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Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar is an internationally published architecture, design and art journalist.

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Vaishnavi works out of a sunny studio called Mangomonk where she writes for publications big and small.

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Latest Articles

Architectural Digest •

This Bengaluru home embraces breathtaking views and the beauty of craftsmanship

This meant nothing picture-perfect or precious. As for what that looked like, “we had no idea,” Mandadi chuckles. “Like most people, we started with Pinterest boards, drawn to bits and pieces of mid-century modern, wabi-sabi, and minimalism, but nothing really felt like ‘us’,” she says of the process. It might have been a dead end if not for interior and furniture designer Anisha Chandy of her namesake Bengaluru-based studio, whom they found on Instagram and who mercifully stepped in to help the...
Vogue •

Priya Mani’s food encyclopedia may have originated in Denmark but it has the warmth of a desi kitchen

When Mani and her husband, Vinay Venkatraman, her batchmate from the National Institute of Design and the co-founder of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, moved to the Danish capital in 2007, she took to recreating the dishes of her childhood, first as hearty meals for guests, and afterwards, as soul food for her own children. One day, inspired by the book The Illustrated Foods of India by KT Achaya, she started documenting them. “Like many other parents living in a diasporic commun...
Vogue •

Rujuta Diwekar’s new book is all about intuitive eating with ghar ka khana at its core

When Rujuta Diwekar hands over the gift tucked under her arm, she doesn’t make a show of it. Instead, she quietly unties the bag in her lap and opens it for Sudha Murty. When Murty dips her hand into the bag, it surfaces with a heap of hand-pounded rice which, as I later learn, grows only in rainwater and forest streams and was cultivated on Diwekar’s ancestral farm near Palghar, Maharashtra. Then, in true ghar ka khana spirit, Murty—an educator, author, and philanthropist—offers Diwekar a glass...
Architectural Digest •

This Dubai apartment is a contemporary nod to its owners’ roots in Kerala

For any couple, the real litmus test of compatibility is designing a home together. Ashish Jose and Meera Sunny Ashish are living proof. “Never before, never again,” jokes Meera about their experience of designing their Dubai apartment, which she confirms was a crash course in patience, negotiation, and the fine art of pretending to like each other’s questionable décor choices. “From the very start, Ashish and I had completely opposite reactions to certain design choices. If our marriage survive...
Vogue •

[Digital Cover] Sobhita Dhulipala and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni’s home life is not what you’d expect

Besides sharing a native tongue and a career in film, Sobhita Dhulipala and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni had little in common. He lived in Hyderabad; she was based out of Mumbai. He grew up in Chennai; she was raised in Visakhapatnam. And perhaps most telling of all—he followed her on Instagram, but she didn’t follow him back. “I found out during an Ask Me Anything,” she recalls, referring to Instagram’s question-box feature. “I was sifting through the questions when I saw one that asked, ‘Why aren’t...
Architectural Digest •

This Mumbai apartment feels like a cottage straight out of a still life painting

The thing about designing a Mumbai apartment is that they all tend to blur together—matchbox layouts, builder-grade flooring, and endless sprawls of concrete stretching in every direction. Interior designer Shraddha Shah, however, has never seen it that way. Arguably, the closest she ever came to designing two in the same breath was when she landed projects, several months apart, in the same building—allowing her to shuttle between site meetings in a record three minutes flat. “False,” chuckles the founder and principal of Mumbai-based Olive Roof, dismissing the notion of sameness. “If anything, it took us longer to nail the layout of the second one. The initial plan from the builder was 100% impractical, and I had to sketch and re-sketch to get the zoning right.” But iteration after iteration wasn’t in vain—because as she tells it, the result, fortuitously, was a blueprint stripped of clutter and brimming with soul.
Architectural Digest •

AD Small Spaces: This Bengaluru apartment is a soulful escape where the light never leaves

Interior designer Shweta Arya Malaviya speaks to the sun—sometimes at sunrise, sometimes at dusk. But never does a day pass when she doesn’t at all. As she explains, there’s something special about pausing to take in its light—and listen as it speaks back in gilded corners, coffee table reflections, and luminous layouts. “It’s my most trusted collaborator,” she muses. If her last project, a 950-square-foot apartment in Bengaluru’s Whitefield, is anything to go by, you know she isn’t wrong. “It’s...
Architectural Digest •

