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Beyond Blueprints With Kohelika Kohli:
On How A Home Can Be A Functional Work Of Art
Architect, interior designer and product designer Kohelika Kohli is the co-founder and creative director of New Delhi-based architecture and design studio K2India. She is also the production head of the brand KoKo by K2India. Kohelika Kohli received her formal education, as an architect, from the Pratt Institute of Design in New York and graduated in May 2004. After graduation, she returned to India, and in October 2004, established her architectural practice—Kohelika Kohli Architects. In 2010, she founded K2India with her mother, Sunita Kohli, an award-winning interior designer, conservationist and furniture manufacturer. Kohelika is a trustee of the Museum of Women in the Arts, India.
Kohli’s multidisciplinary practice is rooted in the firm belief that design is fundamental to improving the quality of life. She believes a home can become a functional and living work of art. Here, she talks about her journey and design approach and even shares the current interior design trends to look out for.
The Camellias Apartment was conceptualised by Kohelika Kohli. Image credit: Deepak Aggarwal.
1. Please tell us a little about your journey as an architect, interior designer, and product designer.
I would like to believe that my journey of becoming an architect, an interior designer, and a product designer started very young. I spent a lot of time in my mother’s, Sunita Kohli’s design studio, where she worked on beautiful hotels and public buildings. I also travelled extensively with her to her sites, and other beautiful archaeological sites when I was young. I spent time going to the factory with my dad as a teenager before I left for Millfield boarding school, where I got my formal education. I think all of this culminated in driving me somewhere towards the arts, and I chose to become an architect because I believe that architecture is the mother of all arts. After that, my journey continued in studying architecture and product design, and many of my travels continue to add to this experience of why I love doing what I do.
2. How do you view the role of art in interior design?
Art has a very important role in designing, whether it is designing homes, hotels, or public buildings. Art has the power to evoke emotions. Good architecture should also evoke emotions. I think art can be used in many ways, and art is not just descriptive, it does not just mean a painting. Architecture is art, how you hang lights is art, how you upholster pieces of furniture is art. So, I think the definition of art today is also extensive, and it all depends on who your client is, who your patron is, and how you approach the use of art in a project.
Kohelika believes that art has a very important role in designing. Image credit: Deepak Aggarwal.
3. What inspires you to create the spaces and products that you do?
As designers, we all have a specific vocabulary and palette that we enjoy working with. And I think our clients also come to us because they enjoy the palette and vocabulary that we use. I always draw inspiration from travel. I draw inspiration from the places I visit. I will revisit museums again and again. There is something about the simplicity of old buildings, and there is so much detail in them. I also draw inspiration from nature, but sometimes even from fashion. And I find that the way the colours are used together can beautifully work on a larger scale in a living room or a lounge. So, I think the world is full of things to take inspiration from. It just depends on what you are looking at.
4. All your interior design projects are aesthetically pleasing and functional at the same time. What advice do you have for interior designers who want to achieve a similar balance?
Well, the key word here is balance because not everyone can achieve balance. Balance is not just about balancing aesthetics and function, it's also about balancing your design sensibility along with what a client really wants and how a client really lives. I think step one is always to understand who you are designing for. What is their need? What is their requirement? How do they live? How do they function? And from there, you build a palette and a vocabulary that works for them and is close enough to how a designer likes to design. But balance comes with experience. Balance comes with a lot of research and a lot of hard work.
Kohli crafts timeless interiors that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional at the same time. Image credit: Deepak Aggarwal.
5. What advice would you give to homeowners who want to incorporate art into their own homes but don't know where to start?
Art is personal. It speaks to one’s soul. To have an art collection that is not only appealing but also investment-worthy is no easy task. First, one must see as much art as possible by visiting museums and galleries and studying catalogues so that one can truly understand what one is drawn to. I don’t believe in buying popular art for the show. It is always wise to buy art when the artist’s work is still young and affordable. To know what will be an appreciating investment I suggest one should closely follow some of the top galleries and the artists they represent. Good galleries will always drive the art scene.
6. What are some of your favourite ways to use art in unconventional spaces? Entrances, hallways, bathrooms, etc.
I don't limit how I define art to just paintings. For me, how I handle light is also art. We use a lot of installations and lighting installations in our work, which honestly are like art pieces. I think you have to decide very clearly; is art going to be the protagonist in the room, or is it going to be an add-on? I think it works differently for different spaces. Sometimes we put wallpaper, which is a beautiful art, in a small powder room, and that's what brings the impact. Occasionally, we will use light installations in a living room, and the actual art on the wall will be very tranquil. There are lots of ways to look at the definition of art, that is what keeps me going and keeps me interested in how I use art in my work.
Kohelika advises designers to understand what their clients' needs and requirements are. Image credit: Deepak Aggarwal.
