With rising disposable incomes, homeowners today desire unique art furniture pieces that can be a value addition to the home, going beyond utilitarian design. At India Design ID in New Delhi last month, 45 chairs were showcased, ranging from sensible to outrageous.

Charles Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier were all world-famous architects who designed furniture. India’s time has come. Where once the architect or designer aspiring to create a standout piece struggled for clientele and dedicated fabricators, today, multiple gallery sponsorships and craftsman partnerships has emerged. Many experiments become possible that reimagine crafts in contemporary materials, from luxe fabrics to Corian, also applying 3D printing and technology. This collaborative spirit characterises NY-based Indian architect’s Suchi Reddy’s teaming with Ekaya Banaras for the collection Nine.5.

Free from the constraints of mass manufacturing, practitioners have creative freedom to make statement pieces and limited editions, giving them a prime spot. Rooshad Shroff, with a practice spanning architecture, interior design and custom furniture, opened his new gallery in January at Mumbai’s Ballard Estate, for his furniture and accent lines with an emphasis on craft. Architect Ashiesh Shah’s practice extends to his Atelier range of furniture, lighting and rugs, often inspired by a project he is working on. Architects, spatial designers and even brand designers are now exploring the emotive and experiential power of furniture to transform a space. Here are five designers from across India.

Solai by Urban Workshop, Chennai

Solachi Ramanathan
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“Two ‘M’s — memory and material — play an important role in my work,” says Solachi Ramanathan, who began her architectural practice Urban Workshop in Chennai 10 years ago. Solai, her brand launched in December 2024, is a testament to how everyday rituals can transform into objects. ‘Percolator’, a table lamp inspired by a coffee machine has an octagonal shade of wire and fabric, which deftly snaps on via a magnetic catch. Its 12-faceted lamp base of mahogany is painted in gradations such as green to yellow, purple to lavender, a nod to Impressionism. Ramanathan’s interest in touch-sensitive features has found its way in the lamp as a tiny diamond-shaped brass touch button.

Solai console made of Indian mahogany. Price: ₹57,000 upwards
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Her love affair with mahogany began when a guitar factory approached her to design furniture with the hardwood. ‘Console’, a table, is light in appearance with a bevelled edge that makes the 60mm top appear deceptively thin. Her fascination for structure and minimalism is evident in the ‘Ananya’ table, which has a slim inset drawer. The splayed side supports were inspired by her yoga instructor’s teaching her a balanced posture during pregnancy. Ramanathan’s human-centric orientation using sparse materials exploring their tactile nature sums up her central concern: “I like to discover the essence of things.”

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Industrial Playground by ASDS (Ajay Shah Design Associates), Mumbai 

Ajay Shah
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Industrial designer Ajay Shah, who designed Crossword Bookstore at Kemps Corner, Mumbai, says, “My furniture should fulfil a sense of personality and character going beyond function. I like to bring a certain atmosphere to the space with furniture — ideally happy, friendly, not serious or over-detailed.” Looking back to mid-century developments, when furniture design was poetic, flamboyant and extremely stylish, Shah says, “I’m looking at more monolithic forms and shapes, where an overall shape and colour does not come across as standard furniture.” His products have kinship with early design canons such as the Panton chair of the 1960s by progressive Danish designer Verner Panton, a one-piece chair of laminated FRP, a huge success after many trials.

Poppins side table made of fibre-reinforced plastic. Price: ₹35,000 upwards
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Vihan Shah

‘Float’ bench made of fibre-reinforced plastic and teakwood. Price: ₹1,60,000 upwards
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Vihan Shah

Shah’s ‘Float’ bench is a novel tubular form with an upward bend at one end. Made of fibreglass, using a complex pattern mould, its beauty is that joint lines are completely concealed. Its pale blue cool shade is unexpected. “When you place Float in a space, it has its own charm,” says Shah, who wants users to engage by impulse, to feel like touching the surface. ‘Poppins’, a playful-looking side table shaped like a bobbin, finds multiple functions. “It’s nice when furniture does not dictate how we should use it,” says Shah.

