At the heart of Ek Kalakaar Designs is Anurag Bhandari, a designer who sees potential where others see waste. With a career spanning corporate leadership and creative entrepreneurship, Bhandari has transformed his passion for sustainable design into a unique business approach.
For Bhandari, Sustainability is a commitment to reimagining how we use resources. In 2019, he founded Ek Kalakaar Designs, a studio dedicated to creating furniture, lighting, and spaces from recycled materials. Each piece produced by Ek Kalakaar Design Studio tells a story of transformation. Furniture becomes more than an object—it’s a statement about environmental responsibility and creative thinking. By blurring the lines between design and art, Bhandari creates products that are both innovative and meaningful. His team specializes in turning scrap and waste into elegant, functional designs that challenge traditional manufacturing methods.
Today, he continues to push boundaries, proving that good design can be both beautiful and responsible. Through his work, Bhandari demonstrates that creativity can be a powerful tool for environmental change.
Anurag Bhandari Ek Kalakaar Design Studio
In this intriguing conversation as part of the DTalks series, Bhandari opens up about his journey and experiences as well as shares his insights into the design industry and challenges of being a truly sustainable brand.
Q. How would you describe your signature design aesthetic, and how has it evolved while working in India?
Anurag Bhandari: In our case, the waste materials decide the design aesthetics, but in most cases our aesthetics are more towards Raw and Natural, sometimes adding very strong beautiful finishes. We also aim for industrial aesthetics at times depending on the nature of waste used. There is always a very strong emotional connection not just in terms of visual appearance but also physical feel and form. We have evolved from being just industrial or raw to being more natural in our designs. Our new designs are actually evolving towards natural and contemporary.
Q. What influences and inspires your current work? Could you share some movements, designers, or elements of Indian culture that have shaped your practice?
Anurag Bhandari: I am personally, on an everyday basis, influenced by positive sustainable business stories and negative environmental issues happening everyday in the world, for example the forest fire happening in California.
Something that has motivated me in recent times is my experience of staying at the Farm for a few days. While staying at the farm, the food was cooked on a Chulla, where terracotta utensils were being used. Something felt different with MUD, the smell, taste, feel, everything was beautiful and pure. From that experience, we have actually started working on furniture and lighting made from MUD and TERRACOTTA.
Architect Vinu Daniel is someone whose work has always been an inspiration. His respect for spaces and environment while building is something every architect needs to understand and practice.
Q. Could you walk us through your creative process? How do you move from initial concept to final execution?
Anurag Bhandari: Our creative and execution processes are very different compared to other creators. As we work with different kinds of waste materials, every material has its own characteristics. While designing any product, everything starts from the Waste Material. This material takes the centre stage while designing. Everything is designed around this waste material. In some designs, the waste material plays a functional role, and sometimes only aesthetics and sometimes both.
When we have some interesting waste material, it is kept in an open clear space for a few days. From there, we start to visualise things around it, then if something works, we sketch some concepts. If the concept works, we start experimenting on the waste material in a way that the originality of the waste material is not lost. From there, a rough prototype is made and finally executed. But to be honest, our design process changes with every waste material.
Q. Your work often involves collaborations with artisans and other creatives. What draws you to these partnerships, and how do these collaborations enrich your design practice?
Anurag Bhandari: At Ek Kalakaar designs we do not limit ourselves in terms of materials. As the world is filled with waste materials, we keep our material palette open. Collaborating with different brands based on their material experience is what drives our collaboration.
Working with other creators always opens up different directions based on materials and aesthetics. All creators have one or two materials in which they have better working experience, this is what drives our collaborations.
Q. Looking back at your portfolio, which project represents a significant turning point in your career, and among your recent works, what project are you most proud of and why?
Anurag Bhandari: An interior office space project where I was allowed to open my wings up. The whole space was designed and made by using a client’s factory and newly built home. Space is designed with 50% Waste/Upcycled materials, 20% Sustainable Materials and 30% traditional materials. Looking back, this was the most interesting project, but unfortunately we do not get a lot of clients who are open to the idea of repurposing. I wouldn’t say this was the turning point, but yes, it was a very important part of my career.
I am most proud of our Kukurmutta Lamp Series. Inspired by the beauty of nature’s most enchanting fungus, the Kukurmutta Lamp captures the essence of mushrooms in its unique design. This lamp features natural textures that evoke the organic growth of fungi, emphasising sustainability at its core.
