Rooshad Shroff's new gallery in Ballard Estate aims to be a space welcoming design lovers

When architect and designer Rooshad Shroff moved back to Mumbai after living in the US for 10 years and studying at Harvardrsquos and Cornell Universities he did not have much work to do in the initial days of his practice in 2011 and so he started making furniture to keep himself occupied Around that time midday had featured his first pieces that were displayed at Le Millrsquos Wadi Bunder store Cut to 2025 Shroff has now opened Gallery RooshadSHROFF on the same floor of his Dubash House headquarters in Ballard Estate to showcase his oeuvre and collaborative results of working with Indian artisans for over a decadeFurniture has always been a passionled project for Shroff ldquoWhen I first started researching different crafts of India to see how we can make them relevant to a modern design language and not just to use as ethnic souvenirs I realised that there was no reference to craft And it was all about the numbers game then nobody wanted to touch those pieces That pushed me to work with handmade objects and craft because we have access to great crafts that many donrsquot valuerdquo says Shroff Handmade objects have always appealed to him and the idea of craft is rooted in every piece he makesShroff considers furniture as a testing ground to research different techniques that donrsquot just culminate to furniture but also design accents such as surface cladding for his interior projects As Shroff dedicated more time to his passion it turned into a business and people wanted to see his collectable designs He moved out of his Horniman Circle officestudio space in the erstwhile Louboutin office last year after having outgrown the space Shroff will only use this gallery to showcase artistartisan collaborations and his pieces and not as a popup event space he says ldquoWe donrsquot expect a large footfall We donrsquot want a large footfall but we want the right footfall Many galleries support design in the West but India doesnrsquot really have any design galleries we have art galleries but not designrdquo he says Shroff beside a creation from his Balance series at the Ballard Estate galleryWhatrsquos in storeShroff doesnrsquot want the gallery to intimidate design lovers but to make them feel at home you even ring a doorbell like at a friendrsquos home Sunlight bounces off the white walls and white mosaic floors which provide the perfect backdrop for the pieces a mix of collaborations and his own Like the Burma teak panels with marble inlay by T Venkanna or the furniture collaboration with Tanya Goel Pieces that he is also proud of are the ones that are a result of artist and artisan residency collaboration from Lucknowrsquos Kalhath Institute Shroff is on their advisory board which invites fine artists for residency to explore embroidery as a medium ldquoEven the artworks are results of a residency I collect art but didnrsquot want to just put up frames to divert the viewerrsquos attention from the crafts on display This is a space dedicated to and is a celebration of handmade craftsmanshiprdquo he saysAlso on display are pieces from his Balance series which uses onyx and travertine to play with light sculpture and gravity ldquoI like to push the boundaries of material through furniture Then if it sells it sells I want it to be the purest form of expressing who I am as a designer and what we kind of stand for at the threshold of design and art They are not always the most utilitarian pieces but collectable designsrdquoWhite walls and mosaic flooring provide a bright blank canvas for the designs in the galleryShroff has always worked at the grassroots level with artisans for his pieces and has a process ldquoWe never design a collection and then go to the artisan to get it made We first see what they are capable of doing identify a craft go to that cluster and find an artisan whorsquos willing to experiment who has the patience to experiment with me to kind of deviate from what they are doing Thatrsquos how we train them a lot of our smaller objects are a result of the training sessions Once they reach a particular standard of quality we push them to do something which theyrsquore not traditionally capable of doing while maintaining that same quality to look beyond the ethnic nature of that craft My marble lights are made by third generation murtikarsrdquo says Shroff who sources the marble carving work in Jaipur marble inlays from Agra and embroideries from Mumbai He believes that the only way to sustain traditional crafts is to make them relevantldquoFrom Hermegraves to McQueen and Chanel everyone gets their pieces worked on in India but the brandrsquos design identity is so strong that yoursquoll never think that itrsquos done by the same needle and thread Designled processes change the way in which a craft can be sustainedrdquo he sums upGallery RooshadSHROFFAT Third floor Dubash House JN Heredia Marg Ballard EstateTime Monday to Friday 11 am to 7 pm Saturdays by appointment onlyCall 9833630201