—to make the 10,000 square feet space modern, yet classic. Chaudhuri decided to retain the character of the 80-year-old bungalow, using each of its rooms for a different theme. While the ground floor has a quirky chandelier that pays homage to traditional Bengali kitchen equipment, the cage chandeliers upstairs are a reference to the “Bengali fascination with pet birds.”

Chaudhuri wants to explore novellty through his projects. “A project must seduce us. If it’s not new to us, if it doesn’t offer another challenge and doesn’t interest us, there’s no point taking it up,” he says. At Abin Design Studio, 74 G, Bondel Rd, Ground Floor, Ballygunge Phari Tel 22875211