Editor’s Note
Architecture and interior design are often discussed in terms of scale, style, and structure. Yet their most profound impact is invisible. A well-considered space can slow your breath. The right proportion of light can soften a long day. Texture, colour, material when thoughtfully composed have the ability to restore mental calm in ways we rarely articulate.
In a world that feels increasingly accelerated, aesthetic, intentional spaces are no longer indulgences; they are necessities. They shape our mood, sharpen our clarity, and gently hold us together.
This edition explores the many currents shaping design today, with a special focus on colour, perhaps the most emotional tool in a designer’s vocabulary. We look closely at Asian Paints Colour of the Year 2026, and how this defining shade ‘Moonlit Silk’ may influence interiors, objects, and artistic expression in the months to come.
From there, our journey travels outward to the snow-laden landscapes of the Swiss Alps, where collectible design takes centre stage at NOMAD St. Moritz, proving that craftsmanship and context can coexist beautifully. And as anticipation builds for the largest design gathering in the world, Salone del Mobile.Milano, we sit down with its president, Maria Porro, who shares what compelling narratives and unexpected moments await this year in Milan.
In every edition, I reserve a small corner to speak directly, not as a curator of projects, but as someone still in love with the discipline. This time, the thought that stayed with me was Romance in Design.
Why romance? Perhaps because somewhere between algorithms, render engines, and perfectly filtered grids, we have forgotten that design is also emotion. It is the quiet attachment to a space. The comfort of imperfection. The memory a room holds long after the lights are off. Maybe design is not meant to be relentlessly “Instagrammable.” Maybe it is meant to be lived in, felt deeply, and understood slowly like it once was, before everything became content. Perhaps it’s time we reclaim that tenderness.
On our Cover, a bamboo-and-concrete cocoon by Lyth Design in Sonepat, Haryana reimagines the idea of a sustainable food street not as a commercial strip, but as an ecological dialogue between nature and structure. It is a reminder that aesthetics without function feel incomplete, and function without sensitivity feels cold.
We also engage in a thoughtful conversation with Delhi-based Basics Architects, whose projects demonstrate how nature-integrated design can be both grounded and forward-thinking.
Beyond architecture, our DE Products section introduces a curated selection of refined, collectible pieces, objects of finesse that may be small in scale but transformative in presence. Because sometimes, it is the subtle additions that redefine how a home feels.
As you turn these pages, I invite you to approach design not just as a discipline, but as a relationship. With colour. With material. With space. With memory. May this issue encourage you to slow down, to notice more, and to design or inhabit spaces that nourish your mind as much as they please the eye.
After all, the most enduring design is not the loudest. It is the one that quietly stays with you.
Let’s Talk Design with DE. Happy Reading.
Cheers!!
– Anirudh Datta
(Editor-in-Chief at Design Essentia Magazine)