This luminous apartment in Pune is a wabi-sabi wonderland

In embracing wabi-sabi for this apartment in Pune, Rohra didn’t overlook other considerations, not least the importance of making the home comfortable for all five family members—the couple themselves, Avinash’s mother, and their two daughters. “The main challenge was designing a comfortable space for a child with special needs—eliminating sharp edges, fragile elements, and harsh surfaces, including fabrics, while ensuring all safety measures were met,” she avers, noting that the goal was to kee...
Architectural Digest •

Tarun Tahiliani gives this Hyderabad house an India Modern makeover

A Tarun Tahiliani creation lingers in memory long after a garment has been worn or a space has been lived in. Perhaps that’s why, when it came time to renovate their 20-year-old home in Hyderabad’s plush Jubilee Hills, chartered accountant Potukuchi Murali Mohana Rao and his wife, real estate entrepreneur Potukuchi Naganandini, felt an undeniable pull towards the renowned designer once again. After all, Tahiliani’s magic touch isn’t limited to fashion; it parlays fortuitously enough, into interi...
Architectural Digest •

This wada-style bungalow in Maharashtra’s Amravati blends heritage with modern charm

Keeping with tradition is often the default in matters of faith and family, but not exactly convenient—or necessary—when attempting to trail-blaze a career in alternative home design. Architects Chetan Lahoti and Anand Deshmukh of Pune-based Mind Manifestation Design don’t consider themselves traditional—which makes it all the more intriguing that their latest project, a Wada-style bungalow in Maharashtra for a family of six, has one foot firmly planted in the past. "To be fair, the other one’s...
Architectural Digest •

Ritika Arya Jain's boutique in Chennai is a reflection of her cherished memories

Ritika Arya Jain has always been a free spirit, but when her fashion atelier, Renasci Fashion House—founded in 2009 as a women’s label specialising in innovative draping and distinctive patterns—took on a life of its own, she found herself adrift. “It has always been my creative haven,” says the Chennai-based textile artist, “but over time, growth brought its own set of challenges—a need for space, clarity, and a distinct identity in an ever-evolving fashion landscape. Each day I walked into the...
The Local Project •

Malvern Residence III by Studio Tate and Lovell Burton

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces beauty in imperfection, Malvern Residence III rises from the landscape much like the time-honoured trees surrounding it.
Jointly designed by Studio Tate and Lovell Burton, this luminous dwelling in the Melbourne neighbourhood of Malvern is seamlessly integrated with its verdant surroundings. Designed for a young family returning to Melbourne after living in Perth, Malvern Residence III is a rare blend of playful forms and luxurious...
Architectural Digest India •

Ashiesh Shah’s showcase at Paris Design Week highlighted India's incredible craft heritage

In the AD100 architect’s creative cosmos, the line between art and design is indistinguishable, underpinned by distinct craft clusters. During the Paris Design Week, the divine Channapatna Chair and Channapatna Floor Lamp—their legs adorned with lustrous wooden beads—paid homage to the eponymous toy town in Karnataka, renowned for its handmade lacquer wooden toys. The formidable Naga Bench, draped in a traditional raincoat woven from elephant grass, drew inspiration from the proud tribes of Naga...
Architectural Digest •

Inside a Photographer’s Soulful California Beach House

At heart, Daisy Johnson will always be a New Yorker. But being born and raised in the city, while creatively invigorating, also meant she was forced to live life in the fast lane. “New York City is such a vibrant—at times chaotic—place to live, but as I got older, I found myself craving a life that felt more connected to nature,” says the Malibu-based photographer, whose days are now often spent shooting in remote landscapes. But it wasn’t until her family started moving west that she felt inspi...
Architectural Digest •

Tour a Family’s Traditional-Meets-Modern Massachusetts Home

Vijay and Lauren Manthripragada believe in silver linings, for there is, they insist, no better explanation for how their home in Concord, Massachusetts, came to be. “We fell in love with a house in the area but failed to snatch it up,” says Lauren, a retired commercial architect turned stay-at-home mom. “That’s when we reached out to the builder to create one specifically for us.” It would work out better anyway, they reasoned: They could tailor-make the home to their needs, and still rest assu...
Architectural Digest •

This triplex villa in Hyderabad was designed with a unique brief: “No mosquitoes, no dust!”

