Sunita Kohli
Encyclopedia
Sunita Kohli is an India
n interior designer, architectural restorer and furniture manufacturer. She had restored and decorated Rashtrapati Bhavan
(the President's House), Parliament House
Colonnade (1985-1989), the Prime Minister's Office and Hyderabad House
in New Delhi.
She was awarded the Padma Shri
by the Government of India in 1992.
, to Indar Prakash and Chand Sur , Sunita Kohli grew up in a liberal household in Lucknow
as her father was an Arya Samaj
i and who had migrated to Lucknow after the partition
. She studied at a Roman Catholic convent in Lucknow. Growing up her father would take her along to auctions and sales, looking for old lamps and furniture. Later she graduated in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University) in New Delhi, followed by an M.A. in English from Lucknow University.
shops in their free time, looking for 19th century English furniture and lamps in Lucknow, Rajasthan and the hill resorts of Dehradun and Mussoorie. Soon Kohli converted her interest into an antiquarian
business through which she sold Davenport desk
s and Regency wine table
s. She learnt restoration of furniture from local master-craftsmen, which led to the start of her restoration business.
She established Sunita Kohli Interior Designs, an interior design firm in New Delhi, in 1971. In the following year was established Sunita Kohli & Company, which manufactures contemporary classic furniture and fine reproductions of Art Deco, Biedermeier and Anglo-Indian colonial furniture. Her career, added another dimension, when in the mid-1970s she established in partnership, another design firm which was commissioned to design a small hotel for the Oberoi Group, near the Khajuraho
temples, The Oberoi in Bhubaneshwar and the Hotel Babylon in Baghdad. This firm closed but other hotel design projects followed in Cairo, Aswan and El-Arish in Egypt- The Oberoi Mena House Hotel and Casino, overlooking the Pyramids of Giza; two luxury hotel cruise boats on the Nile for the Oberoi Group; The Oberoi Aswan in Upper Egypt and The Oberoi in El-Arish, on the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea. In the mid-90's, she designed The Oberoi Philae Cruiser, another luxury hotel boat. For Mr. PRS Oberoi, she restored and decorated, for his personal use, the 250 year old Naila Fort, near Jaipur.
Over the years she has designed several hotels, resorts and private residences in India and Sri Lanka. In Lahore, Pakistan, she has also worked on the restoration and conversion into a boutique hotel, of a late Sikh-period haveli in the Old City, over-looking the 17th century world heritage sites of the Lahore Fort and the Badshahi Mosque. In the early 90's, she did the interior design of the British Council Building in New Delhi. She also designed the National Assembly Building in Thimpu, Bhutan. This Parliament Building was again worked on in 2010, by K2INDIA for the SAARC Summit in Bhutan. She has also been involved in the restoration and redecoration of numerous British Raj
period buildings in New Delhi, mainly designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
, Sir Robert Tor Russell and Sir Herbert Baker
, including Rashtrapati Bhawan (formerly Viceroy’s House), the Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament House and Hyderabad House.
Sunita Kohli has been the chairperson and founder trustee of an NGO that worked for street and slum children. She is deeply involved in primary education and health for the poor. She is now on the boards of ‘Satyagyan’, an affiliate of ‘World Literacy of Canada’, an organization that works with children’s education, women’s advocacy and women’s empowerment through vocational training; and ‘Save-a-Mother’, an NGO which is dedicated to decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates in India. She is a patron of the Women’s Cancer Initiative in Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay.
In 2004, her younger daughter Kohelika Kohli, an architect and a Pratt Institute of Design, New York graduate returned to India, after working with ‘Oliver Cope Architects’ and interning with ‘Foster and Partners’. She created an architectural firm, ‘Kohelika Kohli Architects’. Eventually in 2010, they formed K2INDIA, bringing together all their respective companies. In 2010, she again got involved in the conservation work of Rashtrapati Bhavan, after a gap of 19 years.
In 2005, Sunita Kohli was instrumental in the conceptualization and founding of the 'Museum of Women in the Arts,India' (MOWA, INDIA). Within MOWA, an NGO is being established for the empowerment of rural master craftswomen. She has been on the National Advisory Board of the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’, Washington DC.
