Toilets . would u
believe that toilets were a big deal ,as far as human needs are concerned they
are …I don’t deny that but we have been thru ages where we have been comfortable behind a convenient bush as well .as some are even now are in touch with the nature in the most natural way Let me not digress ……when your apartment is
of a crore then the toilets do gain a
lot of significance …folks I am speaking from an interior designers point of view .Now this pent house has 6 six toilets …sorry seven….including the
powder room . after much thought ,deliberation and umpteen meetings the owners
came to an amicable decision to have the
toilets in marbles .No not the Rajasthani ones ,,,,they are for neo rich desis
…the old money ed class go for the Italian marble ,with gold ,copper or silver
inlays. And so there I was designing the toilets with a colleague of mine .we
designed the flooring and the walls with
dark Prado ,Italian beige with copper palladio tiles . the cost was
balanced by the owner and our TL who
with the patience of a saint redid the designs as and when the choice of the
marbles changed….t the tiles selected had names like passion ,energy ,elegance and electricity ……we laid them to
match the personalities of the house hold. The old owners had’ passion’ where
as their young sons got ‘electricity ‘and ‘strength’ .the daughters had ‘purity’
and ‘elegance’the powder room … the ultimate status symbol was done in white
marble with gold inlay worked tiles and
also sported an MF Hussain (he would nt be turning in his grave as he would
have got a couple of crores for it .Two toilets were designed for the yet to be born grand children of thie yet to
be married sons ( shows how futuristically thought ful people are ) the
the accessories were of a lakh each
…..boy! may they never have diarrhea ……Each toilet sported a skylight ….. with
a view of the blue sky above .well ……all said and done there was the
landscaping to be done and finally that too was over and the final result each commode was placed amidst bushy plants .and each toilet sported
pebbled pathway to the commode and turfy
grass in bits and pieces all around . ….so ….they u are! even today man is most comfortable behind a
convenient bush ……only this is his personal bush ….
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
the sky light saga
Who doesn’t love a skylight .well, almost all except me .The
concept is fine with me but not the construction of it .This dude’s
villa had not one which is normal …but four...rather abnormal isn’t it .My question
is ….if he wanted a piece of sky all the time why doesn’t he live in a b….d
tent or a roadside pipe .why in a two crore villa open to the skies .
As per my TL the creative head of the team …we were
constructing it to give it a unique look
(the sky light I mean …and for gods sakes…how unique can u make a skylight of a
toilet look ? ….The question was rhetorical .The expression of my TL s face
told it all ..Madam , he said in his ponderous way …there are many ways to do
it …check the net and you’ll see. The sigh that followed his speech gave the
impression of a person forced to explain the theory of relativity to a mentally
retarded person. Ignorance being bliss …I dutifully ignored it , acting
dumb is a trick I ve adapted years back
….Pretty useful in times like these……Pulling a paper he started sketching …… a design of the grill
for the b….d sky lights .It was ornate and intricate . He so liked to sketch these intricate designs and then shove it on us to
make it concrete …..u know what I mean ..Now my question for the day is
…umpteen number of grill workers and umpteen number of designs floating around .One look at the sky light
…..they would get the whole thing
executed in a jiffy ….plain simple
uncomplicated common sense ..folks
…..well that would leave us interior designers jobless …(..hmmmmm… food for
thought .)..The design was drawn ,measured, scaled ,caddied and printed and now for fitting them into slots…The
openings left for sky lights .Each trial made us trim the design ..a little
here and a little there till it lost
some of its intricacy and resembled an upright roach . Viewing our
handiwork the question flew out of my
mouth before I cud stop it “Are these to
be seen from a helicopter”.(I just could not visualize
people walking in and looking up to admire the sky light design unless there was an arrow pointing upwards in all the 3 toilets and the foyer inviting
them to to do so ….hence the question .My TL sported a pained expression of a person tried beyond his endurance and was speechless
for once……
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