It isn’t often that a client brief is dictated by an aversion to insects—least of all for an architect accustomed to creating picture-perfect spaces for perfectly poised people. But for Sai Shruthi Rao, this bugbear of a brief became the catalyst for a design that was as seamless as it was sealed off. “No mosquitoes. No dust. No maintenance. That was the brief,” quips the co-founder and principal of Hyderabad-based Studio Sacred Geometry about her latest canvas—an old 4,500-square-foot triplex v...
Architectural Digest India •

AD Small Spaces: This Netflix executive's Mumbai home is an exercise in optical illusions

Humans are creatures of habit, but they’re also creatures of change—especially if that change involves moving into a larger home, preferably one with plenty of breeze and light. Karishma Panvelkar-Saraf, a creative executive at Netflix India, and her chartered accountant husband, Siddharth Saraf—who runs a financial consultancy by day and a soft beverage company by night—are creatures of both habit and change. When they moved from a tiny one-bedroom flat to their current two-bedroom abode, they...
Architectural Digest •

This Bengaluru home is a magnificent Mexican daydream

Between interior designer Sunayana Rao and her latest clients, finance professional Pranay Desai and entrepreneur Aditi Ravi, deciding who’s the crazier one is no easy task. On one side, there’s Desai and Ravi, who stumbled upon Rao on Instagram, called her on a whim, and hired her three days later with the same conviction one might have when buying a bar of soap. On the other, there’s Rao, who meticulously added a bar-themed wallpaper to the mood board, stared at it for five minutes, muttered “...
Architectural Digest •

Inside a History-Filled Dallas Home With a Vibrant Reboot

Garza was captivated by its rich history. Once spanning several acres, the property originally included a greenhouse and a horse stable—its only remnant now a hitching post by the back door. There was even another house behind the main one, built in the 1930s. History seemed to be tucked into every corner. “We were told that the grandmother arrived in Dallas with 11 dollars and Stanley Marcus’s phone number, befriended the Marcus family, and became a Neiman Marcus showroom girl. And that his gra...
Architectural Digest •

This 18,000-square-foot mansion in Hyderabad is a masterpiece of exquisite craftsmanship

Nothing about Bengaluru-based interior designer Vinita Chaitanya is ordinary. Every room she touches becomes a canvas, every design choice a statement. To meet her is to step into a world where maximalism reigns and beauty—whether beheld through her eye or yours—is always dialled up to the highest setting. Hyderabad-based real estate developer Rohit Reddy knew these things about Chaitanya when he called her one morning a few years ago. “He had definitely heard stories,” laughs the interior desig...
Architectural Digest •

Osman Abdul Razak's 900-square-foot boutique in Chennai is an elegant slice of Milan

On Chennai’s bustling Khader Nawaz Khan Road, nestled between glittering storefronts and chic restaurants, stands a boutique that feels willfully at odds with its flashy neighbors. “It’s like someone plucked it straight from Milan,” quips Faisal Manzur, founder and principal of his eponymous Chennai-based design studio—the someone being none other than himself. But anyone familiar with Manzur’s flair knows that’s not quite true. After all, if there’s one thing this swashbuckling architect excels...
Architectural Digest •

This architect's Ahmedabad studio is an oasis of light

To work or not to work (in the office)—that is the question.Workplaces the world over suffer from a common conundrum: nobody wants to be in them. People may come and go, but no one really wants to stay. “At least not inside,” says Malay Doshi, founder and principal architect of the Ahmedabad-based Studio Saransh, who ensured that the interior of his office equaled—or even surpassed—the outdoors. “The idea was to integrate nature,” says Doshi, who pulled the surroundings into the very skin of the...
Architectural Digest •

This 10,000-square-foot holiday home in Karnataka's Malpe stands sentinel between sea and river

