24 Hours With India Mahdavi: How The World-Renowned Architect Spends Her Day
From evening rituals to healthy habits, the Paris-based architect and designer, known as the ‘queen of colours’ walks us through a day in her kaleidoscopic life
7:00am: Every morning, my Dieter Rams alarm clock wakes me up, and immediately after, I turn on the radio which sits on my Bishop side table and listen to La Matinale on France Inter – this is my main news intake for the day – and like everyone in the world, I am devastated by the tragic invasion of Ukraine and wonder how we can carry on with our relatively carefree lives.
8:00am: I go to my Pilates class twice a week, which is just around the corner. It keeps me focused and helps me to de-stress. On my way back, I stop for a carrot juice at the Cabanon – a local organic spot where I can practice my Farsi with Jahan, the Afghani waiter.
9:00am: After a quick shower, I prepare myself. I am quite unfaithful when it comes to cream and make-up brands but these days I’ve been using products from Tata Harper – I love her Elixir Vitae. Make-up is very minimal most days, but my secret weapon is Les Beiges from Chanel and my red lipstick from Dior, which I haven’t been wearing lately because of face masks. I usually dress in dark blue – a colour that is close to black but is not black. It is like a uniform in which I feel comfortable juggling colours all day. I usually add jewellery from Elie Top and a colourful scarf that I designed to bring light to my face.
10:00am: I check and answer my emails from my office at home, which is what I am doing right now. It allows me to concentrate on whatever I need to write and lets me anticipate the work I am expecting from my team.
11:00am: I walk towards my studio which is located on the same block as my home, Rue Las Cases, it has been my epicentre for the past 20 years. On this one street, there is a furniture showroom, a little India installation room, the petits objets shop and my studio. Recently I opened the Project Room which is a space of free expression where I can invite, invent, or perform, as I please. We are currently showing the work of Martine Bedin, a proponent of the Memphis design movement. Before heading up to the studio, I stop by the showroom to check on the latest prototypes such as the Hexagonal family, an orange corduroy armchair, chair and ottoman. As I get to the studio, I grab a coffee and sit down with my design team to go over all of the current projects, all so different from one another. I can switch from designing a guitar for French musician Jacques Auberger to conceiving a villa in the South of France, or the remodelling of the Gallery at Sketch in London with artist Yinka Shonibare. I jump between scales, locations and timeframes in the process.
1:00pm: I usually use my lunchtime for meetings or I skip lunch altogether. I have a few local favourites. Today, I am having lunch with my friend, artist Adel Abdessemed, whose house I am designing in Menorca.
2:30pm: I go back to the studio. I like meeting with artisans and manufacturers in the living room of my studio, filled with prototypes, books and materials. My day is punctuated with creative, production, communication, and client meetings. I have always practiced interior design at the crossroads of other disciplines such as scenography, film, décor, furniture and product design, exploring as many opportunities given to me to design, decorate, remodel or reveal a space, creating new experiences, and embellishing life. I sometimes feel like Durga, the Hindi deity with eight hands but only one brain. No wonder they called me India
7:00pm: I usually go to a gallery or museum opening. Paris is a melting pot for culture in general. Tonight I am going to the White Cube gallery opening for Sweet Lust, a show curated by Michèle Lamy, and then heading over to Ketabi Projects, a young new gallery for Paolo Pallucco’s show.
11:00pm: Heading back home to get into bed and read a few pages of Les Pierres Sauvages by Fernand Pouillon on the construction of the Cistercian Thoronet abbey, which I recently visited in the South of France. I can then fall asleep.
Complied by Ayesha Sohail. Image courtesy of Paolo Roversi, Studio India Mahdavi, Martine Bedin, Thierry Depagne.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s September 2022 issue.