DesignerProfile
sources of inspiration that have influenced my career from the very beginning. My mother is a silversmith and jewellery designer. She will labour over the most beautiful pieces, you can really see the heart and soul of her work. Similarly to origami, it’s fascinating to see a flat sheet of metal morph into something strong, beautiful and wearable. The architect who designed our family home in Delhi, India has hugely influenced me. I would watch Sujata Kohli turn up on site armed with drawings and models as a young female architect, she was 27 when she worked on my parents house. It was one of her first commissions and she was one that many years later guided me to the AA. Diana Peyton, a British sculptor and ceramic artist has also guided me through my career. Diana is now in her nineties and has lived all over the world, primarily in the middle east in 1950’s when she did extensive design explorations and interior designed homes for various middle eastern royalty. I truly believe that some of my biggest design inspirations are my clients, whose aspirations for their homes and their way of life becomes the starting point for every project and makes each one truly unique. It inspires me to see how people want to live.
HAVE YOU EVER DABBLED IN OTHER FORMS OF DESIGN? My career has always been architecture, interior design has been a real transition for me but there was a time when I was very interested in studying the structure and form of jewellery design. Fashion too has always intrigued me. I declared that I wanted to be an architect when I was 11 so I think it has always been in me to design no matter what. I have a great interest in sculpture and ceramics and to learn pottery is something that remains firmly on my ‘to do’ list.
WHERE IS THE MAJORITY OF YOUR WORK BASED? Largely in London, UK – The golden postcode. I
40 Interior Design Today July 2014
have worked on projects in St Johns, Mayfair, Belgravia and many more and these projects range from contemporary to listed builds, family properties to international second homes. I have also designed in Doha, Nigeria, Beirut, India and the US. I love working and living in the same city; there is something really special about having studied here and now working as a professional. I have a deep love and respect for London.
HAVE YOU EVER WORKED OR LIVED ANYWHERE ELSE? IF SO, HOW HAS THIS HELPED TO SHAPE AND INFLUENCE YOUR IDEAS ON DESIGN? I grew up in New Delhi, India, boarded in Singapore and have travelled extensively throughout the Far East. I feel very privileged to have experienced this. The boarding school I attended had 57 nationalities so I was constantly interacting with other nationalities to create an amalgamation of my own personal history. Living as I did I’m from nowhere and everywhere which is has certainly influenced me in more ways than one. While spending time in Doha on several projects for example, my interest in Islamic patterns grew greatly. I love chinoiserie, and the first time I saw it was as a 10 year old in a restaurant in Hong Kong. More recently I have visited Marrakech and Yves Saint Laurent’s garden, its fusion of architecture, colour and tropical landscaping and the Music Room at the palace in the main square in Isfahan, for its amazingly intricate geometries calculated to maximise the impact of sound, have both had a profound impact on me.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR DESIGN STYLE? Curious! I love innovation, craftsmanship, I think this has come from my time at Candy & Candy where innovation was so fundamental to our work. Now at Morpheus I hope to continue this innovative impression. While my style is inherently classic, I am not afraid of colour, pattern and texture and love the introduction of something whimsical and within a project. My work is always
about creating something with provenance and contemporary legacy, less so about being trendy. My architectural background means I have an inherent fascination with materiality and juxtaposition of various materials against each other – metal against leather, timber against shagreen. I’m absolutely inspired by how clients live.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DESIGN COMMISSION TO DATE? In terms of scale it would have to be the London Olympics Masterplan during my time at Allies & Morrison Architects and the national library and parliament building in Doha. I’d have to say that some of the most advanced work was done at Candy & Candy, namely One Hyde Park. One of the tables specified for the project was the largest piece of handmade glass in Europe. It was a very specific garnet colour valued at £450,000. The floor had to be reinforced, it was a huge element of the project but these are the lengths we go to as designers to create the ultimate for our clients. Heading the design studio at Morpheus, I am now pushing design boundaries more than ever before in my career and projects such as the penthouse in St Johns Wood have an intensity of detail and an ambitiousness that makes them the biggest design projects I have done.
IF YOU HADN’T BECOME AN INTERIOR DESIGNER WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING? The short answer is, I really don’t know. I am a trained and registered architect and my work has crossed over into the world of interior design, which is such a privilege. I cant imagine being anything other than Architect, although I would love to learn how to fly and have always harboured a secret whimsy to be a pilot, flying a twin engine plane over amazing landscapes – I don’t even know if that is a real job!
morpheuslondon.com
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