Homing23 Kesä 2023

India Mahdavi: the interior designer on how a rented apartment provides the stable home a nomadic childhood never could

Known as the Queen of Colour, India has designed upbeat bars and radical restaurants from Miami to Mexico City. Her Gallery restaurant at Sketch in London became one of the most inspirational spaces of our time, and single-handedly changed the public perception of the colour pink.

Last autumn, I hopped on the Eurostar to go and meet her at home in Paris. I arrived completely drenched from a rainstorm, but my frost-bitten cockles were soon warmed by a cup of tea and a fireside chat with India in her beautiful apartment. She told me about how her early years in Massachusetts influenced her love of bright colours, from the strawberry milkshakes she drank to the Technicolor cartoons she watched on TV. One day, she and her family relocated very suddenly to Germany, arriving to a neo-Gothic house straight out of the Addams Family. Her world turned black-and-white, and she felt like an unwelcome foreigner. Soon they moved on again, this time to France, where she started to find a way to express herself through making things and tapping into her creativity.

What I found so interesting about our conversation was discovering how India has reacted against her itinerant childhood and established a very defined sense of place as an adult. Her studio, her showroom and her home are all located in a single block in Paris, where she's lived for more than 25 years. She doesn't even have to cross the road to carry out all the functions of everyday life.

As India gets older, she feels increasingly drawn to her native countries of Iran and Egypt. She's bought a house in Arles that's hidden among cypress trees and reminds her of Tehran in the 1970s. All in all, India's past, present and future are acutely defined by the notion of home and belonging – everything that this podcast is about.This conversation was recorded in person at India’s home in Paris.

For more on India Mahdavi:

Head over to our website for more images of the places discussed

Check out India's website

Jaksot(84)

Chef Margot Henderson on Home, Food & Caring for Fergus

Margot Henderson is one of Britain's most influential chefs, and a pioneer of “nose-to-tail” cooking. She's spent her career finding value in what others might disregard – a philosophy that extends fa...

18 Kesä 1h 5min

Can a Home Help You Heal? – With Psychotherapist Julia Samuel MBE

Today's guest is psychotherapist Julia Samuel MBE, one of Britain's leading experts on grief and trauma.Julia has worked with hundreds of families navigating bereavement, including members of the Roya...

11 Kesä 55min

Patrick Williams on Grief, Restoration and the House That Shaped His Life

Patrick Williams is an interior decorator who specialises in period buildings and restoration projects. He views design not just as decoration, but as a form of storytelling and historical preservatio...

4 Kesä 1h 27min

Can Your Home Make You Healthier? – With Dr. Esther Sternberg

Should the home be considered one of the pillars of health? Dr. Esther Sternberg believes good design can heal us — and that architects should think of themselves not just as designers, but almost as ...

28 Touko 53min

David Shrigley on Anxiety, Absurdity & Ageing Disgracefully

David Shrigley has spent his life creating art that makes people laugh. He is one of Britain’s most recognisable contemporary artists, celebrated for his deadpan drawings that mix humour, bleakness an...

21 Touko 56min

Can a Prison Ever Feel Like Home? – with Professor Yvonne Jewkes

The spaces we inhabit shape who we become. But what does that mean for the people who have no choice where they live? Yvonne Jewkes is a professor of criminology, author, and leading expert on prison ...

14 Touko 1h 6min

Sue Stuart-Smith on Nature, Childhood & The Garden as Medicine

Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist, gardener and the author of The Well-Gardened Mind. She has spent her career making the case that going outside and getting your hands in the soil is one of the most...

7 Touko 37min

Why Doesn’t Where You Live Feel Like Home? — with Urban Designer David Engwicht

We tend to think of home as the space inside our four walls. But for David Engwicht, home doesn't stop at the front door – it extends out into the neighbourhood beyond.David is a master placemaker and...

30 Huhti 1h 4min