22 INSIGHTS
PRACTICE PROFILE
Samira Rathod Design Atelier
James Parker finds out how the award-winning firm of Indian architect Samira Rathod pursues its goals of creating sensual, context-focused beauty using locally-sourced natural materials
M
umbai-based architect Samira Rathod attended the renowned Sir J. J. College of Architecture in the city, and then attained a Master of Architecture degree from the
University of Illinois in 1988. After this she worked for Californian practice Don Wald and Associates (with clients including Clint Eastwood), before returning to India to work under Ratan Batliboi and in a partnership, RLC, from 1995. She set up Samira Rathod Design Atelier (SRDA) in Mumbai in 2000 with two other partners, but, says the architect, “over time we realised that our ideologies of practice differed,” and they “amicably parted,” with Rathod continuing as head of a practice with a mission to pursue “investigation into ideas of design, architecture and research.” The practice’s initial goal, which remains a constant mantra for its leader, was a “commitment to the idea of beauty, and an integrity in practice.” So while it tackles the practicalities of spatial problem-solving for clients, SRDA also sees architecture as “informed at a subliminal level by the finer arts like literature, poetry, art and sculpture.” In addition, Rathod maintains a focus on “creating sensual experiences,” in spaces which can have “reformative influence on human behaviour and emotions.”
The studio founded with just two employees and no commissions, but with “a zeal to design relentlessly.” Perhaps unusually, its first work was to design avant-garde furniture pieces for an exhibition, which immediately led to the firm being commissioned to design buildings.
Healthy growth The studio has grown “slowly and gradually,” says Rathod, and now has a team of 20 designers, architects and “visualisers.” Being a small, tightly knit unit better enables the firm to prioritise quality over quantity, she says. “We work intensely, on projects that push
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THE SCHOOL OF DANCING ARCHES
A key project for the practice was a terracotta school in Bhadran, Gujarat, which had an experimental form of uneven arches to emulate “a child’s early scribbles”
our boundaries, and reinvent ways of making architecture, rather than undertake quantum work to make ends meet.” While keen to employ architects with skill sets in areas such as management, drawing ability and research, the firm “above all looks for individuals with an unending desire to learn and grow, and who have a responsible attitude to rigorous process,” says Rathod. Following its debut furniture designs, SRDA branched out into similarly esoteric territory, designing a tree house, which led to the first of many residential commissions. In the past decade however, the firm’s range has broadened significantly, with it completing a variety of projects across India including art galleries, schools and skyscrapers, as well as masterplans for villas and several interior design projects.
Case by case The practice’s founder affirms that its focus is not on explicit specialisation, but rather to “take up design challenges, irrespective of their scale.” Rathod adds: “We enjoy designing the smallest furniture piece as much as the very large institutional projects. Our driving force is the challenge or opportunity to express an idea.”
ADF MARCH 2020
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