Sangaru Design Objects, started by Sandeep Sangaru is a manufacturing firm that co-creates working with craftsmen and produces furniture. Sandeep Sangaru is pioneering the shift from traditional materials to more downtrodden materials and is giving them a facelift. Driven by his nomadic spirit, Sangaru has traveled to North-East India, where he designed his bamboo-based furniture line, “Truss me”. He has also been inspired by the craftsmanship of Kashmir and designed a series of lamps and shelves – “Kashmiri Pinjra”. His most recent endeavor is one in Channapatna with a run of chairs. Sangaru believes in exploring and innovating archaic crafts and making them applicable to today’s market trends and demands.
Here are some iconic products from his various lines.
1. Unipod (Truss Me)
This product was developed during Sangaru’s initial trips to Tripura and after a few interactions with the craftsmen, he decided to experiment. It sparked Sangaru’s fascination with the extents of bamboo and inspired the start of the furniture line. The Unipod serves the purpose of a portable, comfortable seating option. This simple triangle form can sustain the weight of one person comfortably. It has won him several awards as well as international recognition.
2. Single Bench (Truss Me)
Designed under the same line, it was customized for Ambienté Café, Bangalore. Today it graces the café’s ambiance and offers a wonderful seating option. The firm makes these pieces in order to fit the context of the space. The Single bench is suitable for low, informal seating and tends to add warmth to the room. It is ideally suited for lobbies and large open spaces with a blend of hardscape and landscape.
3. Glimmerfly
The Glimmerfly lamps were Sangaru’s first light fixture in the line. They were designed by elegantly bending and splitting bamboo to develop the lamp form. When light slips through the spaces between the splits, it brings the warm bamboo surfaces to life with an ambient glow. Different variations include an elongated lamp that offers more spread, as well as with natural and color lacquer. The red Glimmerfly offers a pop of color to any room.
4. Yak Chair (Truss Me)
According to Sangaru, a chair should be inviting and screaming at you to sink into it. The Yak chair is exactly that. This product uses Bamboo’s characteristic property of high tensile strength to create a product that is light, strong, and easily modular. This allows for relaxed seating and a pleasing form. It is the coziest seating in the collection with the large, bolster-like cushioning.
5. Wallscape Book Shelf (Truss Me)
The wallscape bookshelf is probably the most recognizable product from the line. It acts as the focal point to any wall it is mounted onto. This bookshelf was developed alongside artisans from Tripura whose expertise helped explore modularity and functionality of Bamboo. It gave rise to a visually pleasing, curved functional piece. The laminated bamboo poles and splits act like a truss i.e. a lightweight load-bearing frame structure.
6. Zoondan BookShelf (Kashmiri Pinjra Kari)
This multi-functional piece resembles a projected wooden balcony with Pinjra Kari details. Pinjra Kari is a craft of making screens of interwoven wooden laths forming intricate geometric patterns used in windows, balconies, partitions, and ventilators that are widely based on Islamic geometry. The lattice allows for a play of light and shadow as well as offer privacy. The Pinjra Chan or a Pinjra maker has a deep understanding of geometry and the malleability of wood. The geometry and the construction of the outer frame that contains the joints are very crucial, as these joints exert tensional pressure and keep the delicate lattice in position without the use of glues or nails.
The bookshelf can be accessed by both sides and works well as a space divider. It lends itself to be the focus of any room.
7. Pendant Lamps (Kashmiri Pinjra Kari)
These lamps, made with polished walnut wood, Sangaru has experimented with the same Pinjra Kari style by interlocking small pieces of wooden laths in a geometrical pattern to form a star. As seen in Islamic art, the star is an iconic motif that symbolizes equal radiation in all directions from a central point. The rays of a star reach out in all directions, making the star an apt metaphor for the pendant lamps.
8. Flame chair (Channapatna collection)
This is from Sangaru Objects’ more recent collection, in which they redefine the languished art of lacquered terracotta that originates in Channapatna. Sandeep Sangaru is trying to aid the craftsmen in manufacturing products that are larger with higher returns, unlike their current products which are primarily toys.
The Flame chair is a notable product from the collection. The glossy lacquered rims of the chair are striking and represent the fiery facet of this line.
9. Muqarna Chair from Kashmir Collection
The Muqarna chair perhaps embodies the Persian culture one sees in abundance in Kashmir. The form, which almost seems like origami is shrouded in mystery. Inspiration has been taken from the ancient vaulting system seen in Kashmir. It mimics the same ornamentation, by carving and hollowing out rhombuses into a single plank of walnut wood. All the walnut wood is locally available and sourced sustainably.
10. Debutante Dress
The Debutante dress is an almost wearable wedding dress made completely of bamboo splits. The Bamboo is woven together to create an almost basket-like structure that is foldable and can take the curves of the human body. It comprises almost 3000 splits and each split was meticulously handwoven.
This dress was designed and manufactured for Varana London.
Sangaru Design Objects is endlessly evolving and redefining the crafts of India. They’re transforming these skills to be both utilitarian as well as ornamental. They intend to get the ball rolling for future generations to ensure the survival of these sustainable and traditional materials and techniques.
Sangaru Design Objects is endlessly evolving and redefining the crafts of India. They’re transforming these skills to be both utilitarian as well as ornamental. They intend to get the ball rolling for future generations to ensure the survival of these sustainable and traditional materials and techniques.
