I have known Sameer Kulavoor , since the inception of this blog. I have watched his work scale great heights and his work travel to new lands but his humility and approachability remains the same.
So it’s in the natural progression of things, to want to explore his work space. Spaces are often extensions of ourselves, sometimes acting as vessels for our dreams.
Sameer and his sister Zeenat share this renovated work space, and it’s no less in epitomising their work and beliefs.
Sameer says, “ I picked this attic space in a 100 year old building for its beautiful arch windows and wooden pillar but everything was in a bad condition. The windows were covered with plywood and ugly exhaust fans. We wanted to reduce unwanted elements and restore the old charm + bring in a bit of our personality to the space.
We worked with Architect Rahul Malandkar from Apt (https://www.facebook.com/aptspaces?fref=ts ) and opened up the windows, restored the glass, repainted the dull yellow walls. We maintained a colour palette of white + black + grey + wood/bamboo curtains. Apt designed and built the ‘dismantle-able’ light-box / prints-rack – which is the analog work area. Thats where most of the drawing/crafting work happens.
The framed Ghoda Cycle Project poster next to the lightbox is one of the few posters that were actually pasted around the venue during my exhibit in Helsinki, so that is special! We use those old school metal trunks to store our publications and it also doubles up as a sitting area and work area. The little Elephant is made entirely with bamboo by product designer Sandeep Sangaru ( https://www.facebook.com/sangarudesignobjects/timeline ), I liked it because it brings an element of playfulness in the space! Me and Apt are both admirers of Architect Charles Correias work and inspired by that Apt recommended openable bamboo curtains to divide the space into 4 areas – pantry area, common/drawing area, my table area and the coworkers desk area.
Zeenat found the vintage chair and bench from a flea market in Mumbai in a bad condition and with the help of Apt we restored the wood finish and the bamboo jaali work back to its original glory! The shelf and tables are now home to objects and things that we have collected from travels all over the world. There are quite a few work-in-progress pieces / experiments around my workdesk placed against the wall.”
