Finding Balance Between Art and Architecture
VEERAM SHAH Architect and Furniture Designer
CYOU ARE VALUED BY THE WORK YOU CAN PRODUCE OR WHAT YOU ‘CREATE’. I RUN THE STUDIO LIKE A FINISHING SCHOOL WHERE WE IRON OUT ALL THE BITS THAT COLLEGES FAIL TO IMPART”
onceptualised in the small Parsi town of Navsari in southern Gujarat and based in Ahmedabad, Design Ni Dukaan is a multidisciplinary design studio that focuses on the concept of ‘design’ in totality and without distinction. Colloquially meaning a ‘shop for design’, it encompasses everything from architecture to furniture projects. Founded by architect Veeram Shah, the small studio is an extension of his home and works on the principle of having no boundaries in terms of cabins, age, gender or designations. “You are valued by the work you can produce or what you ‘create’. I run the studio like a finishing school where we iron out all the bits that colleges fail to impart,” says Shah.
The inspiration for Design Ni Dukaan came from various sources. To begin with, Shah’s father has been collecting antique furniture all his life at their Navsari home, where the architect spent a lot of time documenting the pieces and understanding woodwork from his father’s carpenter. Along with this, he and his colleagues who co-founded the studio immersed themselves in dialogues about music, art and literature, with the intention of creating a base and a direction for their thoughts on design and life in general.
Having studied in Pune, Shah was introduced to architecture by Girish Doshi of Navkar Architects who had worked with respected Indian architect B.V. Doshi for seven years. He also explored Modernism in college and is trying to study it further. Music has been an important part of the journey as well, especially classical music by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and Pt. Kumar Gandharva. He also takes inspiration from a lot of high fantasy fiction and sci-fi.
Being an architect Shah has not restricted himself to just designing the conventional houses, the designer has created custom bikes, handmade textile work, art, board games, films etc. He also runs P.O.D ( pieces of desire) with Ar. Nishita Kamdar and Dotto—a brand that focuses on smaller scales of design in association with Saloni Mehta. For one of his architectural projects, Shah is bringing together a short film at the intersection of art, architecture and music in collaboration with filmmaker and photographer Dhrupad Shukla and musician Hardik Dave.