Ahmedabad restaurant designed by Grid Architects elevates your meal with earthly flavours
Honouring the old conviction that Clay was the earth that provided us the food, was the house we lived in, was the pottery we ate out of and prayed with, Mumbai based Grid Architects has designed Mitti Ke Rang- an earthy cool restaurant in Ahmedabad on the lines of sustainable architecture.
Artisanal ceramics in current times are having more than a moment. Interest in handcrafted clay objects has been rising for years, as a new generation of artisans has taken to the kilns and fired up a white-hot design trend. The Grid Architects created a drafty space that is immersed in the earth and crafted from it.
The entrance is humbly graced with a potter’s wheel and different types of clay vessels and utensils, gently illuminated by reclaimed jute-shaded lamps, extend a warm welcome.The waiting area and anteroom are suffsed in the golden hues narrating a tale of cultural legacy as it is decorated with the objects from the client’s ancestral home—notably a hand pounder/grinder, amongst other earthenware.
The Grid Architects studio is known for eco friendly designs and the use of sustabile materials in the design process, the same line of thoughts has been followed to materialise the idea of creating the Mitti ke Rang that converged with the links the restaurant promoter’s family had to pottery and its bucolic connections to the earth.
Designed within a moderate budget, the firm suggested the client to let his family, who is still into this craft, use their talent, and, in turn, they employed these various forms of the traditional vernacular material in the restaurant. Hence the craft skill of the family is emphatically illustrated in the interiors.Terracotta tableware reinforces the central design theme of the restaurant. The bespoke Tantu lamps—fashioned out of reclaimed jute and fabric—drop down from the jute-lined ceiling. Note the customized leaf-shaped jute screens designed to hide the AC compressor.
To color the Unfired clay vessels and terracotta tableware, clay was mixed with the dye extracted from the flower of the Palash (flame of the forest) tree, turmeric, a natural binder and other organic ingredients like hay to birth a glorious golden-coloured paste as they were against the use of artificial pigment or additive was used in the process.his golden plaster was then hand-applied on walls to obtain a beautiful textured surface with a rich, handcrafted look and wave-like designs that trace the rhythm of the hand movements. The natural plaster was further embellished with wall art and paintings by local artists.
As for the lamps and furniture they make use of reclaimed wood from wedding mandaps (tents) and jute and align it to the design studio’s pursuit of creating spatial narratives marked by low embodied energy.The furniture is crafted from reclaimed wood—which, along with jute panels, also lines the ceiling.
The idea of eco-friendly interiors using local crafts can be surprisingly budget friendly, durable and luxurious at the same time only if the designers are aware of the regional crafts and dextrous enough to use the artisanal skills.
Photo credits: Photographix India