Amongst many institutions, Sunita Kohli has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Innovations, Emory University's Carlos Museum and Halle Institute, at Colorado College and at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. She has published and presented several papers; notably, ‘Sir Edwin Lutyens and the Planning of New Delhi’, 'Mughal Jewellery: Statement of Empire' and ‘World Heritage Sites in India: Monumental Statements of Faith and Empire’. She is a Fellow of the 'Halle Institute of Global Learning', Emory University, Atlanta, USA. Her essay on 'The Planning of New Delhi' is part of 'The Millennium Book on New Delhi', published by OUP. Her forth-coming books will be 'A Children's Book on Delhi's Architecture', 'Awadhi Cuisine' and 'Tanjore Paintings'. The first of these books has been illustrated by two of their three grand-children, Anadya and Zohravar.
In 1992, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India
“for contribution to national life by excellence in the field of Interior Design and Architectural Restoration”. In the same year, she received the "Mahila Shiromani Award", recognizing women of achievement, by Mother Teresa.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n interior designer, architectural restorer and furniture manufacturer. She had restored and decorated Rashtrapati Bhavan
Rashtrapati Bhavan
The Rashtrapati Bhavan or The Official Residence of the Head of the State is the official residence of the President of India, located at Raisina hill in New Delhi, India. Until 1950 it was known as "Viceroy's House" and served as the residence of the Viceroy and Governor-General of India...
(the President's House), Parliament House
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
Colonnade (1985-1989), the Prime Minister's Office and Hyderabad House
Hyderabad House
Hyderabad House earlier known as Palace of the Nizam of Hyderabad is a former princely residence of Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII located at New Delhi. This house was built in 1926 by eminent architect Edwin Lutyens. It was the Delhi palace for the last Nizam of Hyderabad state.It is currently used...
in New Delhi.
She was awarded the Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
by the Government of India in 1992.
Early life and education
Born in Lakshmi Mansions, a noted Victorian building in LahoreLahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, to Indar Prakash and Chand Sur , Sunita Kohli grew up in a liberal household in Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
as her father was an Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
i and who had migrated to Lucknow after the partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. She studied at a Roman Catholic convent in Lucknow. Growing up her father would take her along to auctions and sales, looking for old lamps and furniture. Later she graduated in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University) in New Delhi, followed by an M.A. in English from Lucknow University.
Career
She taught at Loreto Convent College, Lucknow, before the "accidental" start of her career in interior design. After her marriage, she and her husband started frequenting kabadiKabadi Wala
Kabaadivala, or Kabadi meaning "junk or scrap dealer", is a term in Hindustani used commonly to refer to a person who deals with used household objects. They wander the streets with a bag, bicycle, or a cart shouting for "Kabad" i.e. junk. They purchase used items from households in exchange for...
shops in their free time, looking for 19th century English furniture and lamps in Lucknow, Rajasthan and the hill resorts of Dehradun and Mussoorie. Soon Kohli converted her interest into an antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
business through which she sold Davenport desk
Davenport desk
A Davenport desk, is a small desk with an inclined lifting desktop attached with hinges to the back of the body. Lifting the desktop accesses a large compartment with storage space for paper and other writing implements, and smaller spaces in the forms of small drawers and pigeonholes...
s and Regency wine table
Wine table
A Wine-table is a late 15th-century device for facilitating after-dinner drinking, the cabinetmakers called it a "Gentleman's Social Table." It was always narrow and of semicircular or horseshoe form, and the guests sat round the outer circumference...
s. She learnt restoration of furniture from local master-craftsmen, which led to the start of her restoration business.
