The New Wave at Milan Design Week

Yatin Patel is Founder and Principal of DSP Design Associates, based in Mumbai, India. He founded the practice with his partners three decades ago and has seen it grow into one of south Asia’s and the world’s mega-studios, capable of producing premium quality work in the fields of master planning, architecture and interior design, supporting all manner of construction projects including mixed-use developments, high-density residential, corporate and commercial spaces, hospitality, industrial, retail and education.

After being induced into ONE Global Design, the firm has projects in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe, in addition to its existing presence in India, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. Its client list includes the bluest of blue-chip companies, household names around the world, and the structures and spaces it creates are among the most ambitious, confident and beautiful being built currently.

DSP’s phenomenal growth mirrors the economic explosion that has taken place in India and south Asia during its lifetime. It is not too much of a stretch to say that firms like DSP, and people like Yatin and his partners, have represented to the world a new India, one which they have created with their drive and talent at the same time as it has nurtured them. The transformation that India has witnessed in recent decades would be impossible without them, just as their success would have been impossible without India’s new economy as the catalyst.

Someone who has witnessed so much change, and who has been an active agent in that change, is well placed to discuss the future of the architecture and design industry. DSP is very future-facing in its work practices. It places a lot of emphasis on diversity and inclusion in its recruitment and management of its people. It is a leader in India and the wider region in promoting smart buildings and in embedding sustainability in architectural and design practice. Its work is at the cutting edge in terms of aesthetic and technical brilliance. But one gets the sense from Yatin that he knows which way the wind is blowing. Having had the vision and self-belief to establish himself in the early days of one of the biggest development booms in human history, and to ride the wave successfully for so long, surely he knows something that the rest of us don’t…

We meet Yatin at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan’s famous art gallery in the heart of the city’s design quarter. It has been rather taken over by our GROHE SPA launch event; the spectacular installation dominates the central courtyard. But the neo-classical architecture still shines, working in harmony with our present-day creation. It is a good example of our changing – and enduring – notions of beauty and opulence in public spaces, which makes it a good place for our conversation with Yatin.