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Mujib Ahmed and Lalita Tharanicame together by chance. They joined

hands for a presentation namedCollaborative Architecture, and the name

stuck! Nine years since the inception ofthe design studio, their practice has grown

from strength to strength: to their credit area host of projects for which they have won 14

national awards and two internationalawards.

At Mumbai-based CollaborativeArchitecture, architecture is not a

forced result of a brief, but acompulsive urge of the creative

mind. The designs, say Ahmedand Tharani, are not really

the result of a rationalprocess, but, intuitive,

often layeredpalimpsests of

logical, irrational,bizarre, poetic

yet impossiblethoughts.

Text: Teja Lele DesaiPhotos courtesy: Collaborative Architecture

Mujib Ahmed and Lalita Tharani

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Architecture at Collaborative goesbeyond the generally prevailingnotions of functional contingenciesand simplistic approach to problemsolving. Projects fall in a largerscheme of things, and are seen ascritical explorations of ideas andvisions for future.

The principals, Lalita Tharani andMujib Ahmed, come with solidcredentials. Tharani got her diplomain interior architecture (with a goldmedal) from Sophia Polytechnic,Mumbai, in 1993 and in 2001set up her own firm,Lalita Tharani Associates.

Ahmed, who got his degree inarchitectural engineering from REC,Calicut, in 1993, served as visitingfaculty at Kamala Raheja VidhyanidhiInstitute for Architecture andEnvironmental Studies, Mumbai, from1996-98. In 1998, he established MujibArkitekture Engineering in Calicut.

In 2002, a year after they joined handsfor their “collaborative”presentation, the duo came togetherand set up CollaborativeArchitecture. Since then, there’sbeen no looking back. The firmdabbles in all sectors, be ithospitality, corporate, residential,institutional or interiors.

Speaking about design influences, theduo states that there is no singlepredominant influence. “It is more ofan assimilation of what we haveencountered, experienced, learntand unlearnt. We do not confineourselves within the conventionaltenets of architecture for ourdirection of design,” Ahmed says forboth of them.

On present-day inspirational rolemodels, they say the inspirationcomes not from the design per se, butfrom the designer’s process andrestraint. “Peter Zumtor never ceasesto inspire us by his deliberatelyunassuming, under-rated, but trulymagnificent architecture. Also DavidChipperfield for his restrained spaces,Alvaro Siza for his mastery of volumesand white walls, Tadao Ando for hismaterial poetics and Frank Gehry forre-inventing his architecture at theage of 60.”

At Collaborative, there is no linear, rigidtrajectory when it comes to designconcepts. “We get really bored andrestless if we were to look atarchitecture and design through a pre-defined tunnel vision,” Tharani says.Concurring, Ahmed adds: “Conceptsare born out of the project programmeor at times even from a thread-of-design of an earlier project.”

Listing favourite projects by otherdesigners, Ahmed names Louis Kahn’sSalk Institute and Le Corbusier’sRonchamp. Tharani professes afondness for Tadao Ando’s AwajiYumebutai and Chichu Art Museum,and Thomas Heatherwick’s UKpavilion. From their own projects, thechoice is clear. “Wrap-3, Wrap-4,Urban Totem (a vertical sustainabletower) and Wedge-1,” they say.

Today, they believe that Indian designhas truly emerged as a force to bereckoned with internationally. “In thecoming years, we will see a lot ofIndian designers getting internationalcommissions — something that was adream when we started out,”Ahmed says.

Insite takes a look at three ofCollaborative Architecture’sprojects to learn more about thearchitectural language the firm hasperfected and the approach takento solve design dilemmas. We lookat Wedge-1, a 3,000 sq. ft. prototypedesigned for a standalone showroomfor a furniture manufacturer inMumbai; Wrap-4, a 12,000 sq. ft.showroom for Hyundai cars inCalicut; and an extremely tinybedroom prototype with al lamenities (the entire area includingthe bathroom is 220 sq. ft.).

Wedge-1

Wedge-1 is the latest ofarchitectonic explorations by thefirm in creating projects that arehighly refined in architecturalmorphology and yet fulfil theprogrammatic agenda of the brief.

