AMBRISH
ARORA
Ambrish Arora is a Design Principal at Studio Lotus, a New Delhi-based multi-disciplinary design practice. The Aga Khan Award-nominated practice aims to craft spaces that address the emerging future of work, leisure, and living. The studio’s work is grounded on the principles of Conscious Design – an approach that celebrates local resources, cultural influences, a keen attention to detail, and an inclusive design process that seeks to bring out the best from all stakeholders.
Some of the practice’s notable projects include Hotel RAAS Jodhpur, an adaptive re-use project that transformed an 18th century haveli in the Walled City of Jodhpur (World Holiday Building Of The Year at WAF 2011, Domus International Award for Restoration and Preservation 2014); Imagine Studio at The Trees, Mumbai, that repurposes a cluster of industrial buildings to propose an archetype for urbanism that is rooted in history, yet looks to the future (Fast Company Innovation by Design Award 2016, Gold Medal in Conservation by The Indian Institute of Architects 2019); Masti Cocktails & Cuisine, a restaurant in Dubai that presents a contemporized expression of Indian crafts to cater to a globalaudience (Special Prizeat the Prix Versailles World Architecture Awards 2018).
The recently completed project Krushi Bhawan is a government facility that re-imagines the relationship between the citizen and the state through community engagement (Highly Commended in the Office Buildings category at WAF 2019) and seeks to set new benchmarks for passive cooling, while creating a contemporary craft-based regional identity for the building. Recently won competitions that are under construction include a Visitor Centre & Knowledge Centre within the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort precinct in Jodhpur, and an Interpretation Centre at the 16th-century Qutb Shahi necropolis gardens in Hyderabad for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
Arora has a keen interest in promoting inclusivity and consciousness as a ‘way of working’ in the design industry. He is a mentor to a few creative businesses and believes in embedding self-awareness as a cornerstone of organizational and team development.