New Frontier

Designers Farah and Dhaval of FADD Studio create a vibrant home using audacious colours for an architect and his family

- Ambica Sharma

UNUSUAL IS AN ADJECTIVE THAT IS SEEMINGLY IN EXISTENCE ONLY to fan the fires of creativity in a designer. And, if like for Farah Ahmed Mathais and Dhaval Shellugar, of Farah and Dhaval Design (FADD) Studio, the brief for an unorthodox home design comes from owners, who are famed and senior architects, the flames are fanned fast and furious to achieve the heady heat of unique design. In this double-level, 7,500 sq ft Bengaluru home, lines, bars, grids, slats, slits and stacks, in real and shadows conjoin with defining and stark colours of crimson, black and white. Daylight has been used as a charming design feature, casting long and short shadows as the day progresses. Farah and Dhaval say, “The couple have so much experience in the field of architecture and design, and they were open to experimentation in design and style.”The interiors of this uber-modern unconventionally designed home are set on two axis lines—colour and form. The theatrics begin at the entrance, featuring not only a phone-booth red baroque door, but also two giant vases with tribal-art like patterns on them. These set the tone for the rest of the home— outspoken and off-beat all the way. “Interestingly enough, the genesis of this home-design is rooted in these two—the door and the giant vases. Standing to the right of the entrance was a massive column that needed to be concealed. Building closets around it or even painting it would just not cut it. So instead we made it into a sculpture. Make that two!,” they laugh.