Ashiesh Shah takes you into celebrity homes on Design HQ

Award winning architect Ashiesh Shah will help you transform your home like a celebrity’s on Design HQ
Inside Hrithik's living room
Inside Hrithik's living room

Here’s a personal invitation to Hrithik Roshan’s living room. And you don’t even have to fly to Mumbai for this tête-a-tête. Design HQ, a brand new show about how you can decode your own interior space that started on Fox Life India this week features award winning architect and interior design Ashiesh Shah taking us into the homes of some of the biggest names in Bollywood. And don’t worry about the decor being too high brow. To keep things relatable, Ashiesh tells us that each episode will end with a DIY segment across themes as broad as minimalism as well as specific areas of your space, like an in-house bar. Excerpts from the interview:

First off, whose homes will you be taking us into on this show?
Hrithik Roshan, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Jaqueline Fernandes, Abujani and Sandeep Khosla, Masaba Gupta, among others.

<em>Ashiesh Shah with Pernia Qureshi</em>
Ashiesh Shah with Pernia Qureshi

For a layperson like myself, who might not be fluent in architect speak, what can one expect to learn or gain some perspective on, over the course of the episodes?
It’s not hard at all and in the show we’ve demonstrated how easy it is to recreate these looks. Today, people want to incorporate good design into their everyday life including interiors. The edgy and contemporary aesthetic is in. Today’s celebrity home owners have a discerning eye for all things chic and sophisticated. I think they’re extremely adaptable and we’ll be giving our viewers a lot of tips, tricks and DIY hacks to help them create the look! 

What has been your favourite episode so far? 
It’s hard to pick a favourite! Each space really represents the personality of the home owner. Not to mention, I spent so much time on the projects that they all feel very close to me. I love Hrithik’s study — we put in a lot of effort to customise it and create the aesthetic he wanted. In Jacqueline’s home, I love the day bed and her bedroom. At Aditya’s, I love the main living area — it really does feel like the perfect bachelor pad!

Tell us about your Japanese design philosophy, Wabi-Sabi.
My practice has evolved over the years, and with it my philosophy on aesthetics. What has remained constant however, is my belief in the aesthetic philosophy of Wabi Sabi. The Japanese concept is derived from Buddhist teachings. It is the aesthetic of beauty that is imperfect and incomplete. Asymmetry and asperity play a major role in my practice. I appreciate spaces that incorporate natural objects and processes, and I try to maintain this principle in my own practice.
Nothing is permanent, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect.

We hear that you were destined to become a dentist before something changed your mind, and then you switched lanes to architecture. How did that happen? 
I come from a family of doctors, so when it came to making that big career decision medicine seemed like the right choice. When I was studying dentistry, I realised quite early on that it wasn’t something 
I felt passionately about. It didn’t allow the kind of free thinking and creativity like in fields like architecture and design. I needed to be creating something, and architecture seemed like the right choice. With time, I became more interested in design-based practices.

Design HQ airs on Fox Life India every Thursday at 10 pm.
 

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