A Desert-Inspired Home in the Mangroves
With sandy palettes and a minimalist design ethos, this Mumbai apartment by Studio Nishita Kamdar is a stark antithesis to its lush surroundings
Situated amid Mumbai’s historic mangroves this apartment both reflects and resists its surroundings. The interior holds a mirror to the desert, with earthy shades, jute and linen textiles and oak and teak grains dominating the palette. ‘The home nods to the shifting nature of sand, suggesting a space that can evolve along with its inhabitants,’ says Nishita Kamdar, founder and principal architect of her eponymous studio, whose team was tasked with designing a minimalist home for a mother and daughter.
The home is layered with Saharan colours and textures that unfold in a fluent, organic manner. The front door, for instance, has a light oak veneer that dovetails neatly with the wood grain of the cornice, while the mellow marble dining table provides a mirage-like counterpoint. In the living room, the colour palette is subtly augmented with pastel additions like the salmon-pink sofa, Corbusian-style chairs and a hand-dyed rug. Similarly, the kitchen has pops of olive green and ivory tones in its cabinetry.
Wabi-sabi is recurring theme throughout, and particularly in elements such as the live-edge coffee table, the shoji-like screens in the kitchen and bedrooms, and the teak cladding in the dining area. ‘We used a variety of screens and cladded surfaces to mask unsightly elements,’ Kamdar explains. ‘The passage behind the dining area, for example, was cladded to hide several doors and storage spaces along the wall and give the illusion of an extended volume. Likewise, the guest bedroom is discreetly hidden behind the panels.’
The bedrooms are pared back to the minimum, in keeping with the home's minimalist design ethos. The daughter's bedroom is a case in point, with a low metal bed, a black metal book shelf and sand-stained cane wardrobes. The purple headboard injects a pop of colour into the muted space. The mother's bedroom, meanwhile, perpetuates the desert spirit. A hand-carved oak headboard is the focal point, while cane wardrobes add to the dune-inspired colour scheme. ‘We designed a totem-like floor lamp from the plywood offcuts discarded on the site. With its hemp fabric shade, it not only offers ambient lighting, but also serves as a staggering corner accent,’ Kamdar says. By creating a sand-inspired bolthole in the heart of Mumbai’s lush mangroves, she and her team have managed to create a beautifully balanced home that highlights the nuances of nature.
Text / Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar
Images / Ishita Sitwala
