Rohit Singh
Managing Director
In a one on one conversation with CEO Insights, Rohit talks about his academic and professional journey as well as about Meanohara and its operations.
What motivated you to choose architecture and design as a career and who were the people that you look at for inspiration?
On the outset it is an appropriate profession to integrate intuitive & rational thought, a synthesis between art & science. The other motivation can be said to be understanding the nature of space and its impact on human experiences. Considering it's an art form where you see other art forms like music, visual art, or any other form reflected makes it rather wholesome.
Amongst architects, KengoKuma, Frank Lloyd Wright, Geoffrey Bawa few names amongst many who serve as an inspiration. One draws inspiration from wherever one sees the potential of. Be it the Visual arts, spatial arts, from musicians and even scientists as they too seek to understand nature and imagination albeit from a different perspective.
How has your company’s journey been so far and what challenges did you encounter during this journey?
Against a well-laid path stretching out evenly at a convenient distance, imagine a hilly path blessed with nature. And like all routes in the hills, there are highs and lows, turns which have unpredictable vistas being revealed. The journey has been a meaningful one and one hopes it continues to be so.
I feel encountering challenges is an indication of going in the right direction. Reaching out to prospective patrons gets challenged with creative pursuits and unlike effective businessmen, at times architects tend to stray on their drawing boards longer than perhaps required and ignore business development efforts.
How have you been able to stay unique in the highly crowded Indian Architecture and Design industry?
I follow my instinct when surrounded with fashionable trends. The stimuli by which we perceive the world should be alive and aware at its best. At Meanohara, ideas are discussed openly in the studio with the team right from the start, discussions are always encouraged, and multi-disciplinary involvement is not dismissed. The experience of having something abstract to begin with which takes shape into something concrete which interacts with the elements is a wonder and the process is observed for all involved. When it comes to our architecture and design services, we offer simplistic yet Intense Concepts, considering simplicity is something gained after much refinement. We offer bespoke services to our clients and make sure that we meet and as in most cases-exceed our client’s expectations.
How have you been able to equip the next generation of aspiring architects and designers with the essential skills to stand out from the rest of the competition in the modern world?
Founded by Prof.Man Singh Rana, who was an apprentice of Frank
Against a well-laid path stretching out evenly at a convenient distance, imagine a hilly path blessed with nature. And like all routes in the hills, there are highs and lows, turns which have unpredictable vistas being revealed. The journey has been a meaningful one and one hopes it continues to be so.
I feel encountering challenges is an indication of going in the right direction. Reaching out to prospective patrons gets challenged with creative pursuits and unlike effective businessmen, at times architects tend to stray on their drawing boards longer than perhaps required and ignore business development efforts.
The experience of having something abstract to begin with which takes shape into something concrete which interacts with the elements is a wonder and the process is observed for all involved
How have you been able to stay unique in the highly crowded Indian Architecture and Design industry?
I follow my instinct when surrounded with fashionable trends. The stimuli by which we perceive the world should be alive and aware at its best. At Meanohara, ideas are discussed openly in the studio with the team right from the start, discussions are always encouraged, and multi-disciplinary involvement is not dismissed. The experience of having something abstract to begin with which takes shape into something concrete which interacts with the elements is a wonder and the process is observed for all involved. When it comes to our architecture and design services, we offer simplistic yet Intense Concepts, considering simplicity is something gained after much refinement. We offer bespoke services to our clients and make sure that we meet and as in most cases-exceed our client’s expectations.
How have you been able to equip the next generation of aspiring architects and designers with the essential skills to stand out from the rest of the competition in the modern world?
Founded by Prof.Man Singh Rana, who was an apprentice of Frank
Lloyd Wright, at my architecture school, the curriculum was intense in art and used unique ways to integrate it with architecture.
I believe for a holistic perception of space; one has to be aware of their interior surrounding on a 2-dimension of textures, patterns and images, with appreciation of 3-dimension space after that. When a student is surrounded with these, then the student finds itself gazing out the window to a well-lit cluster of trees. You may be certain that this is not by accident but by design. Thus, a more integrated approach of art and architecture required, where architecture refers to an experiential tool. It engages the architect in a more immersive and meaningful space. Ideas discussed openly in the studio with the team right from the start, discussions are always encouraged, and multi-disciplinary involvement is not dismissed.
What is your USP that segregates your company from others in the Interior design industry?
Endeavour to understand interior design not in isolation but in a holistic fashion, reflecting in itself concepts of architecture and art in its various mediums. Realizing the impact of aesthetics through art history and knowing we stand on the shoulder of giants.
What are your thoughts on the Interior design industry in India and how you’re molding your company with respect to the same?
The industry is definitely progressing. One will impress on young firms to restrain from swept away by quantity and bypassing quality. With the help of technology, projects are shared on a global platform, another reason to make the country proud and continually strive for excellence.
For the studio/atelier, this past year, for example, there were discourses in art history highlighting cultural and aesthetic environments of bygone eras. By sharpening our stimuli by which we sense the world, we prepare ourselves for the better. This is an ongoing process and I keep inventing/discovering new ways to address the same.
Rohit Singh, MD, Meanohara
Famously known as ‘Rohitsatlier’, his formative years include growing up in the army cantonments and having an ancestral home in the villages of INDIA made it an interesting combination of exposure to vernacular, Victorian, modern and subsequently contemporary architecture in the youth for Rohit. This has helped him to create a style of his own when it comes to architecture and design.
I believe for a holistic perception of space; one has to be aware of their interior surrounding on a 2-dimension of textures, patterns and images, with appreciation of 3-dimension space after that. When a student is surrounded with these, then the student finds itself gazing out the window to a well-lit cluster of trees. You may be certain that this is not by accident but by design. Thus, a more integrated approach of art and architecture required, where architecture refers to an experiential tool. It engages the architect in a more immersive and meaningful space. Ideas discussed openly in the studio with the team right from the start, discussions are always encouraged, and multi-disciplinary involvement is not dismissed.
What is your USP that segregates your company from others in the Interior design industry?
Endeavour to understand interior design not in isolation but in a holistic fashion, reflecting in itself concepts of architecture and art in its various mediums. Realizing the impact of aesthetics through art history and knowing we stand on the shoulder of giants.
What are your thoughts on the Interior design industry in India and how you’re molding your company with respect to the same?
The industry is definitely progressing. One will impress on young firms to restrain from swept away by quantity and bypassing quality. With the help of technology, projects are shared on a global platform, another reason to make the country proud and continually strive for excellence.
For the studio/atelier, this past year, for example, there were discourses in art history highlighting cultural and aesthetic environments of bygone eras. By sharpening our stimuli by which we sense the world, we prepare ourselves for the better. This is an ongoing process and I keep inventing/discovering new ways to address the same.
Rohit Singh, MD, Meanohara
Famously known as ‘Rohitsatlier’, his formative years include growing up in the army cantonments and having an ancestral home in the villages of INDIA made it an interesting combination of exposure to vernacular, Victorian, modern and subsequently contemporary architecture in the youth for Rohit. This has helped him to create a style of his own when it comes to architecture and design.