The Ruby Ceiling (Space)

Here we have extended the boundaries of using a traditional craft for future spaces. Ceilings are a great medium for story telling, as they are the living example of the past. The Ruby Ceiling represents ‘Kalamkari’, a traditional Indian textile craft with a graphical, and a poetic approach. Kalamkari is the art of hand painting the fabrics using natural dyes with a bamboo stick and involves a rigorous process of resist dyeing. The skilled craft, which was passed down the family generations, is now struggling to find young patrons and needs to be revived.

The jewel like ‘Ruby Ceiling‘ also represents the royal culture of Hyderabad. Both at the design stage and at the execution stage, the ceiling was treated like a giant puzzle piece. Fragmented yet unified. The patterns in different sections illustrate the different styles of Kalamkari that have evolved over the years. The Ceiling is 12 meter wide and 13 meter long.

Using a craft for a space provides the craftsmen a new platform to continue the craft in future and hotels a new approach to design meaningful experiences.