THE GENIUS OF SIMPLICITY

At The Camellias by DLF in Gurugram is a 6,800 sq ft apartment by Kohelika Kohli that offers a nuanced take on simplicity, illustrated through an effortless play of craft, collectibles, myriad tones and textures

- KOHELIKA KOHLI

To quote master artist Leonardo da Vinci, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." I believe in this dictum. I think that simplicity creates harmony and is the personification of elegance and understated luxury. Many people misunderstand the concept of 'simplicity'. I also think that simplicity allows future growth and further layers of nuanced and discreet accessorisation. This 6,800 sq ft apartment, on the seventh floor of The Camellias by DLF in Gurugram, exemplifies this well-known da Vincian statement. This large apartment has four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. All the bedrooms are generously proportioned and open onto private balconies that overlook forested landscapes and verdant golf courses.

Since my inherent training is that of an architect and a carpenter, there is a complicated process through which one achieves simplicity. As an architect, my foremost concern is the spatial plan, as this forms the good bone structure of a built space. In this case, one had to take into account the constraints imposed by the existing beam and column plan and accordingly construct further. Then came the materiality of the interior architectural elements, with their constant play of tones and textures, to flesh out the skeletal structure. The conceptualisation of the different materials used and their relationship to each other was again a complex feature in all the customised furniture that I designed and manufactured. Yet, it was made to appear effortless and simple.

In the long and narrow private elevator lobby, one's gaze is immediately arrested by the tone-on-tone paper artwork by Sachin George Sebastian. To the left is the main entrance door, hand-crafted and clad in brass sheets with handles hewn out of solid wood and finished in the Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban.