Studio Culture

Our new Studio Culture series explores the inner workings and inspirations of creative teams in Asia. In this first edition, we take a look inside New Delhi-based multidisciplinary studio Project 810.

In the first edition of our new studio feature, we take a look inside New Delhi-based design practice Project 810

The year is 2017, and Indian design studio Project 810 is pressing full steam ahead. A host of exciting projects are running smoothly, but Vritima Wadhwa and her team are feeling the pinch of working from the 110-square-metre basement of her row house in New Friends Colony, a leafy residential neighbourhood in southern New Delhi. Wadhwa is about to begin preparations to move the studio to the site of their workshop about ten kilometres away in Saidulajab, an ‘urban village' dotted with agricultural sheds that will soon become one of the city's design and culture hotspots. But then the designer is badly injured in a three-storey fall at one of her project sites. The move is cancelled. ‘I thought that was going to be the end,' she says, ‘but I believe something saved me. It was like life was telling me to stop running — to let things run their course.'

Today, as she walks me through that same studio in her basement, her adorable Pekinese Zorro in escort and techno music playing in the background, she seems content. ‘It 's nothing fancy but it works for us,' she says. The space is marked by the informality of a home and the frenetic energy of a design school studio. Its decor, having evolved naturally since Project 810's founding in 2014, is steeped in layers of meaning. Words, sketches and images pinned on tack boards chart the evolution of significant projects and products, preserve the memories of travels and accomplishments, and reflect collective aspirations. Prototypes and

material samples from projects old and new lie scattered over workstations and tucked into desk drawers, while overhead cabinets are packed with books on everything from art and craft to colour theory, typography and anthropometry, in addition to vintage copies of Architectural Digest that belonged to Wadhwa's mother, who's been running a furniture manufacturing firm in the city for over three decades.

The studio's ten-strong team, which includes a mix of interior designers, furniture designers, architects and draughts people, collaborates on all projects at every stage of development. ‘There aren't a lot of instructions from me,' says Wadhwa. ‘We try to avoid defining a final vision for the project — the process is more important to us. Our collaborative and handson approach enables us to question each other, unlearn and relearn while the design evolves.'

To aid cross-learning, the team sits down together once a month to share project feedback and challenges or mistakes and then discuss solutions. Each member also regularly presents a ‘masterclass' on subjects or skills they've mastered. This approach extends to the workshop as well, which employs more than 50 kaarigar (artisans) skilled in traditional woodworking, most of whom have previously worked with Wadhwa's mother. ‘They've known me my entire life — some of them have literally rocked my cradle,' she says. ‘We're a big family and at some point, I want to unite the studio and the workshop. But I'm not in a hurry anymore.'

Facing page, bottom Project 810’s team of ten take a collaborative approach at every project stage

Facing page, top Prototypes and material references can be found all over the basement of Vritima Wadhwa’s row house in New Delhi, which houses her multidisciplinary design studio Project 810

This page Mid-century nostalgia combines with a contemporary Indian aesthetic in the One collection, which reflects Project 810’s approach of remaining ‘rooted in contemporary India, and drawing inspiration from the world’. Described as on ode to earthy materials, the handcrafted collection includes pieces such as the Renga Peg Table (top) Images by Reuben Singh (top right and bottom left) and Vritima Wadhwa (bottom right)