COUPLE of CONTRASTS

The artist, Anand Menon, and the thinker, Shobhan Kothari, are two very distinctive peas in a pod. Their work, their thoughts and most of all, their collaboration is complex, but it works. They tell us how 

- ANAND MENON

The syzygy amidst everlasting and opposing forces in nature conjures the world as we know it. The Sun and Moon, each celebrated and serenaded for their unique celestial lights, seldom meet across the canvas of the sky. Yet, they each take turns tugging the strings of time, manifesting into what the eyes behold as day and night.

From the inception of our coalition, we have been well acquainted with how diametrically polar our personas were. What echoes resoundingly true even beyond our spectrum of dissimilitude is our shared penchant for the discipline of design a binding denominator that created our kaleidoscopic vision in the fraternity, now transcending its two-decade mark as the design atelier 'ADND'.

Putting the traditional adages of 'Yin and Yang' and 'chalk and cheese' to rest, we've fondly embraced a gastronomical aphorism - we're a delectable duo of 'dosa and dhokla', each distinct in its palette, yet equally revered in spirit. ADND as a design consortium has found its roots embedded in the recognition of our dichotomy as architects, distilling a portfolio of versatile projects that challenge scale and genre.

The seeds of this partnership were sown in our overlapping tenure at Killawala & Associates, where numerous design collaborations left little or no doubt regarding the prospects of us joining forces in the foreseeable future. Hit the fast-forward button, and we find ourselves in a novel partnership two decades later, helming a practice that presents the antithesis of the conventional avowed design paradigms.

We envision ourselves as the two contrasting yet complementary hemispheres of the same mind. Shobhan is a stickler for detail, discipline, and an organised process that reigns over his design approach a true-blue left-brain personality!