THE QUIET BRILLIANCE OF SAMIRA RATHOD

IT'S WHERE HER ART AND ARCHITECTURAL STYLES COEXIST. IT'S WHERE THE MUNDANE AND PROFOUND COME TOGETHER. IN HER OWN HOME, THIS AD 100 DESIGNER'S DISTILLED AESTHETIC TAKES FORM MOST NATURALLY.

- RAJASHREE BALARAM

The glassy 44th-floor residence of architect Samira Rathod, in a high-rise located in the heart of South Mumbai, is open on three sides - with large balconies facing the Arabian Sea, the eastern dockyard, and the iconic Haji Ali mausoleum ensconced on an islet. "I wake up at five, so I have enough time to sit on the veranda and enjoy the morning light and breeze," says Rathod.

The unfolding dawn becomes her sacred hour, a time to sit back and think of the mundane and the profound. On some mornings, she lounges on the couch on her veranda honing ideas for her various projects at Samira Rathod Design Atelier. Some days, she wakes up and ponders over how to add a new twist to an old object at home. Rathod is a fierce advocate of recycling; her home has an abundance of things that have gained new contours, textures, and consequent longevity through the many years that they have been in her possession - thanks to makeovers executed in her own design studio.

There are side tables made from cane baskets; Bhutanese shawls used as screens in her bedroom; and old dining tables turned into new work desks affixed with a fresh set of legs. "A lot of these objects were collected over a long period of time, so in a sense they are things that I have grown up with. I have never been able to part with the old when the new came in," says Rathod. "The idea of discarding is contrary to the idea of collecting, and to me these objects are all about collecting memories. I can't imagine being in a home without them."