Firm/Studio Name
STUDIO24 ARCHITECTS
How did you come up with the name of your studio?
Back in college, where it all sprouted, our studio was named ‘Studio 24’, representing a batch of 24 students. Moreover, ‘24’, we feel, is a value that depicts continuity and consistency throughout the 24 hours of a day. And we, a duet team of passionate architects, keep our thoughts hovering about design, strategies, and art invariably with us.
What determined your passion for design? Tell us about the moment when you decided this is the way to go.
We are friends for a very long time, say from the primary school itself. Along with several other factors, the mutual interest in art resurfaced our bond. From then on, be it the informal hangouts or serious career prospects, we sought to resort to art and thereby architecture.
What kind of projects were you doing when you first started as a designer?
We felt it advisable to begin our career from small-scale projects, for which we had an unfeigned feeling to start with. Hence we choose residential projects mostly in the initial stages.
What field of design are you most interested in?
As far as a designer is concerned, a shared interest in all the aspects of design is essential as each of them compliments each other. However, we have found material exploration a gripping activity. Composing and articulating our material palette such that it withholds the need for climatic, economic, and aesthetic aspects have always been a frolic experience.
What is your favorite book/magazine on design? How about your favorite site?
Architectural Digest ,DETAIL etc.
Favorite Site: Archdaily, Buildofy, etc.
What is your Signature Style?
We do not follow or try to produce a habitual style for every project. Rather we focus on a very project-specific approach. We stick to what the project demands from us and render it accordingly. We ensure that the strategies keenly respond to climate, function as well aesthetics.
What inspires you to thrive in this industry? Which piece of architecture inspires you the most.
The freedom that this profession offers is very impressive. There is always a scope for exploring and enhancing our thought process as unbiased as possible. Also, the approach in which project constraints are active puzzles that need to be played with makes challenges a pleasant entity.
There is no specific ‘one’ project that inspires us. Every piece of architecture has something unique. So our inspiration is a chaotic mix of elements. However, tropical architecture works from Geoffrey Bawa or the seamless response of Vietnamese architecture have always been a point of enthusiasm to rediscover tropical architecture which could be neatly applied in Kerala as well.
From your point of view, is design an art or a science?
Predesign process demands a curative application of art. The conception and how it evolves into a design scheme is indeed an artistic bloom. However, the execution process is a pragmatic application of science.
If you had no limits (money, resources), what would you create?
Well, public architecture revolves around a very primitive core as far as Kerala is concerned. Though many initiatives are coming up, it is not gaining the anticipated momentum due to unpleasant authoritative interventions and lack of monetary supplements. Its high time socialization and publicness are nurtured for the better, forgetting the determinants that limit those projects that are catalytic to social wellbeing.
What advice do you have for young designers or architects reading this interview?
Struggles are part of the game. Be it financial or stabilizing among the fraternity, it takes time and energy. Be patient and be consistently striving. A very simple yet powerful attitude that we choose to adapt to.
