World cities, their energy, their cultures and their lifestyles have often inspired the work of the Mumbai-based architectural firm, _OPOLIS. Influences which are clearly visible at the ATE office.
The influence of different cities and cultures can be clearly observed in their designs that range from architectural edifices, to interiors of corporate offices, stores, homes, even an auditorium, along with urban planning projects. “Both of us have worked for a while outside India: Sonal (Sancheti)with Fumihiko Maki in Tokyo and Jerde Partnership in Los Angeles and me, again with Fumihiko Maki for about a year on the prestigious Bunka Cho Scholarship, awarded by the Japanese government, and then in LA,” says Rahul Gore of the Mumbai-based architectural firm, _OPOLIS.
The duo returned to India to set up _OPOLIS – ‘O’ comes from Japan, where it is used to pay respect to something or someone; ‘polis’ is derived from the word metropolis. “The underscore before the name represents openness, which is what our firm believes in,” contends Gore.
It is difficult to pigeonhole the work done by the _OPOLIS team. Several dissimilar influences, from Japan’s minimalist, almost Zen-inspired architecture and interiors, to Europe’s interesting blend of classical, neo-classical and now post-modern architecture have left a mark on their design sensibility.
This is why their work also steers between contemporary (the ATE office), the traditional Indian, but abstracted to a great deal and adapted in a more modern idiom (Neeru Kumar store), to the classical (the Golf accessories store).
Attention to even the tiniest of detailing has found its way in most _OPOLIS projects. The contemporary corporate office of ATE, a textile engineers firm, is a calm space, devoid of colours. The extensive use of wood panelling combined with subdued, elegant décor makes it a warm, unpretentious office, one that depends on solid design instead of frivolous ornamentation.
“The corporate office is located in a building next to the share bazaar, in Kala Ghoda, and has a terrace attached to it. We could not do much to the terrace since it belonged to the landlord, so we just added large windows that separate the office from the terrace and allows light to stream in,” reveals Rahul.
The wooden furniture has been in-built into the several columns and the walls, often following the shape of that particular architectural feature. Another interesting space is the boardroom, which is actually two spaces, separated from each other by a sliding door. The conference table is placed on steel tracks and can be shifted to allow the doors to slide shut and make way for two meeting rooms.
