Crafting Clients Dreams with a Touch of Sentiment & Belief

Ms. Anushka Contractor- Independent Interior Designer from Mumbai

Born and brought up in a family of architects and interior designers,  Anushka Contractor dreamt of becoming a “creative” engineer as she wanted to build something with an artistic form to it. Since childhood she loved building imaginary things like buildings, offices, parks etc and was always engaged in ‘Lego’ which gave her impetus to create artistic and creative imaginary objects.

Anushka’s interest in interior design grew even more when she would visit and see her father, Mr. Abbas Contractor work on sites. After communicating about her passion and interest her father supported her throughout her career journey till date.

Having started working at the age of 19, today Anushka Contractor is one of the most successful and famous interior designers in India. She has been honoured with many prestigious awards. To name a few – In 2014 she was awarded with Runner- Up A’ Design Award, Italy in Furniture, Decorative Items and Homeware Design Category and in 2013 she was the winner in the same category mentioned above in Italy. In 2009 she was presented with Durian Society Interior Awards- Young Designers in Retail Design Category.  She was also featured in the iGen50 2017, by Architects and Interiors India, the list of the 50 upcoming young architects in India. “I still continue to learn and get the best out of my skill set and capabilities.”, she says.

Team ABT reached out to her to know more about her professional journey. Read the interview below.

Tell us about your journey as an Interior Designer
I did a 2 years diploma course in Interior Design and completed 1 year of post diploma course in interior design from The School of Design – Rachana Sansad. Post that, I immediately started working at the age of 19 with sP+a (Sameep Padora and Associates) for a year and then worked with MAN associates which is my Father’s company for about a year and then joined sP+a for 2 and half years. I’ve independently been working since 2012.

After working with MAN associates and sP+a, the seed of starting on my own grew in me. My Mother (Minal Contractor) supported me and pushed me to go ahead as she knew I could do it and believed in me. The year 2013 was the best year when I began my independent journey in interior design and furniture design world on a little desk in my bedroom which grew and moved to being a part of my mother’s showroom. I am very particular about my working space as that is where I get my inspiration from and by God’s grace, luck and clarity is on my side.

What is your view about the changing role of technology in Architectural Designs?
The best part about technology is that it evolves very fast and access is easy. It can be examined from a problem-solving point of view, the process of developing ideas and helping us express our design in an efficient way and it saves us time than preparing physical presentations. I mostly use Digital 3D software for model making and illustration for presentations. However, the more we spend time on learning how to use and work with technology, the less time we have on improving our other skills.

What is your design philosophy?
I believe that a design is never good or bad. It is out and out an individual taste. My whole idea around design is to create something with an emotion, convenient, functional and beautiful.

Do you recall your most prestigious project. Did you face any challenges, how did you overcome it?
My first independent project was back in 2012. I’ve dedicated my heart and soul to this and enjoyed working on it with numerous challenges on the way. The best part about the process was the trust and the free hand given to experiment and give a design to the apartment. I have really been lucky since then as the final result got me a lot of appreciation and gave me a confidence boost.

In another time period, I was working with sP+a on a restaurant Le Monde in Juhu where I built my first physical model to begin the conceptualizing process. I faced numerous challenges in building the internal structure at site but, the hard work definitely paid off as the result was satisfying. This project boosted my confidence and I learnt a lot from technical complex details to metal workmanships and the use of simple materials.

If you were to do one thing differently, what would that be?
I would try to be more expressive and create a sense of positive intrigue in my communication.

What would you like to achieve in the coming years?
A dream project which is a boutique hotel which brings out an emotion standing in the midst of the natural environment. Fingers crossed, hoping to get a project under the same lines soon.

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