EDIDA India 2023: The verdict is out, behold the champions of the 22nd edition of ELLE DECO International Design Awards India

It’s the biggest design reveal of the year, honouring winners across 15 categories at the ELLE DECO INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS or EDIDA 2023 in its Indian version. Winners step onto global design platforms as the native awardees get nominated for the International EDIDA. 25 Editors-in-Chief of the ELLE DECORATION international network deliberate and vote for the global winners. EDIDA India 2023 is presented by title sponsor ICA Italian Wood Finishes in association with Sunil Sethi Design Alliance (SSDA) and in strategic partnerships with Miele, Innovative Design Studio, Delta Faucet India, Artius Interior Products Pvt Ltd and Burgundy Living for Ligne Roset.

EDIDA designer of the year
Kohelika Kohli: A trained architect and carpenter from the Pratt Institute of Design in New York, Kohelika Kohli heads production at KOKO, a furniture consultancy and boutique manufacturing brand, under its umbrella company K2India. Working with master craftsmen and welders, their products are characterised by a keen eye for material details, experimentation and techniques. With a soul and outlook that is inherently Indian, her pieces combine influences from English Classical, Art Deco, Biedermeier and Classic Contemporary furniture as well as its own contemporary furniture lines. With her current line of furniture, she has explored and pushed the boundaries with metals, wood, upcycled cardboard amongst others to devise new aesthetics and form (and functions)!

EDIDA interior designer of the year

Vaishali Kamdar: Vaishali Kamdar Associates is a studio that specialises in the interior design of high-end residences, luxury villas, hospitality and retail spaces. Creating spaces that are timeless and elegant, and expressive and expansive in its embrace of aesthetics. The studio believes in paying tremendous attention to detail, from the use of natural light, space and texture to materials, lighting and the selection of art and artefacts. Their design sensibility is both contemporary and eclectic and they enjoy working with the varied tastes of their clients without straying from their design ethos. The studio believes that spaces dictate the design language of a project. Creating a seamless transition between the indoor and the outdoor whenever possible is an important aspect for the team. Vaishali particularly enjoys conceptualising and working on the spatial planning, creating intricate details, down to the finer nuances of layering a project with art, antiques and accessories.

EDIDA sustainable achievement

Ariane Thakore Ginwala: A Boutique Wildlife Resort — Tipai, the flagship is an exemplar of sustainable development, social commitment and cultural collaboration that channelled design as the vehicle of change. Her team spent six to eight months researching low-impact construction before zeroing on rammed earth construction for the property. They also invested five years in permaculture practices to create a self-sustaining land. Boulders discovered during excavation were repurposed for the roads, while furniture predominantly utilises refurbished wood, and fabrics are handwoven from organic materials. Local potters crafted the vaulted roofs using terracotta tiles. They have managed to save surface water runoff and enrich the soil with biomass and rainwater harvesting. From the tea to the toiletries in the villas, every detail is curated for Tipai with small batch boutique brands with shared values for sustainability, quality and fairness.

EDIDA young talent

Priyam Doshi: Winning for his Quarry Collection of lamps draws from people, places, animals, all of nature and the world around to devise decor that intrigues and inspires in equal measure. With the Quarry Collection, Priyam explores thin stone sheets from Indian quarries that authentically resemble the lamp’s aesthetic and texture. The collection evolved from the idea to experiment with lighting that not only exudes beauty when illuminated but also when powered off. From the perspective of sustainability, they require reduced processing, handling, have little breakage issues and weigh less than their stone counterparts.

EDIDA bedroom

Keerthi Tummala: Drawing from the idea of the Samudra, the Sanskrit word for sea, Sage Living has created the Sam bedside table and Udra bed in Mango wood and cane. Together, they stand for Samudra, which in concept is a source of inspiration, a metaphor for fluidity and adaptability. Exploring a fluid, organic silhouette form is the Sam bedside table paired with the Udra bed which is a modern twist on the four-poster bed, inspired by the majestic yet tranquil nature of the ocean.

