The Designer Doing Away with Divisions

By upending the conventions of spatial design, Katsushi Goto creates more socially conscious ways of living

- MALLIKA DALAL

As Katsushi Goto circles his floating kitchen to make us a cup of coffee, he points out the long cement strips of flooring on either side of it that mark the earlier presence of walls. "I broke down both internal walls, and turned the former living room, bedroom and bathroom into one large room," he says, as he shows me the two studio spaces set up at either end for him and his wife, the artist Vishwa Shroff. In between these drawing desks and tables, sits a large square kitchen island with crockery and cookware hanging on a metal grid above and chairs slotting under the tabletop below. Planted between the two workspaces with enough space to comfortably walk around, the ingenious unit has become the social hub of the house and a symbol of the designer's principles: how do you break down traditional hierarchies to create more democratic and self-expressive spaces?