Design Collaboration: Bharat Floorings & Tiles x Ashwin Mallya

A series of objects designed, developed and produced as part of BFT’s product range. As wall cladding manufacturers, our new range comprises intricate, bold forms which can be assembled into functional objects that will lend an aesthetic value to the surface they’re installed upon.

SOFT BRUTALISM

Classic Brutalism revisited, with rounded edges projecting deceptively soft form is cured and hardened concrete. The perceptions of surface, texture and weight are challenged by creating forms, objects for interiors, exteriors and homes that juxtapose concrete in its material form with textures and colour qualities used in casting.

My deep interest and love for the Brutalist Era stem from my love for post-war architecture that offered a meaningful critique and an alternative to the way we designed and lived our lives in the spaces we imagined. The research and visual study for this project are based on studying surfaces from Indian, British, Japanese & Soviet Brutalism.

As wall cladding manufacturers, the intention of this project was also to develop new methods of mould production and to push the technical aspects of machining the dies and patterns. The single-cavity moulds produced allow for conducting experiments during the production run. This exercise has been a take on capsule-shaped forms that feature prominently in Brutalist architecture worldwide.

The Brutalism here is softened to show the versatility, moldability & softness of the concrete, a material at the core of Bharat Floorings & Tiles. The forms developed, known as blocks, are named and numbered according to their hierarchy in the development stage. The selected blocks showcase their monolithic geometric forms with inset line work or grooving. They are cast in palettes of brooding ashy greys, BFTs nude tones and can also be paired with BFT’s distinct terrazzo or UNITINTATM in a pleasing grid format. The more adventurous may even get them cast in high impact colours. The blocks can be acid-washed, spray-painted or even left sealed to showcase the variation within the cured concrete. The blocks were developed over a five-month period, keeping in mind the different angles in which the light would hit the surfaces, creating a myriad variety of shadows that are cast within the form and around the form, projected onto other surfaces. The idea that a cluster of buildings and structures were designed and constructed, during the brutalist period, was planned out as Blocks. My design process has taken a similar approach. Designing each tile as part of a larger block of structures. The tiles have a two-part name:- BLOCK + the number assigned to the design. The numbering has been assigned based on their hierarchy during the design & development process and the numbers stayed on as post the approval process.

The four blocks produced can be used on counters, clad onto furniture, developed into side tables, planters & flower vases. They can be manufactured in all of BFT’s colours and are made to order.