The showroom, done up in ply,mild steel framework, MDF andfinished in acrylic emulsion paint,was installed at the 2009 Index fairin Mumbai. The architecturalintent was to dissect the simple“shoe box” and manipulate thearchitectonic character of thebox in the most economical way(there were stringent limits on thebudget and delivery schedule).The name Wedge comes from thecharacter of the spaces withinthe dissected box, which largelyare trapezoidal. The space hasbeen organised as a centripetal,pinwheel form as the centralgathering space holds thedifferent wedges around itsperiphery with its undulatingvolumes and roofline.

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The peripheral wall sets the tone of the encounterwith the exhibits with its unique cutouts, whichreveal and mask the displays simultaneously to lurethe public in. The two-dimensional cutouts on theskin transform the project from a simple containerof products to an architectural ensemble ofmultiple meanings and unparallel perceptual values.

Wedge-1 is painted white, including the exhibitfloor, to heighten the perception of encounterwith the products. The central gathering spacehas a series of light “vectors” (1,200-mm long T5lamps), which form an enclosing canopy and fusethe space to complete the box.

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Wrap-4

The project forms part of Collaborative Architecture’s continuingexplorations in spatial syntax by altering the classical spacedefining co-ordinates/tools through non-hierarchical tectonicsand even combing the users/products to that end.

An unusual brief — “Car displays inevitably are ‘parking lots’!Give us a nice backdrop for the product display” and a strategicurban location, the main street of the city — lent the architecturaldirection and determined the design parameters.

The brief was to insert the whole gamut for a middle-segment brandin a 12,000 sq. ft. old warehouse. The showroom abuts the mainstreet with no setback, having a 60m-long uninterrupted façade.Forbo, Corian, ply frame work, ACP and silestone flooring were used.

The ensuing architectural response did exactly the opposite ofbrief, by positioning the “parking lot” (vehicular display) as the“raison d’etre” and the anchoring element of the showroom.

The disposition of the showroom posed a unique architecturalchallenge to create a 360-degree viewing, as the façade abutsthe road and the customers enter from the back. Unlike moststores, which are designed for front viewing, here the designhad to address the changing experiential views of the spectator.

The wrap, which merges the floor, wall, ceiling and the productsinto a single, unified entity, establishes a vital link between theshowroom, the display and the people in the showroom on onehand and the speeding traffic and the passer-bys on the street —a 60m “billboard” mimicking the flux of movement on the street.

The “hanging counters” are the customer interfaces in theshowroom, which are hung from the ceiling as the name indicates.These can be slid and rotated to a new position to maneuver thevehicles in the space. A sinusoidal curve separates the privatedomains from the public area.

The spiral stair is also equally “engineered” with custom-fabricated, three-dimensionally profiled cantilevered steps. Wrap-4 has won three national awards, including IIID 2007 and anInternational award- Biennale Miami 2007. in

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Bedroom Prototype

Some of the best Collaborative Architecture designsstem from debilitating limitations thrown at Tharani andAhmed. This project, one of the tiniest the firm hasdesigned recently, showcases the poetic designsensibilities of the architects.

“Yusuf is one of our oldest clients. We couldn’t say no tohim even though the project was too small,” Tharani says.

The duo treated the project as a case study design,exploring new directions in residential design. Theclient offered full freedom to innovate as long as itfitted in with his budget.

“At times you are lucky to have projects where you canbring in innovation in design, and details. These are projectswhere you push yourself to the limit,” Ahmed says.

Completely designed with Corian, the design combinessophistication and fluidity. An all-white palette waschosen in the bedroom owing to the tiny size; in thebathroom, a reverse palette (all black, except for thevanity counter in white Corian) was adopted.

The seamless furniture appears to be like undifferentiatedentities in the room. The wardrobe, bed and the TV unitchoreograph the space around them in wonderful unisonto create a stunningly poetic space.

Lighting was also an important consideration during thedesign process. “Lighting design is never anafterthought in our design process, but is integral tothe concept design. It always overlaps with spatial andfurniture design, lending them a unique character,”Tharani says.