We recently connected with Aarushi Kalra and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Aarushi , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I don’t know if one ever stops finding their purpose!
It’s been an interesting journey for me to get where I am. The one thing I knew about myself from a younger age was my pull towards design and stories. I wasn’t particularly passionate about any one field of design. My decision to study architecture was rather a practical one – if I could design on a larger scale then I could zoom into anything else. It was only during my course of study that I truly started to enjoy the process, the scale, and the impact that scale could have on people, their emotions, and more than anything on them and their lives. That’s when I first started to understand that it was designing spatial experiences that truly excited me! And so began my hunt for my purpose. And that hunt is what keeps me going, it pushes me out of my comfort zone and take chances on new ideas.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a Spatial Designer who likes to give people small ‘aha’ moments. I love to create spaces that build an intuitive connect with the viewers, those that inspire and excite them. After I graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, I started my design studio I’mX, as an experimental arm of I’m D’sign based in India.
Having trained as an architect, my work is methodical and my vision for interiors seeks structure. I like my designs to be curious, introspective and inquisitive; something that delves into an idea bigger than mere spatial experience.
I hope to work fluidly between multiple disciplines like architecture, interior design, set design, sculpture, and fashion; challenging and immersing viewers into provocative, layered, and experimental environments that explore the art of storytelling through a multi-layered spatial design language. I am a storyteller at heart, with a vision to fuse art, structure, and emotions to push the boundaries of narrative-based experiential spaces.
I’mX is born out of love for ideas and stories. To build spatial narratives that engage with the viewer on more levels than just visually, those that challenge the viewer into new understanding and new perceptions. I’mX is a space which is not limited by conventions or predefined thought processes but rather a want to challenge them. It’s space that is purely for exploration whether it be at the scale of an object, an interior space, or a building.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
It’s hard to give advice that fits all, I believe different things work for different people. It’s quite personal but for me, I have always wanted to learn new things, It could be a skillset, a new topic of interest, simply a new fact, a new conversation that helps us learn about people. There is so much to learn from everyone and everything! This has helped me open up to many more perspectives than just my own, which in turn plays a big role when I think of designing spaces from an experiential standpoint. Experiences happen when one feels engaged and immersed in what they are viewing beyond just a sense of vision. When one can relate and build an internal conversation. I’mX is a free space to explore self-lead ideas that may or may not be based on a brief or any set demand, This comes with its challenges and a lot of hit and trial! I like to turn these challenges into an opportunity to keep exploring and coming up with new ways and ideas along the way. The project gets a life and story of its own as it keeps evolving with every new step and it comes alive.
Being open to new ideas and paths, constantly learning and evolving as any project progresses, and working hard to see it through has put me on my journey and I am quite excited to see where it takes me.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I strongly believe in teamwork, for me that’s the way new ideas and directions spark. I’mX being a cross-disciplinary practice aids me in exploring ideas with individuals from different backgrounds, experiences, and expertise. It’s a space of complete freedom.
I’d love to collaborate on spatial design projects that provide the opportunity to build a story and truly make a space meant for experience. Projects that challenge conventions and set structures and celebrate a sense of newness. Fashion shows, art spaces, spatial installations, and spaces for play are areas I am very interested in exploring further. These are spaces that have the potential to let one’s imagination run wild and to truly create one-of-a-kind experiences where the personalities of the collaborators fuse to make something new.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.imdsign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aarushikalra/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarushi-kalra/