Anyone who knows architect Thomas Parambil can be forgiven for thinking he is a fitness fiend. “It’s true,” nods the founder and principal of Bengaluru-based Thomas Parambil Architects, whose gym membership, by his own admission, is motivated more by a proclivity for keeping company than keeping fit. Take his latest project, a home in Karnataka’s Malpe. “I wouldn’t have landed it if I hadn’t been on the elliptical that morning,” he grins, speaking of the morning he met his client Lavina Oberoi, an entrepreneur whose sporadic gymnastic pursuits were not too dissimilar to his own. “We got chatting and she started telling me about her beautiful property in the Karnataka hinterland, one on which she wanted to build her dream holiday home.” But the conversation never concluded. That is, until three years later when Oberoi dialled Parambil and finished what she had to say.
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The Local Project •

Malvern Residence III by Studio Tate and Lovell Burton

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces beauty in imperfection, Malvern Residence III rises from the landscape much like the time-honoured trees surrounding it.
Jointly designed by Studio Tate and Lovell Burton, this luminous dwelling in the Melbourne neighbourhood of Malvern is seamlessly integrated with its verdant surroundings. Designed for a young family returning to Melbourne after living in Perth, Malvern Residence III is a rare blend of playful forms and luxurious...
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Diipa Büller-Khosla's canal house in Amsterdam is a postcard from 1614

Even from 6,000 kilometres away, Diipa Büller-Khosla’s energy is palpable through the screen. It’s morning where she is, and she and her husband and business partner, Dutch former diplomat, Oleg Büller-Khosla (the couple legally adopted each other's last names when they married in 2018) are perched in the kitchen of their Amsterdam home, in the company of their pet pooches, Kubii and Bimbo.

By their own admission, it’s a scene that just a few years ago, was a figment of their imagination. “We'd
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Ishaan Khatter’s Mumbai apartment is a sunset sanctuary

When he isn't busy filming or promoting or air-dashing off to exotic locales, Ishaan Khatter likes to appreciate the little things in life. “On Sunday mornings, when time permits, I slip off for a bike ride. In the evenings, I like to watch the sunset with some music and coffee,” says the actor, who was last seen in supernatural comedy Phone Bhoot, alongside Katrina Kaif and Siddhant Chaturvedi. So when he moved in a three-bedroom apartment along the Bandra sea face, naturally, his first priorit
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Actor Aahana Kumra’s Mumbai apartment is a pretty-in-pink princess pad

In a building full of identical brown doors, Aahana Kumra's entrance is the only non-brown curiosity. "I absolutely love pink. It's my all-time favourite colour—that's why it's right at the front," she laughs, holding open the candyfloss-coloured opuscule as she ushers me inside. For Kumra, the home is a manifestation twenty years in the making, and one that nods equally to her Lucknowi roots and her life in Mumbai. "There are whiffs of Kashmir, London and Delhi too. It's a collection of all my
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Actor Aparshakti Khurana’s Mumbai home displays drama in the details

Even before they had finalised their house, or decided who would design it, actor Aparshakti Khurana and his wife, events entrepreneur Aakriti Ahuja, had a chandelier picked out and stowed away in storage. "I had spotted it some years ago in Delhi and just knew I had to buy it," laughs Aakriti, and Aparshakti chimes in, "We had no idea what our future house would look like. Nothing was set in stone, except this big, blue bhaisahab." The bhaisahab in question now occupies a corner of their living
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Singer Armaan Malik’s Mumbai home is halfway between London and Los Angeles

At 10 AM on a Sunday, the last thing you'd expect is for Armaan Malik to be crisping the edges of a frittata. And yet, that's exactly the sight that greets me as I step into his kitchen, a California-cool bolthole with a London-esque edge. "I love making breakfast and treating myself to a good spread," he says, drizzling butter on bruschettas. Dressed in a casual button-up and chinos, he looks like a laid-back version of his on-screen alter ego, who, as fans of The Voice (on which Armaan appears
Architectural Digest •

AD Visits: Actors Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan’s newlywed nest is a storybook come to life

At the door of actors (and newlyweds) Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan Seal's new Mumbai duplex, the nameplate is conspicuous by its absence. What is not is the cheery (LED) baby seal that takes its place, animating the wall and nodding to its namesake owners. “It's fun to watch people guess," says Anushka. "Those who get it, get it. And it makes for a great conversation-starter." But the unlikely sea creature isn’t the only thing setting the entryway apart—because if the peach-toned front door (a