Panel Discussion :- DESIGN: WHERE IS THE HEART?
For the love of design
Thrill of solving Problems??
Experience, expectations and beyond
Date: 14 February 2025
Time: 04:30 PM to 05:30 PM
Venue: Hutheesing Visual Arts Centre, CEPT, Ahmedabad
Panelists:
1) Moksh Thapar – Designer, Artist & Co-Founder, Studio SmitaMoksh
Moksh Thapar, a visionary designer from CEPT and NID! With over two decades of experience in interiors, furniture, and sustainable design, Moksh combines tradition and innovation, empowering artisans and redefining the future of design.
2) Jwalant Mahadevwala – Founding Partner & Principal Designer, and Black Design Studio
Jwalant Mahadevwala is the founding partner and principal architect/designer at andblack design studio. Jwalant along with his partner Kanika Agarwal started andblack in 2012 in their chosen city of Ahmedabad. The journey of last 12 years of andblack has been nothing less than a story of growth, strive and experimentation. Jwalant has pursued masters in Architecture and Urbanism at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London in the Design Research Laboratory. He furthered his professional experience at Zaha Hadid Architects in London for the next 4 years.
andblack design studio is an interdisciplinary design studio which works in the field of architecture, interiors, furniture design and art installation. In this journey of unapologetic attention to the design process, Jwalant has managed to complete about 70 odd projects ranging from architecture design of schools, farmhouses; interior design of homes and offices; along with unique furniture and art pieces. The studio focuses on use of parametric tools and physical modeling as the primary ways to evolve design. andblack tends to use materials like metal, wood, bamboo, paper, etc. in ways that haven’t been explored generally in the larger context of design in India. Jwalant’s research at the AA and his work at andblack has been widely published in National and International magazines and books.
“Everything that moves us, emotionally inspires us. We draw our inspiration from complex interactions present in nature. We strongly believe in collaborative work and for every project and try to bring in individuals with relevant expertise in specific aspects of design and construction. We pride ourselves in conceiving and delivering projects that can be both iconic and meaningful.” – Jwalant
3 ) Ishita Sitwala – Architecture Photographer, The Fishy Project
Ishita Sitwala is an architectural & interiors photographer from Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in India. Her passion for architecture was borne by her father’s own keen interest in architecture and dissuaded her from following the family’s footsteps of becoming a doctor. Through architecture, photography came as a way of documenting the day to day life. Then through assisting her husband on shoots, came the catalyst in switching tools to pursue photography more formally within architecture.
4) Vyom – Sculptor & Artist
Vyom’s work evokes a diverse world of non-human presences, beings in continuing flux; through play and discovery, and shifts of power – in being, constant. Vyom carries the musings of his early apprenticeship with Lynda Bengalis in America as much as his more recent work with the potters of Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, Molela, Rajasthan and Poshina Gujarat. Vyom recently experimented with social media as a medium for work in continuation of a project he did as part of ‘5 million incidents’ supported by the Goethe Institut Max Mueller Bhavan. His one of the exhibits include a showcase at the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum of Art, Ahmedabad. Vyom studied sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S.U, Baroda. He has exhibited works at the India Art Fair Delhi, Jaipur Lit Fest and has had multiple group shows across the country.
5 ) Ira Gosalia – Interior Architecture Photographer, PHXINDIA
Trained as an architect but irresistibly drawn to photography, Ira Gosalia views the world through a lens of structure and spontaneity. With over 11 years of experience and mentorship under Sebastian Zachariah, she has developed an eye for the details most people miss—the way light catches a curve, the quiet symmetry of a staircase, the fleeting balance in a frame. Now a partner at PHX INDIA, she splits her time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, bringing both precision and instinct to every shoot. For Ira, architecture isn’t just about walls and structures—it’s about the stories they tell, and she’s always ready to capture them, one frame at a time.
Moderated by::
1) Niraj Shah – Co- Founding Partner & Design Director, IDO Design Solutions and Curator & Mentor, Ahmedabad Design Week
Niraj Shah is a multidisciplinary designer and strategist, co-founder of ido design and ido graph, with a legacy of over 22 years in interior and graphic design. An alumnus of CEPT Ahmedabad, he leads brand identity, strategy, and advertising at idograph.
A TEDx speaker, Niraj was on the Oscars Panel (2020) for Art Direction in India’s Academy Award selection. He has served as National Executive Committee Member (IIID) and Chairperson of IIID Ahmedabad (2017-2019). His work in cinema earned him the State Award for Art Direction (Gujarati film ‘Bey Yaar’, 2015-16), and he is on the Gujarat Government’s Film Screening Panel for Subsidies.
With a Strategy Management degree from IIM Kolkata and Design Thinking & Innovation certification from MIT Sloan, Niraj is a regular speaker, moderator, and jury member at platforms like FOAID, Kohler Pecha Kucha, IDAC, and MIT Pune. He has mentored over 25 undergraduate theses as a visiting faculty at CEPT, UID, GLSID, NIFT, and others.
Expanding his creative pursuits, Niraj has ventured into fashion design (n.ido) and bespoke furniture (Fine Mettle). His firm, ido design, is a partner at FRDC Bangalore, recognized among the top 50 retail design firms globally.
Beyond design, he serves on the advisory board of BEQ & BN, is Director of Communications at Corporate Connections India, and actively mentors tech startups. He is also the CDO at We Hear Technologies and Co-founder at Uniconn. Currently, he is focused on Creativity Workshops as a coach and is soon pursuing a PhD in Creativity Research.
