Architect, designer and scenographer
Architect, designer and scenographer, India Mahdavi lives and works in Paris. Founded in 2000, her studio is renowned for its diverse international projects – ranging from architecture and interior design to scenography, as well as furniture and object design – showcasing a truly multidisciplinary approach.
Renowned for her unique interiors — each celebrating a cosmopolitan lifestyle in its own distinct way — India Mahdavi embodies a modern vision of comfort and elegance, often touched with a hint of irony.
Polyglot and a true lover of colour, India Mahdavi has become a leading figure in the world of design, developing a distinctive and recognisable design language through every creation.
Who is India Mahdavi? “A passionate colour enthusiast who mixes things that, in theory, aren’t supposed to go together — Iran, Egypt, cartoons, haute couture — and turns it into a philosophy. No fixed title: architect, designer, art director, scenographer, take your pick.”
What does “being different” mean to you? “For a long time, it meant being the foreigner wherever I went and learning to carry my memory and past lives with me rather than leaving them behind; an emotional memory, more than a purely aesthetic one. It also means trusting instinct over consensus.”
Which project have you fallen in love with? “For me, every project is a love story, and without that love, nothing really works. Two recent projects hold a different meaning for me because they took my work in a new direction: institutions. Villa Médicis and PoMo, the museum of modern and contemporary art in Trondheim, Norway.”
Colour: your definition? “Colour is light. It’s the way I bring joy into a space. It works best when colours converse with each other, when they aren’t entirely in harmony.”
Style: your definition? “Style is a silhouette, the way you carry yourself. Less about following a language, more about finding your own.”
Has your language evolved? “The instinct is the same as ever — what has changed is the awareness that comes with it. Language is a living expression that keeps growing with you, otherwise it was never truly yours.”
The interview continues on DENTROCASA on newsstands and online.
Project Director RITA BAIGUERA
Graphic Designer CRISTINA ZANACCHI
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