Wednesday, July 3, 2024

 

THINK DESIGN

Design means different things to different people and they will swear by this. However, I personally feel that larger the number of attributes, the more beautiful the concept becomes. This battle started in my head when I was a kid. My father, being the pragmatic one: for him any piece that worked well, however crude or rudimentary the piece was "wonderful design"; whereas for my mom, at the other end of the spectrum, anything "pretty or a craft" were beautiful designs. As for me driving past Corbusier's fresh buildings of the 60s where primary coloured doors contrasted with the grey concrete was fascinating as much as the white checkered doors and windows of colonial bunglows of Simla. These and innumerable other visuals churned in my head when I started writing on design in 1997. A bit nervous yet confident about my gut feel on the subject, I started juxtaposing my innate sense with what I would hear from the practitioners of design while on the job as a Senior Correspondent INSIDE OUTSIDE magazine. Today I can say:

Design is BEAUTIFUL 












Design is FUNCTIONAL





Design is MINDFUL



Design is MOODY





Design is CREATIVE USAGE






Design is AGELESS



Design is to be discovered in small things and the stories behind them.



Saturday, August 30, 2014

Do the Labels on Wine Bottles tell a story?



At international airports, after taking care of my Duty Free shopping business, I usually find myself winding my way to the liquor and tobacco shops; not as much to shop but to check out the nice looking bottles, especially the Vodkas and Liqueurs besides the Remy Martins. On one such occasion, transiting through Doha, it was the turn of wine bottles. While there isn't much variation in bottles but most have very characteristic labels. I am wondering if one can predict the bouquet by the label......but then that will be another full fledged exercise. For now, it's these interesting labels which the shop manager very kindly gave me exactly five minutes to capture on my phone.

Wonder what the enthusiasts feel about this....




Luxe living

Simplicity 

Attitude


Need more


For an outdoorsy occasion


Old world charm


Hard to nail


Good things do last

Travel in time

Plain business


Life goes on and 'gems' just happen

Brighten up winter days


Typography matters


Add caption

Gold work such as this, quite an exception

Love how the pen struggled in Boecklin!

Good old


Monday, April 21, 2014

Exquisite pieces of antique furniture: Taj Khazana and Great Eastern Home

It's true that all things (the nicer ones for sure...) need an appropriate background for the finesse to shine bright, especially if it is furniture with history and lineage. Taj Hotels recently hosted a traveling GRAND TRUNK SHOW that had exquisite pieces of antique furniture that brought back vignettes of history and nostalgia. Conducted by a Romanian architect Alexander Doleo the show was one wiff of fresh air in the city.


Restored Italian Gilded mirror  console for the "parlour"


Over a 150 years old Chinese Bridal bed

A restored ancient oriental chest
Antique china in almost mint condition
Besides the Easel and Coffee table we love the miniature chair

Yes, we have seen many copies of this classic design


Remember the days of Dinner Wagons! Nostalgia revisited

a peep into the collection


The Show started its journey from Falaknumma Palace in Hyderabad to  Delhi and then onto Mumbai.