AVID Roundtable - Designing Tomorrow

Pierfrancesco Arnone graduated in Architecture at the University of Palermo. Since 1998 he has worked in the area of product and interior design aiming at a combination of primary and processed materials, giving harmony to forms, identifying inspiring elements in everyday life and researching methods of recycling waste materials through design. In 2004 he founded his own studio in Bagheria, near Palermo, where he lives and designs his works. In the field of product design he has collaborated with: Officine Mandelli, Francolight, Fogazza, Waterjet G & G, Calligaris, Snaidero, Eureka. As Senior Interior Designer he is currently working with Bhartiya City Developers in Bangalore, where is in charge the interior design of a number of apartments and retail spaces. He lectures at the Politecnico di Milano and at the University of Palermo. Last, since 2010 his food designs have been featured in the volumes Le ricette del designer. Till now he is Partner of StudioCreo in Delhi.

Shonan Purie Trehan is the founder and a principal architect at Language. Architecture. Body. After completing her Bachelor of Architecture, from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in USA, she worked at Eisenmen Architects in New York City. She went on to work on various institutional and cultural projects at Le Groupe Arcop, Montreal and Arcop Associates, New Delhi. In 2008, she completed her Masters in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Built Environment, London, UK, with a focus in Advanced Architectural Design. In 2010, Shonan established Language.Architecture.Body in Bombay as a design studio that focuses on construction of relationships between narrative, environment and habitation. The practice has been working with great momentum over the last 6 years. The team of 18 architects have built over 57 residential, commercial, healthcare and hospitality projects across India and Africa. The work ranges from the planning of a 1600 bed hospital, Medanta The Medicity to the interiors of Ministry of New. LAB’s work has been widely published and awarded a spot on the AD50 list of 2015. For three years, Shonan was a visiting faculty member for the Bachelor of Architecture program at KRVIA. She has also presented at IDF, DesignxDesign 30under35, Studio X and close encounters.

Rajeev Thakker received his BArch from Syracuse University and Masters in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University GSAPP and has worked for several offices like S.O.M. & the Arnell Group in NY on conceptual design & architectural projects. He came to Mumbai in 2000 to teach architectural design & theory and has been actively engaged in pedagogical activities at several institutions including KRVIA, NMIMS & Raffles and ISDI and curated Columbia Universities Studio X Mumbai from 2011-2016. He currently runs his own practice, a-RT, which engages design through a series of artistic, cartographic and architectural processes, provides consultancy & design services for architectural & interior projects. Over the past 13 years a-RT has designed and realized several projects in the Hospitality, Retail, Commercial, Residential and Art space segments. His works have been published in DOMUS India, IAB, Inside Outside and Home & Design Trends as well as other publications. As an artist, his work has been part of a group show at the Museum Gallery Mumbai in 2010 and most recently was invited as a participating artist at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016 with his installation entitled ‘HOME’ and executed a series of collateral installations entitled ‘Happy Medium’.

Rooshad Shroff Architecture + Design (RS A+D) is a multi-disciplinary design and research studio. Founded in June 2011 in Mumbai by Rooshad Shroff, the architectural practice predominantly dedicated to the realization of spaces soon developed its own design department, operating at nano-scales crafting bespoke furniture, products and materials. Using traditional Indian techniques and making it a point of honour to re-actualize the handmade, it became a reference within the design world for highly sophisticated pieces. Rooshad Shroff received his undergraduate degree in Architecture at Cornell University where he was awarded the Edward Palmer York Memorial Prize for Outstanding performance in Design, as well as the Michael Rapuano Memorial Distinction in Design Award. His graduating thesis was later exhibited as part of the Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies Exhibit at the Beijing Architecture Biennial in 2006. Whilst pursuing his Masters in Architecture at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, Rooshad served as a Teaching Assistant to renowned Spanish architect Inaki Abalos. His work produced at the GSD has been exhibited at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennial as well as the 2010 Shanghai Expo within the Spanish Pavilion. Prior to founding RSAD, Rooshad Shroff worked at the offices of internationally acclaimed architects such as Zaha Hadid in London and OMA/REX in NYC. The practice, albeit only 5 years, has garnered acclaim, being the recipient of the EDIDA, NDTV, IIID and GoodHome Awards, as well making the AD 50 list for three consecutive years. In addition the work of the RSAD has been exhibited at the ID Fair in Delhi, the India Art Fai r and most recently at ‘Design – the India Story’ at the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai as well a solo exhibition with Pundole’s Gallery in Delhi.