She established Sunita Kohli Interior Designs, an interior design firm in New Delhi, in 1971. In the following year was established Sunita Kohli & Company, which manufactures contemporary classic furniture and fine reproductions of Art Deco, Biedermeier and Anglo-Indian colonial furniture. Her career, added another dimension, when in the mid-1970s she established in partnership, another design firm which was commissioned to design a small hotel for the Oberoi Group, near the Khajuraho
Khajuraho
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Khajuraho , a town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about southeast of New Delhi, are one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for...
temples, The Oberoi in Bhubaneshwar and the Hotel Babylon in Baghdad. This firm closed but other hotel design projects followed in Cairo, Aswan and El-Arish in Egypt- The Oberoi Mena House Hotel and Casino, overlooking the Pyramids of Giza; two luxury hotel cruise boats on the Nile for the Oberoi Group; The Oberoi Aswan in Upper Egypt and The Oberoi in El-Arish, on the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea. In the mid-90's, she designed The Oberoi Philae Cruiser, another luxury hotel boat. For Mr. PRS Oberoi, she restored and decorated, for his personal use, the 250 year old Naila Fort, near Jaipur.
Over the years she has designed several hotels, resorts and private residences in India and Sri Lanka. In Lahore, Pakistan, she has also worked on the restoration and conversion into a boutique hotel, of a late Sikh-period haveli in the Old City, over-looking the 17th century world heritage sites of the Lahore Fort and the Badshahi Mosque. In the early 90's, she did the interior design of the British Council Building in New Delhi. She also designed the National Assembly Building in Thimpu, Bhutan. This Parliament Building was again worked on in 2010, by K2INDIA for the SAARC Summit in Bhutan. She has also been involved in the restoration and redecoration of numerous British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
period buildings in New Delhi, mainly designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
, Sir Robert Tor Russell and Sir Herbert Baker
Herbert Baker
Sir Herbert Baker was a British architect.Baker was the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, 1892–1912....
, including Rashtrapati Bhawan (formerly Viceroy’s House), the Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament House and Hyderabad House.
Sunita Kohli has been the chairperson and founder trustee of an NGO that worked for street and slum children. She is deeply involved in primary education and health for the poor. She is now on the boards of ‘Satyagyan’, an affiliate of ‘World Literacy of Canada’, an organization that works with children’s education, women’s advocacy and women’s empowerment through vocational training; and ‘Save-a-Mother’, an NGO which is dedicated to decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates in India. She is a patron of the Women’s Cancer Initiative in Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay.
In 2004, her younger daughter Kohelika Kohli, an architect and a Pratt Institute of Design, New York graduate returned to India, after working with ‘Oliver Cope Architects’ and interning with ‘Foster and Partners’. She created an architectural firm, ‘Kohelika Kohli Architects’. Eventually in 2010, they formed K2INDIA, bringing together all their respective companies. In 2010, she again got involved in the conservation work of Rashtrapati Bhavan, after a gap of 19 years.
In 2005, Sunita Kohli was instrumental in the conceptualization and founding of the 'Museum of Women in the Arts,India' (MOWA, INDIA). Within MOWA, an NGO is being established for the empowerment of rural master craftswomen. She has been on the National Advisory Board of the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’, Washington DC.
Amongst many institutions, Sunita Kohli has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government Innovations, Emory University's Carlos Museum and Halle Institute, at Colorado College and at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. She has published and presented several papers; notably, ‘Sir Edwin Lutyens and the Planning of New Delhi’, 'Mughal Jewellery: Statement of Empire' and ‘World Heritage Sites in India: Monumental Statements of Faith and Empire’. She is a Fellow of the 'Halle Institute of Global Learning', Emory University, Atlanta, USA. Her essay on 'The Planning of New Delhi' is part of 'The Millennium Book on New Delhi', published by OUP. Her forth-coming books will be 'A Children's Book on Delhi's Architecture', 'Awadhi Cuisine' and 'Tanjore Paintings'. The first of these books has been illustrated by two of their three grand-children, Anadya and Zohravar.
In 1992, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
“for contribution to national life by excellence in the field of Interior Design and Architectural Restoration”. In the same year, she received the "Mahila Shiromani Award", recognizing women of achievement, by Mother Teresa.
Personal life
In 1971, Sunita Kohli married Ramesh Kohli, an equity investor.They have three children- Kokila, Suryaveer and Kohelika.External links
- 'Happiness is always in retrospect' Indian Express