ROOSHAD SHROFF: MAKING CRAFT RELEVANT AGAIN

Architect and Designer Rooshad Shroff discusses everything from his passion for Indian crafts, his experiments with centuries-old techniques and his obsession with marble…

- SEEMA SREEDHARAN

One of his first exhibitions was titled ‘15,556’; it referenced the man-hours that went into creating the exhibits. More recently, he launched his collection of candles. “It took me two-and-a-half years to get the scent right,” quips the multi-faceted architect Rooshad Shroff. It clearly shows how passionate he is about not just the outcome, but the whole process. From the first thought to the final execution, and everything in between. It is also evocative of the respect he has for his craft and those associated with him. Architecture, or design may have been a natural choice for him—he was born to an architect father, and an interior designer mother; but the identity he chose for himself was distinct. Over the years, he’s become synonymous with his experiments and explorations with centuries-old techniques. Combining the inherent ornamentation associated with Indian crafts with his minimal aesthetics, might seem like an improbable language to articulate, but Shroffexecutes it deftly. What has emerged from his distinct design lexicon are reimagined archetypes of Indian product design.

FROM BEING ‘TOO ZAHA’ TO FINDING HIS IDENTITY