Nov. 10-25
As part of our Indian Design in Focus series, we recently caught up with Asha Sairam, Principal at Studio Lotus, to talk about the studio’s work, what makes design in India unique, and more.
As part of our Indian Design in Focus series, we spoke with Asha Sairam, Principal at Studio Lotus, along with Ambrish Arora, Ankur Choksi, Asha Sairam, and Harsh Vardhan. Rooted in the principle of Conscious Design, the studio, first founded in 2002, celebrates local resources and cultural heritage, maintaining a deep attention to detail and approaching each project with an iterative, contextual, and sustainability-focused philosophy.
A design leader at the practice, Asha heads the Branded Experiences and Hospitality Interior Design verticals. Her portfolio spans retail and brand identity development, hospitality and F&B environments, corporate interiors, exhibitions, and installation design. Key projects in this domain include Masti Cocktails & Cuisine in Dubai, the adaptive reuse of the RAAS Devigarh hotel in Udaipur, and retail environments for Royal Enfield.
When asked what makes design in India unique, Asha highlighted the diverse micro-identities across the region. “All of these things influence us and make Indian design far richer for it. Being able to integrate this rich repository of craft into the very act of building is what, I believe, sets Indian design apart.”
I believe we have a rich tradition of design and craft to draw from in the country. And most remarkably, India has no singular identity; it has multiple smaller micro-identities, depending on the state, region, or culture in which one has grown up. That is an endless source of inspiration for us as designers, because we are actively responding to context—based on where we are, where we’re building, and where the client is from.
Being able to integrate this rich repository of craft into the very act of building is what, I believe, sets Indian design apart.
All of these things influence us and make Indian design far richer for it. Being able to integrate this rich repository of craft into the very act of building is what, I believe, sets Indian design apart.
Traditional Indian design practices have evolved over thousands of years, and continue to thrive in contemporary India. This living heritage makes our country immensely beautiful and unique because there is such rich diversity across villages, towns, cities, and states.
At the studio, we try to preserve, reimagine, and propel these practices and identities into the present and future. We do this by integrating cultural heritage into our designs, questioning its relevance, distilling its essence, and subsequently reinterpreting it to suit modern living.
Traditional Indian design practices have evolved over thousands of years, and continue to thrive in contemporary India.
We also learn from how traditions and cultures are honoured globally. Japanese culture, for example, inspires us through the humility with which craft is approached. We look at such traditions with respect, learning from them and contextualising their values to our own needs and responses.
I don’t think these two things are at odds with each other. A brief for a design project is essential, and that isn’t to say it always needs to come from the client. More often than not, our role is to sit with the client, probe, question, and break down their needs and aspirations in order to (re)articulate the brief and really understand the reason behind why they’ve approached us, and how this project holds value for them.
Through this process, we arrive at a brief that both the client and we as consultants can respond to. Within these parameters, there is still room for innovation, and the collaborative approach from which the brief emerges ensures that all stakeholders take responsibility for it.
The tagline, ‘creating meaning’ by ‘celebrating context’ is a central tenet of our work. A deep understanding of the past allows us to reframe that knowledge to be relevant to the present. Celebrating context also means celebrating cultural heritage, because the context of a place is built by the evolving and existing cultures around it. For this reason, we place it at the forefront of our design process. Celebrating cultural heritage in architecture can preserve identity, foster connections to the past, and create meaningful spaces that engage and connect communities.
For example, when we were commissioned to design Krushi Bhawan, a facility for Odisha’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, we wanted to explore how a government building could embrace the local context and craftsmanship and become a vital part of the city’s social infrastructure.
Celebrating cultural heritage in architecture can preserve identity, foster connections to the past, and create meaningful spaces that engage and connect communities.
Our primary programmatic intervention was to lift the government offices up to create a porous ground plane, like a public plaza. For farmers, this plaza serves as a space for upskilling workshops, setting up a seed bank, or hosting markets.
For the building’s visual identity, we drew inspiration from the ikat, a textile weaving tradition native to the region. The ikat patterns were translated onto the facade using clay in five colours that allude to the colour of the soil from different parts of the region.
We collaborated with over 50 local artisans to create a vibrant and contemporary narrative of traditional Odia craft depicting agricultural folklore and mythological stories.
When we commissioned the craftspeople, led by architect Sibanand Bhol of Collective Craft, we only offered a broad idea and granted them creative autonomy to develop the narratives and artisanal elements.
This approach resulted in a design with a strong sense of cultural familiarity that the users could easily associate with.
This deep level of engagement created a contextual visual identity, instilling a sense of belonging in the local community and the citizens. It also made the construction of the building an intensely collaborative exercise. As well as providing employment to the artisans, the project enabled skill-building in terms of both scale and new typologies.
By embracing and celebrating context, we position cultural heritage at the heart of the design process, viewing it not just as something to preserve, but as a living, evolving source of inspiration.
Another example that comes to mind is the Baradari, a remodelled cafe and restaurant inside Jaipur’s City Palace museum. We struck a balance between preserving the space’s historical integrity and identity and introducing contemporary additions, both drawing from and interpreting Jaipur’s strong Indo-Saracenic influences.
The key programmatic intervention, the marble-and-brass Baradari (literally translated, a pavilion with twelve columns), serves the explicit function of a spatial anchor for the restaurant and an implicit one of connecting the public urban fabric with the private hospitality space.
Traditional crafts, such as thikri work, bespoke casting and foundry work, and furniture and stonework, have been worked upon in this new idiom—whether through finding new forms or uniquely using them for a new use.
