Our Signature Design Installations
A collection of our defining works, where materials like copper, fiber, and soil are transformed into immersive, story-driven spatial experiences.
We believe in creating spaces that are living narratives. This installation for 'India Everywhere' is a testament to that belief, a gleaming river of copper, aluminum, and cotton meticulously handwoven in our studio. It is a sculptural form that embodies the confluence of India's rich history and its modern aspirations.
We invite you to dive into the deep. This immersive sonic and visual experience uses over forty layers of custom double-weave fabrics to abstractly render the mysterious and poetic landscape of the sea. The interplay of light, sound, and textile creates an environment that speaks of the ocean's unfathomable depths.
Here, we manifest the Colour of the Year 'Terra' as a visual poem of colossal leaves. The installation evokes the feeling of homecoming, of walking on fallen leaves as they return to the soil. It is a metaphorical and sensorial exploration of primordial materials and the emotional sanctuary of familiarity.
Our work explores the intersection of tradition and speculative futures. For the 'Indofuturism' theme, we created a surreal panorama, juxtaposing hybrid futuristic portraits generated by AI within the familiar architecture of an Indian Mahal. This is a celebration of heritage that embraces the external, projecting a new Indian identity onto the world stage.
An environment designed to awaken wonder, 'Feel More' is a tranquil journey through layers of translucent, hand-printed fabrics. As light shifts and breathes through the space, it amplifies a dream-like quality, inviting you to pause and discover the tiny hidden treasures and delicate craftsmanship woven into each panel.
We challenge conventional notions of taste by curating audacious and expressive environments. The 'Bad Taste?' installation is a deliberate counter to quiet luxury, embracing louder forms, colors, and objects. Through over-the-top decadent textiles and playful juxtapositions, we explore an alternate visual sensibility that is unified in its maximalist vision.
For 'Silver Escapade', we designed a dynamic silver colonnade that blurs different periods of time. Ornate, period-inspired forms meet sparse modern columns, while mirrored surfaces create dream-like illusions. This play of form, finish, and reflection embeds the audience within the experience, making them part of the story.
We find poetry in traditional materials and forms. This sculptural rendition for 'Edge of the Forest' uses a cluster of traditional 'Lu' fish traps from Manipur. Set against a bamboo forest and an evening landscape of fireflies, the installation becomes an evocative context for healing through ancestral wisdom and craft.
Our studio is a space of material alchemy. This image captures the process behind our 'Cu+Fibers' exhibition, a play of handspun and machine-made yarns. The journey of coaxing, manipulating, and responding to hemp, jute, and copper is a continuous engagement guided by the joy of small discoveries.
We explore how art is consumed in the digital age through our 'Artify' installation. This space visualizes a metaverse of possibilities, creating a dense forest of screens displaying NFTs. It is a physical manifestation of the digital art landscape, questioning the boundaries between the virtual and the real.
About Featured
We believe design is an active dialogue with materials. Whether we are weaving copper into architectural forms or mapping complex narratives onto exhibition walls, our approach remains hands-on and improvisational. We do not work with pre-set templates. Instead, we allow the interplay of light, texture, and structure to dictate the final form, ensuring every space feels alive and responsive to those who enter it.
Our Featured collection is an archive of our journey into the intersection of art, craft, and technology. It highlights how we translate abstract ideas—like the shifting moods of an ocean or the warmth of soil—into physical, walk-through realities.
Material as Narrative
In projects like 'India Everywhere,' we demonstrated how industrial materials can carry cultural weight. By hand-weaving copper wires with cotton and aluminum, we create sculptural forms that bridge history and modernity. Our process involves coaxing the material, manipulating its rigidity until it softens into an organic, flow-like structure.
Creating Sensory Environments
We focus on the total experience. Light, sound, and touch are as vital as the physical structure itself. For installations such as 'Terra' or 'Into the Deep,' we manipulate lighting to cast deliberate shadows, turning flat surfaces into depth-filled landscapes. We want the visitor to feel a connection, whether it is the familiarity of a childhood home or the mystery of underwater depths.
Our Philosophy
Design is not just about aesthetics for us; it is about establishing a sanctuary. We operate at the confluence of tradition and future-facing technology. By combining hand-spinning techniques with digital projection and AI-generated imagery, we ensure our narratives are layered and complex. Every installation is a unique engagement, built to provoke curiosity and invite quiet reflection. If you have a space that needs to tell a deeper story, we invite you to explore how we can interpret your vision through our material lens.
Wari Watai
We are Wari Watai, a Bengaluru-based studio that has spent the last decade exploring where design meets philosophy. We don't just build spaces; we invent experiences, poking at materials like salt and copper until they tell a story. For us, every installation is a quiet discovery, a way to make the world feel a little more like coming home.
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