Studio Nilasha began during a time of uncertainty, in the middle of the pandemic, when everything felt paused and unpredictable. ‘It was a leap of faith, a quiet decision to trust my instincts and build something of my own, even when the path ahead was unclear’ says Founder and Principal Architect, Nilasha. The idea for the studio came from a long-standing desire to design with emotion and intention, while keeping functionality and efficiency at the heart of every decision. Growing up, she was fortunate to travel and experience different countries and ways of living. These experiences shaped how she sees space, as something that holds memory, movement, and feeling. More on the ethos of Studio Nilasha below.
The Journey
What began as a solo pursuit slowly found its rhythm. The idea was never to create something grand or trendy, but to craft environments that hold warmth, purpose, and authenticity. Over time, the studio has grown into a practice that blends intuition and intention with clarity, where every project becomes an exploration of how material, light, design, and memory come together to shape experience. It is a practice that values calm over noise, process over pace, and authenticity over scale. It continues to evolve from that same belief that design, at its core, is about creating spaces that leave an impact on people, even in the subtlest of ways. The journey has been a steady path of learning and refinement, shaped by each collaboration and every space we have had the chance to design.
Emphasising Emotion Through Design
To me, emotion becomes tangible when design engages the senses. It’s often not just what you see but how you feel. When a piece evokes a memory, stirs nostalgia, invites curiosity, or simply offers a sense of ease, it begins to connect with the person on a deeper level. Emotion takes shape through that experience, whether it is within a space or through an object. The grain of wood, the coolness of stone, the geometry of a form, or the texture of fabric each plays its part. These visual and tactile encounters create connection, allowing emotion to be felt, to linger, and to become a feeling inherently tied to the piece itself.
Timelessness
Timelessness, to me, is when a space feels relevant today but continues to feel familiar and comforting years later. It is not about following trends but about understanding what truly endures, focusing on proportion, material integrity, and the quality of light. Contemporary design, when approached with sensitivity, can hold this sense of permanence by prioritizing how one feels within a space rather than just how the space appears.
Multicultural Influence
Living in places like New York, Bombay, Florence, and Hyderabad has given me a unique perspective on how design lives in the world. These experiences have shown me that culture, geography, and history shape the way people inhabit space. My time in New York introduced me to density, energy, and a tech-forward way of layered living. In Florence, I was immersed in history and craftsmanship. India continues to root my work in warmth, heritage, and a deep sensitivity to materiality. All of this has shaped how I think about architecture and design. My work reflects a blend of my global experience and local context, where authenticity and human experience are the highest priority.
Inspiration
Travel has been my way of learning, through observation, culture, and the quiet act of compare and contrast. Every place reveals something about how people inhabit space, how they adapt to climate, and how their surroundings reflect their values. I am constantly drawn to the way materials are used, the way they age, how surfaces tell stories of time, and how architecture responds to both place and people. These experiences stay with me and often resurface in subtle ways within my work.
Beyond travel, it is the small everyday rituals that continue to inspire me. The way light shifts across a space, the way light reflects differently on a matte vs glossy surface, the texture of stone underfoot when walking barefoot, or how a home absorbs the personality of its inhabitants over time. These fleeting moments remind me that design is most powerful when it feels effortless, easy, efficient and comfortable. My approach to design continues to evolve through these quiet observations, shaped as much by stillness as by movement.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 8-12-2025