Meet Bollywood's Favourite Interior Artist Ashiesh Shah

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An influential art collector and the creator of several celebrity homes, Ashiesh Shah, who spearheads his own design firm Ashiesh Shah Architecture + Design, is the go-to man for modernist art and cutting-edge styles. 

Let's hear it from the man himself, as we turn the voyeur to trace the hidden turns and curves of his self-designed Mumbai pad. 

What are the spatial characteristics of your home? The apartment was initially a two-bedroom space with an enclosed kitchen. With the new layout, I attempted to create a more open, free-flowing space. The kitchen, for example, opens into the main living room and the stairs lead directly into the master bedroom. The impression is that of a coherent space rather than a detached one.

 What were the must-haves for your home? I wanted it to be a dynamic space, where I could come back to after a long day and also entertain guests. And, of course, I also needed a space for my art!

 Walk us through your latest art collections. Lately, I've been collecting a lot of modern furniture, specifically modern pieces designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand from Chandigarh. I'm specifically interested in South Asian art. Politics, gender, materiality, and physicality-all play important roles in my selections.

 What is your favourite corner? The staircase is the pivotal point of the house, made mostly from a monolithic piece of marble. The stairs open into individual drawers that hold delicate works of art-for this reason I've dubbed them as 'curiosteps'-not to forget the massive sculpture by Max Streicher that looms over them.

 Is there an artist's space in your home? The area of the living room and dining room together is quite sizeable, and it breaks into indistinct niches that create snug, little spaces-ideal for kicking back with a good book.

What are the influences that you keep going back to? I look at art, architecture, design, and literature from various periods. I think some of Le Corbusier's work is pure genius. I'm also influenced by modern movements like the Bauhaus.