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WANAS by The Nouveau Studio, Surat 

Shrishhti Agarwal and Punit Jain

In Surat, design agency The Nouveau Studio (TNS) is a partnership between Shrishhti Agarwal and Punit Jain for brand visual design systems. Three years ago, the two found themselves drawn to design a multipurpose object — “A paper weight that could be used as a chopstick or cutlery holder,” says Agarwal. Organically, they were led to start their label WANAS — ‘we are now a store’. The duo works in aluminium, stainless steel, brass, marble, stone, wood and ceramic and even Black Manipur pottery.

Akeru chair made of teakwood and brass.
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Akeru chair was about reimagining an everyday object. “Akeru in Japanese means open or empty,” explains Agarwal. The brief also became open. The teakwood chair with rosewood inlay can be many things: a piece of art; a bag holder as there are two knobs at the backrest. The limited edition (10) accent piece offers customised inlays — animals, pets, any inlay of emotional value.

WANAS stool made of hardwood.
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“The design ecosystem in India has only recently started appreciating more sculptural forms,” says Agarwal. This is certainly true of WANAS’ Recreational Verbs, a totem that stacks up, giving the user optional ways to use the parts. Their WANAS stool is a by-product of this exercise: it appears like two pieces joined together, but is actually carved out of one chunk of hardwood. “It’s a ‘flip junket’ — you can flip it and use it as a side table,” she says.

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ALPHA & BETA by Studio Organon, New Delhi  

Saurabh Dakshini
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2024 Emerging Design Firm winner at India ID, Studio Organon (established in 2006) has been listed on AD100 for six consecutive years. Founder-architect Saurabh Dakshini is grounded in a practical feasible outlook. “Most of the furniture I’ve designed, revive utilitarian pieces — something I’ve used at home. They always have a backstory or a childhood memory: my grandfather’s desk, a tea cabinet.” Dakshini’s design philosophy is centred on sustainability and longevity: solid wood, quality craftsmanship, natural oil finishes instead of polymers, and environmentally friendly German adhesives. He favours simple, high-quality materials like well-seasoned American oak to create furniture that ages gracefully.

Alpha 02 Storage Box made of white ash, sapele and stained sapele. Price: ₹40,000 upwards.
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Studio Organon’s collection, Alpha & Beta (launched 2021) has well-crafted pieces with hidden joinery. The desk design has two partial flip tops, helping to keep the desktop clutter-free. The rear cubby can store chargers. The drawer fronts are stained black with AIR-INK (a company that makes ink gathered out of pollutants) and later sealed with natural oil. Dakshini’s storage box is meant for all the extra stuff that doesn’t have a place — bottles, bags, and courier deliveries. The box joints along the edge display his love for wood-crafting. The container can hold A3 objects and its solid top has a designated space for an incense holder: details that affirm his natural need for organisation.

Beta 07: Desk made of oak, plywood and brass. Price: ₹1.25 lakh upwards.
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P.O.D (Pieces of Desire) by Studio Nishita Kamdar, Mumbai

Nishita Kamdar
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Studio Nishita Kamdar was begun in 2014 and Pieces of Desire evolved as an artisan-based studio ‘challenging how we perceive functional objects of everyday use and making the mundane, extraordinary’. For founder-architect Nishita Kamdar, P.O.D had its roots in reviving objects in India that are lost, looking at: What emotions do furniture pieces evoke? From Gujarati to South Indian clients, Kamdar found a commonality — everyone loved swings. “Everything we design, sways — swings, day bed, cradle, rocker.” Over time, P.O.D has garnered a reputation ‘as the only brand that does only one thing’.

Spin two-seater swing made of teakwood, brass and rattan. Price: ₹65,000 upwards.
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Swings had to be contemporary, Kamdar realised, and ‘Spin’ was the first spin-off. “Spin is our bestseller. Swings are so much fun, why don’t we also let it rotate?” This interactive piece allows a couple to rotate as well as face each other, and look out of the window. ‘Ferris’, meanwhile, is P.O.D’s first outdoor piece: teakwood is replaced with aluminium and brass with outdoor wicker (synthetic rope). “Furniture in India needs to become multipurpose,” says Kamdar, who extends this belief by attaching a table surface to a swing.

P.O.D is the winner of EDIDA awards for ‘Nest’ and IIID Awards 2019 for ‘Spin’.

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Dune two-seater swing made of HDF and microtopping. Price: ₹65,000 upwards
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The writer is a brand strategist with a background in design from SAIC and NID.