Design
Ajay Shah: EDIDA India 2016 Furniture joint winner
MAR 2, 2017 | By Aditi Sharma Maheshwari
The furniture piece was made by stamping and folding sheets of aluminium.
Ajay Shah’s The Table That Almost Wasn’t was created after a long delay for London Design Fair 2016.
Ajay Shah’s The Table That Almost Wasn’t was created after a long delay for London Design Fair 2016.
It’s so refreshing to see a fresh new idea take shape, the clever use of craft and truly thinking out of the box. When Ajay Shah from Rubberband decided to create a furniture piece, he decided to trend a path less travelled. Thus, The Table That Almost Wasn’t was born. Made with polyester coated aluminium, it was constructed by stamping and folding sheets of metal. It can be assembled yourself (an instruction sheet is provided with it) and available in a bright green colour.
We caught up with the designer who expressed his happiness on winning the EDIDA 2016 for this smart product that is a result of great craftsmanship.
ELLE DECOR: What is the best part about winning an EDIDA?
Ajay Shah: The best part is a sense of satisfaction. More than a temporary sense of elation, winning this award validates the involvement I have had with furniture and design over these years.
ED: The best way to describe your EDIDA winning product…
AS: The Table That Almost Wasn’t was created after long procrastination; the sudden decision was made so as to be a part of the London Design Fair 2016. More than a commercial incline of thinking, this exercise of designing and producing the table was to pique good design thinking across form, material, process to arrive at a radical departure from conventions.
ED: Take us through the process of creating your EDIDA winning product.
AS: For me furniture design exercise is an intimate process. It starts typically with pondering, sketching, scale drawings, rejecting, restarting and rebuilding. I always make my designs post a certain sketch level into a working drawing and finally a full scale paper card model. Post a general approval of form and construct, we venture into part prototyping and then the final development.
ED: Is there a recent product or collection that has caught your attention?
AS: I admire the Can sofa by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for HAY.
ED: Two characteristics lighting products of the future will have…
AS: Ingenuity in construction and simplicity of idea.
Website: www.rubberbandproducts.com
Also read: Suneet Varma’s EDIDA 2016 winning kitchenware
