Aziz Kachwala: Name to know

Somewhere in the bylanes of old Anjirwadi, Mumbai, a nondescript warehouse is the workshop of one of the eight Godrej Design Lab 2016 (a product design competition held in association with ELLE DECOR India) winners, Aziz Kachwala of At-tin. Step inside and you will find objects ranging from tables and chairs, to lamps and loungers that reflect a heavy influence of industrial design. What pulls the eye though is his award winning creation, the Fresh Seater.

This metal and cane chair has an interesting backstory. “I had a design intern who was looking for a project to do for her diploma. She was researching for it and found that people were not interested in bulky furniture with too many cushions. We also found that there was high demand for pieces with nostalgic value. There were a bunch of specs we worked on and then finalised on the form of Fresh Seater. We had tried the same design in wood and cane too, but surprisingly the ergonomics of it was just not right.”

His tryst with design happened when he was studying engineering in IIT Bombay and chanced upon the art and architecture section of the library. It sparked an immediate interest in him. “It was more fascinating than the technical stuff I was doing with the equations and I decided to pursue that. The shift was very exciting.”

So how has Godrej Design Lab impacted his work? “It puts you out there in the world. Your work is floating around on YouTube and exhibited to a larger audience. The exposure is fantastic.”

Aziz is currently working on developing a museum for the Sikh community in Nanded in conjunction with Delhi based firm Design Habit.

Website: www.facebook.com/attinstudio

Entries for Godrej Design Lab 2017 are now open! Head to www.godrejdesignlab.com for more details.

Also read: EDIDA Designers of the Year Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth’s creation for Hendricks Gin