Make LSS Something with anda_ba
We asked architect and interior designer Armaan Bansal of anda_ba to make LSS something. The result, something that shifts form and shape, combines places and time
Welcome to our newly launched content series to get to know new creatives. And of course, we had to do it with a twist. So we’ll be asking a few creators / makers / those who make things with their hands – if you really think about – there’s so much around us that has been purposefully been ideated, carved and created by someone. It’s mind-blowing, really.
As someone who is an ideas person, sitting at a laptop and writing comes easy to me, I am in awe of those who can tinker with their hands to create and breathe life into a chair, jacket, vase, building. Or in the case of architect, interior designer and creative studio founder, Armaan Bansal, a space ship (?!)
Making between Ludhiana and London, his lens is smart, layered, sometimes even questioning. I came across his works for the first time through my friend Anita Chhiba and her platform Diet Paratha. At her V&A Friday Late (where 6000 people showed up), I discovered Armaan’s work as part of anda_ba, his creative collective studio. The pieces on showcase were a series of furniture that instantly switched up the hallowed museum’s brick walls to resemble a (very chic) Brooklyn apartment. Later, our common friend and Armaan’s frequent collaborator, Kartik Kumra (whose NYC store was worked on by anda_ba) connected us too.
All roads were leading to our own little LSS collaboration :)
Of course, he has all the big names and houses that he’s worked with along the way, chiselling away and perfecting his craft – think lead architect and industrial designer at a-cold-wall* and sr_a. with Samuel Ross, partner collaborations with Apple, Nike, Hublot LVMH, Design Miami, Kohler, Zara, Dover Street Market, London Design Biennale and various fashion weeks.
But for LSS he settled on making something closer to home. “Ideating for this work began by gathering thoughts about my own journey - and the path of many others who share my situation. Between two minds, two countries - friends, family, wardrobe, values, and aesthetic sensibilities suspended in the space between,” he says.
Follow through to see our process, how it all came together, and why I will always have a space for something special to be made and shared with all of you. Stay tuned🌹
The prompt_
“Biya ke to-ee jaan-e jaan-e safar” - which suggests that perhaps what the soul seeks is the soul within the discovery of the journey itself.
Inspiration for this work, and subconsciously for anda_ba, which has grown into an ongoing exploration of the safar - the journey.
“For this piece, I started with a sketch and built an abstract collage sculpture that tries to hold this sense of in-betweenness.”
“Stones from both India and the British landscape, wooden connecting beams resting in the chiseled stone, and curved concrete walls that act as reflective sound barriers. Windows cut out in these walls that allow certain perspectives and framing. Tension wires and metal rods run through the work like moments, people, and points in time, while long metal sections map out connection, travel, and trajectory.”
Get to know Armaan in 20 Questions:
What’s the first thing you designed that made you think, “Hmm, I might be onto something”?
I had just lost my final year work and needed to start from 0 - quickly. In a moment of clarity in the workshop, I chose not to weld or screw anything together. Instead, I focused purely on joinery, letting wood, metal, and concrete dialogue. What emerged were spontaneous, large-format collage sculptures made in moment. They were entirely intuitive and ended up at an exhibition at the Royal Academy. That moment.
Where do you go in your mind when you’re stuck on a project?
I go out. Not out out, but just outside wherever I am. Could be outside my screen, outside my house, outside the country - talk to people and moments in the city.
What’s one object in your home that you’d save in a fire—no overthinking.
My MacBook. It has everything - nothing is backed up either.
Do you believe in the perfect chair? If so, have you found it?
I think the idea of a perfect chair really depends on context - position, placement, purpose. I do think the Wassily Chair (designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925–1926) is something though, it’s so easy to be in.
What’s your ideal breakfast and where would you be eating it?
I don’t have breakfast, but maybe an early lunch. Poke [sushi rice. miso aubergine. pickled ginger. edamame. avocado. shiitake teriyaki. pumpkin seeds. red cabbage]. I usually eat it by Regent’s Canal which is beautiful specially in June. Although, would love to eat anything - simpler the better, in Brecon Beacons looking over some surreal landscape.
Current material obsession — and how do you know when it’s about to become a full-blown design phase?
So many. Charred wood, cast silver, dark umbria clay, undyed canvas. Well I think you need to make it into one - think of a product, a collaborator, a market and hit go.
What’s something in your toolkit that has no business being useful… but is?
I was tempted to look into my actual toolbox, but everything in there earns its place. So - mischief, it’s quietly essential. That playful irreverence gives us permission to ask - why not instead of only why.
If anda_ba had a scent, what would it smell like?
The scent I use, without revealing it - this is what its described as - Coated clay vats filled with argan oil, earthly walls of a typical village abode and the mud that had formed on my bare feet having crossed the river that bordered the township of Asni in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains.
What’s the most under-designed thing in daily life?
What can really hold my wired apple earphones ?
If someone gave you an unlimited budget to redesign one historical building, what would it be and what’s the first thing you’d change?
The Ajanta Ellora Caves. Not change but add. Something deeply respectful, drawing on the sensitivity of Scarpa’s Castelvecchio or Pawson’s Feuerle Bunker. An intervention that doesn’t compete, but quietly extends dialogue - honouring the sacred stillness while offering a contemporary gesture of presence.
How do you know when a space is truly “done”?
When there’s no more debate - just natural occupation. Talking, resting, simply being. That quiet ease, when a space no longer demands attention but gently holds it.
What do you always notice when you walk into someone else’s house?
Everything
Biggest creative crush — alive or dead.
Ye. I don’t care - he is the correct English translation for - Gesamtkunstwerk
What’s the most joyful design rule you love to break?
That truly refined objects must come from a serious traditional place. We create work that’s considered and precise - but we do it while being playful, relaxed, and unapologetically young. Sometimes we don’t even belong to the industry - and that’s exactly the point.
You’re hosting dinner for six. What’s on the table, and who’s sitting around it (dead or alive, famous or not)?
Honestly, it’s harder to swallow my food around famous people at dinner. I am happy with six of my friends who I can say the stupidest shit around. You know who you are.
What’s the strangest source of inspiration you’ve ever run with?
The shape of the 50 p coin
Is there a film or TV set you secretly wish you’d designed?
The Library in the Brutalist. Also Playtime
Favourite design detail in a city you love? (Tiny, overlooked, or iconic.)
The American Embassy in New Delhi
Do you sketch by hand, or straight to screen? And what does that say about you?
Always sketch by hand first. The Thinking Hand. Most ideas at anda_ba begin without references or pre-meditation. Only after the initial form sketch do we dive into references, research, and modelling.
If you weren’t an architect, what would your alternative life look like?
I would definitely be either a chef or sculptor in an isolated studio somewhere rural.
Armaan Bansal is a multi-disciplinary designer and architect working between India and London. He founded anda_ba in 2024 - a multidisciplinary design studio that embodies the search for a contemporary Indian sensibility, an experiment across different scales of design. He has worked with brands such as Stone Island, Martine Rose, Coperni, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Mira Mikati, Stella McCartney and more. Armaan holds a March Diploma ARB | riba part ii and ba [hons] arb | riba part i from the prestigious Architectural Association School.
Art Direction: Shagun Jangid🌹