LuxeBook December 2020

Breaking new grounds in design Architects and interior designers Ashiesh Shah and Kohelika Kohli and product designer and visual artist Akanksha Deo Sharma discuss how the pandemic changed their practice. Excerpts from an Avid Learning discussion 28| L U X E B O O K | D E C E MB E R 2 0 2 0 A vid Learning’s online webinar Design Futures: Collaboration and The New Normal in November presented interesting trends and practices in the field of design. Despite the lockdown, due to the pandemic, designers worked their way around challenges and sketched out new solutions and projects, all while being steered by the new experiences and emotions that the pandemic brought with it. Ashiesh Shah Akanksha Deo Sharma The session had Architect and Interior Designer Kohelika Kohli, Architect and Interior Designer Ashiesh Shah and Product Designer and Visual Artist Akanksha Deo Sharma discuss how the pandemic impacted each one of them, their design practice and how it shaped the new projects in 2020. The session was moderated by author and columnist Aparna Piramal Raje, and was part of an online series Creative Collaborations 2020, hosted in collaboration with the Kala Ghoda Association from November 16 to 30. We list the innovations and design evolutions that were highlighted during the talk. Using timber to construct homes Daughter of Padma Shree awardee and Interior Designer Sunita Kohli, Kohelika Kohli, is an award-winning designer. The CEO and Creative Director of K2India, Kohli has been fascinated with wood since her childhood days. The pandemic gave Kohli the time to reflect on her past body of work and relook at the ideas that were unsuccessful in the past. She was working on a holiday home in the hills two years ago and wanted to do a wooden roof. She went around looking for timber construction and found that all those that existed in the hill station were done by the British, many years ago. They were not able to find the right material and the right contractor in the right price range to do the job. During the pandemic, she restarted the conversation she had been having with a company called Artius, which has been focusing on timber construction. Together, they are trying to devise modules in which timber construction would work in different environments within India. “We are trying to reduce our footprint of concrete in our projects. We use glulam for the columns and the beams, and different variety of woods for ceiling and floors,” shared Kohli. Processing wood uses less energy as compared to other building materials like steel and concrete, resulting in a lower carbon footprint. It also takes less time to build with wood as it can be manufactured off-site. The wood can later be reused or recycled. Kohli now is keen on reaching out to the architect community to make this design concept more D E C E MB E R 2 0 2 0 | L U X E B O O K | 29 Kohelika Kohli Moonshadow - atelier NEW NORMAL