A design created for this collaboration with Atelier Ashiesh Shah — the interior designer’s soon-to-be-launched laboratory that explores the contemporization of craftsmanship — the ‘Jaipur’ totem is a modern take on the city’s traditional blue-and-white pottery. The first prototype was fashioned from cane and foam, materials that were eventually traded in for terracotta. Shah describes the totem as a physical interpretation of the elephant in the room — albeit a very blue one — because the structure’s presence can be felt immediately. Made exclusively for AD, it’s definitely a behemoth but the scale is entirely appropriate. Standing proud at six feet tall, the big blue totem is a symbol of the architect’s strong commitment to product design. It is this affection, fuelled by art fairs, dinner-table conversations and unwavering support (Shah says of his long-time colleague and friend, Keshav: “he makes me think louder”) that finally convinced Shah to launch his studio. “After I design my houses, I try to curate them rather than just decorate them; it has always been immensely important to me.”
The origin of this blue totem can be traced to a small shop in Jaipur that specializes in the city’s distinct brand of blue-and-white pottery. Shah immediately realized that this traditional art form needed seriously contemporary treatment to elevate it— “the yin to the yang”—before deciding to do it himself. “Today, when you look at the totem, you don’t see the blue-and-white pottery. It could be from anywhere; it could be Greek. When you open it, it reveals its Indianness.” The totem can be disassembled into individual objects that can be piled up or used as stools, decorative objects or perch tables, or displayed as is—in its original human-sized form. “When you sit, and the totem is next to you, it feels like it’s towering over you,” says Shah.
Stages of Manufacturing
We did two variants for the individual tops; one has a blue background with white flowers and the other, white with blue flowers (right).” These complementary tops are an extension of the yin-and-yang theme; Shah was also inspired by the style of artist Constantin Brâncuși and a ceramic Ettore Sottsass piece that he bought at Milan’s Gallery Nilufar. Then, he worked the logistics of transporting the totem in its final form. Shah says, “We had to separate the totem into individual pieces so that it could be transported.” The totem has an iron spine and base—Shah “didn’t want the base to be blue as well”—evocative of the architect’s adopted wabi-sabi language.
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