7. How do you balance the client's taste with your artistic vision when it comes to sourcing furnishings and decor pieces for a project?
I think it's always very important to understand that you're designing for a client and it's not for yourself. Whether it's a residence for a particular client, which is very personal to them, or whether it's a public building. When we are talking about furnishing and decor pieces for a project, I think by the time we come to that point, we've really understood what our client wants and how they react to certain things, whether it is reacting to colours or it's reacting to forms, or it's reacting to patterns. So, it becomes a conversation between us as the designer and them as the client to figure out what is the best-suited thing for their space. And that's also the most exciting thing about design.
8. How do you stay up-to-date on trends in the interior design world that might influence your design choices?
I'm not really a trend-based designer; I think the most trendy thing is to be timeless. However, I read a lot. I visually expose myself to a lot, whether it is when I'm on holiday and doing nothing, which may just be a national holiday, or when I'm travelling. I'm constantly looking at things, reading things, and keeping myself informed. Of course, I'm certain that a few things seep into me and come up in a project completely subconsciously, which I'm probably not even aware of. But most of the time, I like to stay focused on creating timeless designs.
Kohelia believes that wood will dominate, especially in the residential industry. Image credit: Deepak Aggarwal.
9. Beyond traditional paintings and sculptures, what unconventional media or forms of art can be incorporated into design?
For me, pushing the definition of art has always been important. We use lighting installations, which not just look but are art. I've just designed a range of furniture for my brand, KoKo by K2India, which are sculptural furniture pieces. So, the desire to push the limit of where art stops and design starts, or how the hybrid between art and design happens, is constant in our projects, whether they are at an architectural level, at an interior level, or even at a product level.
10. According to you, what are some of the top trends in home interiors in 2024?
I think people are looking for designed spaces that exude warmth and are inviting. Wood will dominate, especially in the residential industry because it has an understated luxury about it, as compared to marble, which can appear cold and loud. Honed, slightly more distressed stones will also be more in demand. The styling of curtains will also see a change as people do not want to shy away from using colour or bands of it in interesting ways.
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August 2023
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LIMITED, Birla Paints division
9th floor, Birla Centurion, Century Mills Compound, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli, Mumbai– 400030, Maharashtra, India.
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Allwood Contractor App Helpdesk
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Product Warranty
Terms and Conditions for product warranty registration of Birla Opus products
The Warranty shall be effective from the date of purchase of the Product as per the tax invoice (“Warranty Start Date”), provided that painting work is fully complete, and the Consumer registers the Product for warranty.
The Product must be registered within 15 days from the date of purchase by calling customer care at 18001201234 or registering on www.birlaopus.com and furnishing purchase details as required during the Warranty registration.
The Warranty shall be valid for parameters and period as defined in the respective product warranty document (‘Warranty Period’) from the Warranty Start Date.
Upon settlement of any claim, Warranty of replaced Product will not start afresh, and will continue for the remainder of the Warranty Period from the Warranty Start Date.
If there is a break/ lag in completing the painting work, the registration of the Warranty and Warranty Start Date will be determined by the Company at its sole discretion.
The Company may appoint a person to examine and confirm the application of the Product as per the directions specified prior to registering the Warranty.
For registering of Warranty, where quantity of Product purchase is equal to or more than 200 litres, please call our Helpline on 1800 120 1234 with requisite details. The registration of Warranty in such cases is subject to a satisfactory pre‐inspection at site by Company’s representative.
- For the warranty to be applicable:
- Minimum volume of the product required to be purchased needs to be met
- Birla Opus recommended system needs to be used
- Product coverage and application guidelines need to be adhered
For more details, please refer to respective product specific warranty document and product information sheet.
Consumer may raise a claim within 30 days of discovering issue(s) noticed on the affected areas based on Warranty Parameters/ scope
The Consumer is required to notify the Company of the issue(s) noticed along with the invoice details, sample pictures and basis for Warranty invocation by contacting the customer care at 1800 120 1234. The Consumer shall provide such additional details as required by the Company and/or allow the Company to visit/inspect the painting site either in portion or entirety at the Company’s discretion.
In case where the Company decides that the Warranty is applicable on the issue(s) noticed on the affected areas, the Company shall bear the Replacements Costs as detailed in respective product warranty document to repair/ repaint the affected areas.
Replacement Costs shall mean the cost of material and labour required to correct the affected portions, as determined by the Company.
In case where the Company decides that Warranty is not applicable, the same shall be communicated to the Consumer.
Warranty is applicable only to the affected area where the Product is used in accordance with application guidelines and not to the rest of the areas.
In case the Consumer carries out repair works on the areas covered under the Warranty, the same shall be at their own risk and the Company’s Warranty on the Product shall not be valid on such repaired areas.
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