What does an ancient tomb have to do with a console table? At Chacko, there are roundabout connections to everything. This translates into their ethos in such a way that the story of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb can become the starting point for a mirror's ornamentation. The brass locks on old Chettinand bungalow doors inform a wall-mounted console's hardware and Church architecture and mid-century forms sit alongside granite tops and rosewood feet. It is the story behind these objects that makes Chacko special; each piece finds an interesting way to combine utility with opulence and history. Vipin Joe, the Founder of Chacko, breaks down the spirit behind the studio.
The Long Way Around
Chacko, the practice founded by Vipin, took shape gradually, built from years of moving between different creative disciplines before furniture became his focus. ‘A product design student after graduating, I interned in a couple of design studios before starting my own,’ he says. ‘I involved myself in projects ranging from murals to graphic design to interiors, which then led me on to setting up a workshop space to focus only on furniture.’
A Creative Pursuit of Designing Better
Traces of that wandering path show up in Chacko's output today. The studio's pieces carry a mix of influences: product thinking, graphic instinct, spatial awareness, an appetite for experimentation. There's no rigid mission statement holding it together. ‘Currently, we are only following a creative pursuit of designing better,’ he explains. ‘No core philosophy yet.’ Chacko seems more invested in the act of getting better than in articulating because much of that improvement comes from testing materials and craft techniques against each other.
‘Between the few materials we are limiting ourselves to, we look at ways to use these processes to arrive at a certain level that we haven't seen ourselves.’ he says. Working within constraints, in other words, sharpens the work rather than narrowing it. A small material palette gives the team room to go deeper on details most studios would skip. The furniture that results feels deliberate at every stage, structure and finish alike.
Detailing & Finding Inspiration
Detail has become something of a signature for Chacko. Patterns, joinery choices, visual nods recur across the catalogue, often revealing themselves only on a second look. Vipin's reference points for this, oddly enough, sit outside furniture entirely. ‘I look at classic cars and watches,’ he says. ‘A lot of our design detailing comes from industries or objects where engineering and design are blended seamlessly.’ The comparison holds up once you look closely at the pieces. Like a finely built watch, Chacko's furniture treats precision as the forefront and ornamentation is woven into the bones of the object.
The Native Console
When asked which project best captures what the studio is about, Vipin names the Native Console without hesitation. ‘The Native Console was a culmination of things we had been working on for a while in parts, but came together beautifully,’ he says. The piece mattered because it pulled together ideas the studio had been developing in isolation. It also brought illustration into the work as a new layer of meaning. ‘The illustration as a layer only makes it deeper and different from any piece we had done before,’ Vipin explains. ‘It allowed our work to be appreciated beyond the limited lens of furniture.’
Inside The Workshop
Furniture stays the medium, but Vipin wants pieces that spark conversation and invite a second read. The Native Console showed how far that idea could go while still staying grounded in craft. The workshop behind these pieces is small and close-knit. Vipin describes a space where makers and designers stay in constant conversation, trading problems and solutions as they go. ‘Currently, it is a bit more stable,’ he says. ‘A small space where carpenters are working on two or three projects, designers doing a constant back and forth and even handling the brass finishing process.’ Nobody stays in their lane here and the lines between roles blur on purpose. ‘Everyone is holding each other accountable and we all work towards dispatching the best we can.’ he adds.
The Future
Alongside keeping up with catalogue orders, Chacko is tightening its internal processes ahead of bigger work. ‘We are working on fulfilling orders from our catalogue and streamlining certain processes,’ Vipin says. ‘We are gearing up for our next exciting capsule with one of our collaborators while in the initial stages of larger commissions.’ The studio's reach is also expanding beyond India for the first time, which is new and exciting.
This is an excerpt from the July EZ. For more such stories, read the EZ here.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 7.8.2026