The Kamala House Carpet by Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi

(Image credit: Ashish Shah)

There is a concept that Greg Foster, Artistic Director of Jaipur Rugs and its smaller, rarefied gallery for collectible carpets, Aspura, often returns to when describing the territory in which he operates: 'I have a theory that most people with a passion for beautiful objects follow a similar trajectory of taste. It begins with fashion. From there, interests often move quickly into culture, probably contemporary art. After that, the eye moves to design, then collectible design, followed by antique furniture and antiquities. The final frontier of connoisseurship is carpets. Once someone has seen everything, knows the names, recognises all the references and feels excited by them, that’s when they begin to look at carpets differently. And it’s a whole world of education! Carpets represent the most rarefied sphere of design.'

Aspura, whose branding – the wordmark, the logo, the colours – was developed by Peter Saville, focuses on both contemporary editions and highly curated antiques. It was first unveiled at the India Art Fair 2025 with a solo project by Pakistani artist Rashid Rana that bridged contemporary and antique carpets.

Aspura presents The Kamala House Carpet by Balkrishna Doshi

One year later, at the same Delhi fair that draws collectors and experts in Asian art and beyond, Aspura presents a new chapter: a design project paying homage to legendary Indian architect B.V. Doshi, the first Indian recipient of the Pritzker Prize and one of the pioneers of modern architecture in the country.

The project centres on The Kamala House Carpet, a re-edition of a rug originally designed by Doshi for the living room of his home in Ahmedabad and woven in the 1980s by master weaver Rajen: 'I feel very fortunate to have developed a close and deeply personal relationship with Balkrishna Doshi’s family, particularly his granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof,' says Foster.

'I came to know Mr. Doshi well. He was a great friend to me. When he won the Pritzker Prize, he was living quietly in Ahmedabad, and although the award changed his life, he rarely left the city afterwards. Not many people spent extended time with him during that period, and I was lucky to be one of them.'

Though faithful to the original, the new edition aims to elevate its material execution; 'While the original was made to an excellent standard, we have elevated the production quality significantly. The new edition is woven in bamboo silk – visually identical, but far more refined. If we are presenting something as collectible design, it should be elevated, while remaining authentic.'

The collaboration emerged organically. As Foster explains, it was initiated by the family itself: 'The original carpet had become worn, and they asked whether we could produce a replacement for the house. This was happening just as Aspura was taking shape, so it became a very natural collaboration.'

Dayanita Singh photograph of Balkrishna Doshi's home — Kamala House Peacock by Dayanita Singh. Achival pigment print - 30x30 inches, edition of 7

At the India Art Fair, Aspura is exhibiting the carpet at the centre of a residential mise-en-scène that borrows objects from Kamala House, in an installation that recreates the ambience of BV Doshi’s personal living space. Included on the booth is a special edition photograph by Dayanita Singh, part of a series the artist took at Kamala House and which would later become part of her book, Portrait of a House: Conversations with BV Doshi.

The photograph shows a peacock prancing on the carpet: 'Immediately after he won the Pritzker Prize, I asked Dayanita Singh to travel to Ahmedabad,' says Foster, who at the time was the editor of AD India. 'She shot the most wonderful series that captured an intimate portrait of his private life. Many of the photographs in the book feature the carpet and show it as the centre of family life. You see it being lived on. Doshi looks relaxed, at home, surrounded by family. That intimacy is something we can all connect with. It makes the carpet very desirable.'

For this reason, Doshi’s granddaughter, who now lives in Kamala House, insisted on absolute fidelity in the reproduction. 'What we proposed was a historically accurate reproduction – identical in colour, size and proportions – but constructed in a way that would endure,' continues Foster. 'To the eye it is the same, but it feels softer, wears longer, and is made in a manner that respects Doshi’s legacy. It is not a copy, but an elevated reconstruction, which feels appropriate given who he was.'

In addition to the Kamala House Carpet, Aspura will later present ten further carpets designed by Doshi, derived from artworks he produced largely during lockdown, spanning drawings and sculptural forms in both monochrome and colour: 'To contextualise everything, at our booth at the India Art Fair, we have recreated his living room in both spirit and accuracy. The staircase, a defining architectural element of his home, has been rebuilt to scale. We borrowed a much-loved blue sofa from Kamala House itself, which Khushnu generously released for ten days. The result is an authentic and academic environment rather than a conventional booth.'

Aspura’s India Art Fair installation also includes a desk designed by Doshi for the CEPT University campus in Ahmedabad. According to Foster, it had been used until recently and required careful restoration. 'Initially, the desk was intended as scenography, but then it became clear that the desk is a rare and historically significant object in its own right.'

While Doshi’s architecture has been widely celebrated, much of his output remains underexplored. Many of his buildings are still little known, and his furniture and design work has rarely been foregrounded. 'Like Le Corbusier, for whom he worked closely on Chandigarh as essentially the number two, Doshi designed furniture extensively. Chandigarh’s furniture is now famous worldwide, yet Doshi’s stools, chairs and desks remain largely overlooked.'

For Foster, who had personally tried to acquire some of Doshi’s furniture in the past, the unveiling of the carpet marks a first step in addressing that gap, while acknowledging that much more remains to be done.

The project also reflects Aspura’s broader trajectory. This year, the gallery has placed a strong emphasis on antiques, 'which we will present in residential, appointment-only settings rather than just at fairs. Yogesh Chaudhary, the owner of Jaipur Rugs, has the most incredible private collection that we’re curating from.'

Connecting the dots, he says: 'Aspura is a new proposition: a global design gallery focused only on collectible carpets. Our projects are intended to inspire connoisseurship and develop a new generation of carpet collectors. I want people to see what we see.'

Cristina Kiran Piotti is an Italian-Indian freelance journalist. After completing her studies in journalism in Milan, she pursued a master's degree in the economic relations between Italy and India at the Ca' Foscari Challenge School in Venice. She splits her time between Milan and Mumbai and, since 2008, she has concentrated her work mostly on design, current affairs, and culture stories, often drawing on her enduring passion for geopolitics. She writes for several publications in both English and Italian, and she is a consultant for communication firms and publishing houses.