By embracing and celebrating context, we position cultural heritage at the heart of the design process, viewing it not just as something to preserve, but as a living, evolving source of inspiration.
I don’t think a client has ever shied away from making the right design choices. They are not necessarily holding back from making bold choices versus subtle ones—that is not the paradigm of a client. Their response to what we present comes from two things: one, respect for the fact that they have entrusted us with this project, and two, the feedback they give is rooted in knowing that what we have presented is in the best interest of the utility they have in mind or the brand for which we are creating it.
It has never been a challenge for us to convince a client to embrace innovation.
As long as we work within these two frameworks, whether the outcome is bold, understated, or otherwise, those choices are a function of the client, the project, the brief, and the approach we take. It has never been a challenge for us to convince a client to embrace innovation. In fact, a client seeks a consultant like us precisely because they recognise that innovation is a way of life for us, and that is something we attempt to bring throughout the design process.
There has been an explosion of design schools in the country, and while there is a need for young talent in the industry, one could question the quality of education coming out of many of these schools. It is also worth asking whether these students are getting a comprehensive learning experience. That said, there are several schools with a robust curriculum.
Back when I was in design school, we didn’t have Instagram or Pinterest. We had to think of design in other ways, which forced us to visualise something and then piece together elements to express that idea.
They work closely with industry experts, bringing in practitioners to collaborate with students on live projects. This kind of practical learning really makes their graduates industry-ready.
That collaboration between theory and practice is something that should be actively nurtured in design education. The two are intrinsically linked. Working only in the domain of theory without practical experience leaves a student ill-equipped when they enter the industry and face the actual demands of a professional environment. On the other hand, working only from a practical lens without room to theorise leaves a student with only functional choices and constraints at the beginning, without enough room or the tools to explore. A balance between the two is ideal.
That collaboration between theory and practice is something that should be actively nurtured in design education. The two are intrinsically linked.
The challenge I see right now is also a loss of vocabulary. Much of our world and the way we consume design have become visual. Between Pinterest, Instagram, and now AI-generated imagery, there is an abundance of visual content, which has become a crutch to communicate ideas.
This blurs the line between the origin of inspiration and what is truly original. There is no harm in using an image to communicate an idea quickly. But the ability to segregate the idea in your mind first and then visualise it from a self-referential perspective before seeking images is a very different process from searching for an image to inspire your idea.
Back when I was in design school, we didn’t have Instagram or Pinterest. We had to think of design in other ways, which forced us to visualise something and then piece together elements to express that idea. Increasingly, it is going the other way, and the unfortunate thing is that the younger generation is struggling to tell the difference. That is the big challenge I find.
From the more recent projects, Masti holds a special place in my heart. This project challenged me in many ways, as it was our first international project and an Indian restaurant outside the country. It forced us to confront what Indian identity could look like when represented globally—a question we don’t often ask ourselves while working within India, where identity is not singular.
Designing for an international audience meant letting go of our preconceived notions of India and embracing the clichés associated with the country abroad. Leaning into it and having fun was liberating. The project also allowed us to experiment with craft, material, and technique, championing processes from India and presenting them on a global stage.
Another project that I remember fondly is Cousu D’Or, an exhibition we designed at the Bikaner House in New Delhi to showcase the work done by Indian luxury handloom brand, Ekaya Banaras, and the Federation Francaise de la Creation Couture Sur Mesure. Our design emerged from the idea of the eternal connection between flowers and weddings.
Designing for an international audience meant letting go of our preconceived notions of India and embracing the clichés associated with the country abroad. Leaning into it and having fun was liberating.
Conceptualised as a surrealist narrative of Victorian waterlilies, circular mirrors suspended through the space mimicked water droplets, highlighting the various intricate details of the garments. It became an immersive and transformative space that came together very quickly—a refreshing change from traditional interior projects that take more time to manifest.
During my internship with Studio Lotus, I had the opportunity to work on RAAS Jodhpur. I remember it was the first hotel project the studio had ever undertaken, and significantly, our first architectural project.
It was also my first project after design school, and it felt serendipitous because the studio was looking for someone with a graphic design and pattern-making background to work on the stone veil that wraps around the new buildings.
At the same time, I had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate with the studio after following their work around experiential design for retail spaces.
I had never read technical drawings, worked with hardware, or engaged with stone as a material before this. Every day was a learning experience—interacting with designers in the studio, discussing prototyping with fabricators, and consulting with specialists on hardware options.
I felt so much joy; it was like solving a puzzle every day. Even though none of what I designed made it to the final project, those three months convinced me that this was the field I wanted to be in and the kind of work I wanted to do.
For someone visiting India for the first time and seeking to understand the state of Indian design, I would recommend visiting the city of Jaipur. There’s something really beautiful about how the past and the future coexist there.
Microcosms of this exist across the country, and they look and feel very different because our culture is so diverse. But if you’d like just a teaspoon of that flavour, Jaipur would be a beautiful place to start.
I’d love to collaborate with Aneeth Arora, the mind behind Péro. I think it’s a very distinctive brand. It celebrates Indian textiles and hand-craft, but also brings an element of quirkiness and creates a really contemporary, modern, global identity for clothing. So to be able to collaborate with them to create something could be quite fun.
My go-to source of creative inspiration in India is travel. There is no single source of inspiration. The country, our people, and cultures create a beautiful collage, and you could move in any direction–inspiration will be right there.
To learn more, visit www.studiolotus.in
All images provided by Studio Lotus
To view more photographic work by André J Fanthome, go here;
by Juliet Dunne, go here;
by Edmund Sumner, go here.