EDIDA flooring

Kunaal Kyhaan Seolekar: Crafted from hand-knitted wool, silk and assorted semi-precious stone, the Naag Rug for Jaipur Rugs draws from the timeless snakes and ladder game where tradition and play intertwine in a contemporary demeanour. Tribal arts of India lend their motifs — dots, dashes and colour to create sculptural dynamic forms on the surface of the rugs. Elevated by hand-distressed techniques, these rugs radiate the spirit of the past and the mystique of ethereal creatures from ancient tales and times.

EDIDA bathware

Ashiesh Shah: The traditional toy craft of Channapatna is reinterpreted into a skilfully designed basin fashioned from organic, non-toxic hale mara wood. It features a natural dye infused beeswax lacquer beads that envelop the curvilinear Corian base. Encompassing two basins, their soft and fluid silhouettes hark back to the essence of traditional Channapatna forms, but also infuse it with renewed perspectives. Three stools accompany the basins that double as openable baskets.

EDIDA student of the year

Devashree N Jadeja: A reinterpretation of the common collapsible chair, SleekSeat11 by Devashree N Jadeja of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, combines portability and affordability alongside a strong visual language that emerges from the use of bamboo. The folding mechanism ensures a minimal profile when not used, saving space and making it easy to use across residences.

EDIDA outdoor

Aku Zeliang: Highlighting the colours of traditional Naga jewellery, the two pieces, Angkha Diwan and Angkha Chair, uses cane weave, wooden structures, rattan edge binding, natural dyes and cotton upholstery to represent the disparate forms, materials and indigenous designs of tribal communities in East India. Aku Zeliang of Cane Concept and Urra Design puts into practise heritage skills that are passed down from generations, to explore complex techniques and methods that find expression in his work.

EDIDA furniture

Sonal Tuli and Bobbi Tuli: Reflecting the architectural style of the Arc de Triomphe, the coffee table, part of the 1800 collection by Within demonstrates harmony between the old and new, imbibing a new language of design, craft, contrast and materiality. Meticulously handcrafted White Ash wooden mouldings, mirrored by intricately carved Calacatta marble are reminiscent of the revolutionary 18th Century which witnessed a shift from the revival era to the modern movement as the coffee table becomes metaphorical of the shifts that transpired.

EDIDA fabric

Riddhi Jain Satija: The upcycled and sustainable range of textiles and surfaces titled Re, uses hand composition, quilting, patching and sewing to reuse waste cotton threads and yarns that emerge from resist dyed fabrics. The larger intent by Studio Medium is a holistic idea of circular design — the end of a process should be the beginning of another.

EDIDA wall finishes and coverings

Sahiba Madan: As the ephemeral name suggests, Whispers in Moonlight by the founder of Kalakaari Haath explores textures and tones of white and beige. Detailed with over 200 hours of hand embroidery on cotton, the piece depicts a serene forest-scape with details that bring to life intricacies of foliage illuminated by moonlight.

EDIDA tableware

Eeshaan Kashyap: Slowing down to catch up with the unhurried pace of a drifting cloud, he imagines tableware that draws artistic reference of paintings in Bikaner with ethereal movements in the sky. Crafted using repoussé, the metal reveals hand drawn shapes in brass and copper.

EDIDA lighting

Aman Bhayana & Sugandhi Mehrotra: Crafted using individual cotton strands, suspended freely from a brass frame, the Ito floor lamp by Stem is an ode to ephemeral experiences. Appearing as a solid cuboid from afar, a closer inspection reveals its airy andlight character which waltzes with the wind.

EDIDA seating

Tania Khosla and Sandeep Khosla: Created by Sandeep and Tania Khosla, Sandeep being an architect and Tania being a graphic designer, the Conversation Bench for Mangrove Collective, is quite literally what the name suggests. It is an interplay between diverse practices and techniques alongside contrasting materiality and aesthetics. Botanical motifs are hand carved in relief by a master craftsman in acacia wood that cascade down the concrete surface of the bench, underlining and highlighting one another’s inherent beauties.

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