Homegrown art and design as the hallmarks of this South Mumbai apartment by Ashiesh Shah

This is a lockdown house. It started and ended in the lockdown, and has been crafted almost entirely with home-grown art and design,” saysAshiesh Shahof this sky-grazing apartment in a tower in Mumbai’sWorlineighbourhood. There is really no upside to being cut off from the rest of the world, a state of being during the pandemic. Everything that was once accessible is suddenly not. But that constraint didn’t restrain Shah’s ability to design the home from scratch. All it took was turning inwards.

He pulled the design for this house together by collaborating with local artisans and brands and leveraging the offerings from his atelier to custom-make this house of four bedrooms, an expansive living room, a professional-grade kitchen, andsea views. “It is 100 percent made in India except for a living room carpet, which is aMoroccanimport.”

That the homeowners trusted Shah’s judgement is evident in their carte blanche brief. “It was very open ended. The only thing they were firm on was a neutral palette and no wooden flooring. Apart from that, being art enthusiasts, they wanted me to make sure there was room enough to accommodate more art in the future.” Into this framework, he poured interesting shapes, created a play of materials, used a mix of handmade flooring tiles and marble across the apartment, and added colour with the lightest of touches.

The result was that it all came together in the most restrained and under stated way. From the very minimalist entrance, the build-up in the living room is so subtle as to be unexpected. At once large and intimate, the space is layered with remarkable artworks,curved lines, rounded edges, warm colours, and custom furniture—some made for this house and some pieces from Shah’s atelier. “We consciously kept the palette neutral, because we wanted to reference the pastel aubergine from the painting above the sofa and bring it into our colour story. The carpet—with the burnt orange, browns, and amber—is where it all meets visually.” Slim swivel lights, with a “kineticism that helps the room engage”, flank the sofa, supplanting typical lampshades.

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The circle, which Shah has a particular fondness for, found expression in unusual choreography between the central marble table cantilevered at one side and the custom textural domed ceiling light above it “metaphorically creating an oval. They complete a circle.”

On the other side of the big space is a second more intimate seating arrangement, complete with a wooden textured wall and an open shelf that serves as a “library for Dilip Chobisa artworks. The homeowners had a cluster of his works on the wall, which we decided to pull apart and instead create a ‘library’ of his works.” It’s all overlooked by a minimal lighting fixture hanging from the ceiling, a counter to the fullness of the dome-shaped one over the other sitting area.

This counterbalance translates into the dining space, where the soft colours of the living area give way to concentrated colour play. Shades from Idris Khan artworks offset the dark handmade floor overlaid by a muted rug, which, in turn, anchors a dark marble table. “We wanted this space to have a strong identity.” In the all-grey kitchen, however, Shah pared it back sharply, sneaking in whimsical hints through the tiles, the outcome of a Péro-FCML collaboration. “There is usually so much going on in a kitchen, everything stands out. I wanted it grey to create a neat and clean aesthetic.”

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The bedrooms are all about soft coloured furnishing; complementary artworks; comfort, with seating built around the apartment’s structural columns; and textured concrete for theceilings.

Shah’s deliberations on form and symmetry are evident in the detailing that exists in every corner of this home, from the sculptural lighting fixtures to the whimsical carpets. And there is art in expected and surprising ways—some of the striking furniture and bathroom fittings by Frozen Music, the Oculus table in the living room from the atelier, the narrow carpet arrowing down a strip of flooring in a dialogue with Rana Begum works on the wall—all bound in compelling artistry. “I like making my homes seem like it took years and heirlooms to make them.” Shah seems to have mastered that ineffable, unknowable ingredient that creates singularly unique homes. This house, where home-grown craft and design find such remarkable contemporary restraint, exemplifies that talent eloquently.

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