“I could trace my love for interior designing back to my childhood. I always wanted to do something of my own and I had vivid imaginations.”, says Aashima.
Aashima Jain took her creative steak to higher grounds and took up the challenges to create stunning architectural designs. She heads “Designorbis” as Chief Designer and is a professionally qualified Interior Designer.
Paying obeisance to the environmental factors, she has kept her designs sustainable and is working towards infusing environmental concerns into her work. Aashima has over 17 years of work experience and has worked on eminent projects like underground metro station DMRC Delhi, Dial (T3 Terminal), PWC, Genpact under prominent Architects among several others.
Read further about the creative journey of Aashima and much more in this candid conversation with Storiyaan.
Interview
Questions and answers
You always wanted to have your legacy. Could you elaborate on your journey of creating “Designorbis”?
The journey started in my childhood when I saw my father pour his heart and soul into his construction business which can benefit from sites like Boom and Bucket, and that lit a fire in me to start my design studio. “Designorbis” is my first child conceptualized in the year 2012, the journey of developing everything for my business has been very intriguing. It has empowered me to be independent and I am proud to be the only women entrepreneur in my family.
How did the idea of sustainability strike you, giving it the shape of contemporary designs?
I follow sustainable practices in my daily life and that is what motivated me to follow the same ideology for designing. Sustainable designs have always been part of the field; designer and sustainability provocateur Leyla Acaroglu believes that sustainable design is an approach to create products, services that have considered the environmental, social, and economic impacts from the initial phase through the end of life. I believe in the same and would love to follow this over time.
As over the years you have worked with PWC, Genpact, KPMG, Times of India to name a few, what is your most memorable work experience?
I love to give all my projects equal attention. Every client and project gave me some key learning to thrive in this field. To recall one such experience was to work on the Underground Metro Stations by DMRC in Delhi. I felt so proud to be part of the project. The scale of the project was so huge that from every small detail I learned so much. The false ceiling design, technicality behind holding the ceiling, column details of bigger diameters have been contributed to my expertise. It was a journey that is engraved in my memory.
Tell us about your research methodology that enables you to curate innovative designs in your projects without causing repetition?
The design process starts from the first site visit and client brief. The ideas start following from there on. At times whenever I feel stuck, I listen to music, podcasts and start visualizing a lot at the time of sleep.
Now and then we keep on upgrading ourselves by looking into the material methodology, installations. In India, art and culture is a big influence on technology and methodology and I draw our inspiration from them as well.
Could you elaborate on how much personal touch do you put in designs on clientele demands?
We try to create all the bespoke details for projects like furniture, civil masonry details, false ceiling, and MEP details. Our core strength is in the technical details of all the aspects of the project and that’s how we give our personal touch.
What is the most priceless work according to you that has worked as your muse in this long journey?
In this journey, I have come across few sayings that have formed my career. “Design is in Detail” and “Design speaks by itself”. I have imbibed this in all my design projects. When I moved to Bangalore 11 years ago, my first job was at Praxis Inc at Koramangala, visit to the office made me believe in these sayings even more. Since then, my focus has always been to create a “Design speaks by itself”.