Ekaya Ahmedabad

Project Name: Ekaya Ahmedabad
Authors: Studio Lotus x Studio Grey Matter

CITATION

Retail space allows for extensive exploration in material and detail, as the architecture of retail is mostly confined within the generic commercial box. Approached as an exercise in space planning as against interior design, this project creates a calm, earthy volume between the dark floor and the dark ceiling, thus receiving and releasing light of a particular quality for the merchandise to be experienced.

By freeing the ground plane, the system for display lightens the space. For a high-end retail outlet, the designers employ restraint and economy of material, and the space plan is treated as an armature for the objects to be presented. The interior design thus takes place in the spirit of an installation, bringing forth a phenomenological experience of the space, enhanced by the fabrics on display.

The brass hanging system weaves the space in a warp-weft grid mimicking the interwoven threads of the fabric. By lowering the lighting and creating a dark ceiling, the designers create the hanging system to disappear, a visual trick that renders a perceptual volume to the shop.

This intervention is a fine example of space planning, where the abstractness of the bottom and top planes energises the presentation of the space in between. Through careful detailing, tactical materials and visual scenography, the designers create a sublime framework, invoking the memory of the loom, for an engagement with the merchandise, and therefore, Ekaya Ahmedabad by Studio Lotus and Studio Grey Matter is awarded a Citation in The Merit List.