Come June-end and India will see the inauguration of its largest design centre and speciality mall for interiors and exteriors – Ishanya. With a total built-up space of over 550,000 square feet, spread over a 10-acre campus in Pune, Ishanya is scheduled to be a business and consumer destination by day and a cultural hub by evening.
A formal ceremony was held at Ishanya to welcome some of the early occupants, who were handed over a special plaque to commemorate the occasion by well-known sarod player Amaan Ali Khan, whose father Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is on the Ishanya Advisory Board for art and culture. Other personalities on the Board include Dr Mallika Sarabhai, Amol Palekar, Sangita Jindal, and AP Parigi.
Some of the occupants at Ishanya include brands like Home Town, Croma, @Home, Are, Armstrong, Casa Bella, Classic Flooring and Interiors, Fab India, and Institute of Indian Interior Designers. The mall will have a knowledge and research centre, mock-up and simulation centre, building centre, creativity centre, an amphitheatre, art galleries, and exhibition spaces.
IS Narula, CEO, Retail Business, said: “We have detailed out a comprehensive, precision-driven plan for the design and specifier community, as well as for consumers. Events will unfold from mid-August 2007. We have existing tie-ups with the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) and the Confederation of Construction Products and Services (CCPS). Ishanya has already entered into a tie-up for a seminar-cum-exhibition with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This event is aimed at facilitating learning to help overcome the challenges faced by the design sector in India. Further event announcements will be made soon.”
Ishanya also announced that Abha Sapre, the well-known Mumbai landscape designer who runs the firm Abaas Landcapes, has won its Winner’s Space contest and has consequently been awarded with office space of 500 square feet for a period 12 months at Ishanya. Ishanya Winner’s Space has been created to appreciate, recognise and urge the design community for their creative and trendsetting work.