Each Kukurmutta Lamp is handcrafted using discarded waste and sustainable materials. The skeleton is constructed from repurposed PVC pipes, a common plastic found in India, which poses significant recycling challenges. By transforming this material, we aim to reduce pollution and give new life to what would otherwise contribute to waste.
Innovative Materials
The PVC skeleton is adorned with a mix of sustainable materials:
- Stone: Crushed unfinished stone gravels, widely utilised in construction.
- Cob: A traditional blend of mud and cow dung, recognised as one of the oldest and most sustainable building materials.
- Slag: A byproduct of the steel industry, representing a significant portion of India’s annual steel production, helping to reduce industrial waste.
As the lamp illuminates, the various textures come to life, creating a captivating display that enhances any space. Whether used as a statement piece or a subtle accent, the Kukurmutta Lamp is a perfect blend of artistry and sustainability, bringing the beauty of nature indoors. The lamp is available in different sizes and material options.
Why this series is special is because we have tried our best to use the least new materials, and the Mud lamp is something that connects me to the earth.
Q. What unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered as an emerging designer in the Indian design industry, and how are you working to overcome these obstacles?
Anurag Bhandari: We at Ek Kalakaar Designs try to work with our hearts, which sometimes becomes challenging in this commercial world. Following trends is something we always avoid, but in many situations we have to do it to sell and keep things running financially. Also, the trend of using just whites and browns mostly keeps me away from using the beautiful traditional colours of India. Also, As our designs are very bold, sometimes it’s very difficult to place our products in spaces with too simple interiors. Looking at the use of crafts in our Indian products is something we would like to get better at and connect on a deeper level with the Indian audience.
The biggest challenge is making the industry understand the importance of sustainability. The idea of up-cycling is not very much accepted. Competing with products made from New materials is itself a challenge, and then fighting the mindset. We try to overcome this by making products beautiful and well finished. In many cases, no one can tell that the products are made from waste materials. We try to express and create better stores for connections with clients’ hearts.
Q. How do you approach sustainability and eco-friendly practices in your designs, particularly considering India’s traditional wisdom and contemporary environmental challenges?
Anurag Bhandari: Traditionally, we Indians have the wisdom of sustainability. But if you look at a larger scale, all our practices are now driven by profit and western ideas. Things are changing for sure as the market shifts and respects Indian traditional ideas more. At design level, we have started to use the look of traditional and crafts practices in our products.
For example, the use of COB in our Kukurmutta lamp is the start. We plan to make some products using the old method of COB use.
Q. What’s your most exciting recent design or art discovery that’s influencing your current thinking?
Anurag Bhandari: Minute Pavillion by Wallmakers, Vinu Daniel. The entire pavilion is made with tires collected from different waste facilities in Sharjah and packed with the most commonly available material in that region, that is generally deemed unsuitable for construction: desert sand.
The latest collection of Oorja Design made from an invasive plant species, Lantana Camara, and crushed paper made from banana plant fibre.
Multitude of Sins project for The Circus Canteen in Bangalore. The entire space was designed using waste acquired from a Bangalore city-wide donation drive.
Q. How do you build visibility and reach out to potential clients – what platforms and strategies have worked best for you?
Anurag Bhandari: Instagram has worked the best. Our regular participation in Design exhibitions also helps us. Collaborating with online selling platforms is also very effective for Sales.
Q. As you look ahead, what kind of projects or directions would you like to explore?
Anurag Bhandari: We would love to work on sustainable materials on a deeper level. Hemp Wood, Bamboo Wood and Mud is something that interests me for the future a lot. We would love to combine these materials with the waste materials and make more sustainable products. We would like to implement the idea of using waste materials at a bigger scale, for example, working with government agencies and designing their space using their waste.
Q. For aspiring designers looking to make their mark in India’s design landscape, what wisdom would you share from your journey?
Anurag Bhandari: Soch math bus kar de. Don’t think, just do it. Start by creating physical things, not just sketches. There are many ideas, really good ideas. The challenge is execution, once that is done, the most difficult part is done. Start making products more on the sustainable side, even if you use 5% of some waste or recycled material. There will be a big impact on a larger scale. Try to work in harmony with the environment, the future is sustainable.
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