The tools of architect Clement Mark deSylva’s trade are like the toys he played with as a child – so there is rarely a dull moment in his life, declares an envious Maria Louis.
The curve of his jovial smile widens even more, almost splitting Clement DeSylva’s countenance while he discloses that his aunt still recalls how he tried to build houses out of broken brick, mud and water as a six-year-old. When the guffaw that inevitably follows eventually dies down, he adds that his mother insists he almost hero-worshipped a neighbour who lived in the flat below theirs in Bandra. “He is a brilliant architect, now practising in Australia – Alan De Menezes. When you are small, you look up to the big guys, and my mum says I used to spend hours watching him at his drawing-board,” elaborates DeSylva.
Fun could well be DeSylva’s middle name, for it is a refrain that runs through the interview. Even today, he gets a kick out of playing with forms, textures and colours. There is something infectious about the unrestrained exuberance with which he describes each of his projects.
Work, for him, is like an adventure strewn with unexplored possibilities in uncharted territories. One of the fun-tastic sites that have earned him plaudits and recognition for his ingenuity is the Bates Advertising office at New Marine Lines. The excitement begins right at the entrance – where a luminous maze of vividly-coloured china mosaic leads from the names of personnel/departments, etched in sleeper-wood, to their respective cabins/work-stations on either side of the centrally-located reception area.
Turn your gaze heavenwards and a simulation of Michelangelo’s painting of the hands of God and Man from his depiction of Creation in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, gives you the time on an incongruous wristwatch.
This 4,000 sq. ft. office displays a method to apparent madness. Though colour-coding is “used for fun”, it also makes the mosaic pattern on the floor visually interesting.
Function is breathed into almost every form. For instance, the conference room is a study in space control – it accommodates a resourcefully-designed triangular table that seats 9; a TV-set; and projection equipment and whiteboard for presentations. All in a 160 sq. ft. space left over from the lift lobby and reception area!
Since Bates boasts musicians like flautist Rajiv Raja, a huge sleeper-wood coffee-table doubles up as a stage. “They have had him sit here with a tabalchi,” discloses DeSylva, indicating a chill zone that has a view of the Azad Maidan.
“Normally this would be the place for the CEO’s office, but it was democratically decided that anybody from the bull-pen can sit here, ideate, have a cup of coffee, or write award-winning copy. They may use it for informal meetings, discussions, or just to read a magazine. One of the creative guys, Rahul, even sits and paints here. Some guys play the guitar, and once a month they have a party or a performance.”
