KOLKATA
5 Kolkata Homes Where Heritage Finds A Contemporary Expression
For all its talk of reinvention, Kolkata has never really believed in starting from scratch. The city has a habit of carrying its past forward, sometimes quite visibly and, at other times, in ways that are far more subtle. That same instinct is beginning to shape contemporary homes in Kolkata. A new generation of residences is looking beyond the obvious markers of Bengali heritage and finding inspiration in quieter things — old spatial memories, inherited ways of living, local craftsmanship, and a sense of belonging that cannot be manufactured. The five projects that follow are not exercises in nostalgia; they are examples of how tradition can be reinterpreted and edited to be entirely relevant to the present day.
There are few cities that live with art as naturally as Kolkata does. That spirit runs through this 5,500 sq ft Kolkata apartment by Jason Wadhwani Design. A palette of marble and timber keeps the interiors restrained, allowing works by Bengali artists Praneet Soi and Basuki Dasgupta to take precedence, alongside collectible pieces by Vikram Goyal and DeMuro Das. For Jason, the idea was to create “an interplay between Indian and international influences, allowing art, furniture and materiality to coexist in a way that felt effortless.” The result is a home that feels international in its outlook, yet firmly rooted in the city’s enduring relationship with art and collecting.
In Kolkata, the Hooghly is more than a river; it is a constant presence that has shaped the city’s history and identity. That sense of movement informs Merlin — a residence by Sarah Sham of Essajees Atelier — where sweeping curves, fluid ceilings and gently connected spaces echo the river’s organic rhythm. Marble, a material long associated with many of Kolkata’s Marwari homes, is reinterpreted on the double-height feature wall and handcrafted details subtly reference the city’s layered past. As Sarah describes it, the home carries “subtle traces of Kolkata’s history, culture and identity.”
The Stacked Apartment by Tejal Mathur Design is built on an interplay of contrasts. The warmth of wood, reminiscent of old Bengali homes, is set against the stillness of concrete, lending the interiors a distinctly contemporary character. Art forms an integral part of the spatial experience, with works by Bengali artists Debasish Dutta, Debabrata De and Chandra Bhattacharjee thoughtfully punctuating the home. Even the industrial console, complete with typewriter-style labels, introduces an almost archival quality to the interiors. In Tejal’s words, “Art became an integral part of the architecture rather than an afterthought… creating moments of pause, discovery and reflection.”
At Earle’s Court, a 3,000 sq ft duplex home on Kolkata’s Earle’s Street designed by Pooja Bihani of Space And Design, the dining area becomes the heart of the residence. Three handwoven wicker totems, crafted in collaboration with The Wicker Story, rise like sculptural sentinels within metal frames, their organic forms set against carved ashwood panelling and a restrained palette of whites and terracotta. Drawing from Bengal’s long tradition of cane and wicker craftsmanship, the space gives a familiar material a decidedly contemporary expression. For Pooja, the totems were a way of honouring a craft that the city has always held close: “The city lives in these details.”
Khubsoorat House in Kolkata, designed by Monica Khosla Bhargava of Kham Consultants, brings filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s former Bhowanipore residence into the present while holding on to its many memories. The living room is dotted with reminders of its past — a vintage television set once owned by the director has been repurposed as a console, while Art Deco-inspired upholstery and Patachitra art lend the space a distinctly Bengali character. Bhargava believes that “beauty transcends formal perfection and rigidity”, a thought that seems to define this home, where memory survives through the everyday objects that continue to inhabit it.
