Guwahati-based Designer Ranjan Bordoloi was recently featured in the Forbes India, ’30 under 30’ list. This list which Forbes issues annually recognizes people under 30 from different fieldS, who have done exceptional work. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Studio Bordoloi.
Last October he became the only India to win two awards, which includes Best of the Best, in the furniture category at the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2017.
The collection for which he won the award is called Pitoloi comprising small stools and a barstool. It was made by cutting sheets of brass and given shape by wooden moulds, with the small pieces joined by an ancient floor-based coal welding technique.
Bordoloi, has done a course in Furniture and Interior Design from IIT Guwahati. He came up with the idea of using brass during his college days when he was exploring different materials and production techniques.
A Pitoloi chair, created for his final year graduation project, won the Park Elle Decor Student Award, 2015 (the best use of traditional material).
He showcased his work at India Design ID in February 2015. Bordoloi was also one of the winners of the Godrej Design Lab 2016 competition where he won for his edgy Kaathfula chair, inspired by the shape of a mushroom.
There his work was spotted by Giulio Cappellini, Art Director of Milan-based Italian design firm Cappellini. After that he was selected to showcase at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in April 2015.
The designer works with brass to revive the dying craft of making utensils and arte facts by hammering the alloy—traditionally practiced by a community of Assamese artisans.
“Currently my work is very artisanal, but going forward, I would also like to get into industry, combine a high-tech production facility in the form of robots with artisans,” says Bordoloi.
“What impressed me about Ranjan Bordoloi’s work is his sensitivity towards the materials. His projects are never obvious, but they are able to mix contemporary and innovative forms by using manufacturing techniques belonging to the artisan tradition of his country,” says Cappellini.
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