Mumbai-based design studio The Act of Quad initially garnered attention for its visceral objects crafted with clay and paper mâché. Its first commercial products were a set of three anatomical pieces that take the literal forms of a pair of human feet, a single ear, and an oceanic tentacle.
It all began in 2019 when close friends Priyanka Itadkar and Falguni Bhatia decided to launch their practice during the pandemic while working from the confines of their homes. “We had no projects at the time, just a real hunger to design,” recounted Itadkar. “I asked my father, who is a sculptor, if we could use his workshop to experiment with materials and he agreed,” she laughed.
Since then, the architect duo has completed several residential makeovers, always preferring to design everything from the broader spatial layout to the curtains and soft furniture. “We rarely outsource anything in our projects because repurposing leftover material to create objects for the space really excites us,” said Itadkar. “We try our best to minimize wastage this way and spark some joy.”
In 2023, The Act of Quad converted an 80-year-old cattle shed located in Mumbai’s bustling Ghatkopar area into its own office. The 200-square-foot stone structure had briefly functioned as a public micro-library but was abandoned for 30 years afterward. The shed’s owner approached Itadkar and Bhatia to make the space suitable for renting as a temporary storehouse. The architects, however, saw the potential of transforming it into a functional workspace for themselves—all while retaining seventy percent of the original plinth and walls. They raised the height of the ridge from the original 9.5 feet to 12 feet and extended the new pitched roof over an existing verandah attached to the structure.
Read more about the office on aninteriormag.com.
