Doshi Levien

Doshi Levien is an award winning studio founded by designers Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien. Doshi Levien’s work explores and celebrates the beauty, plurality and diversity of the world we live in. Nipa and Jonathan believe design is a powerful tool to disrupt homogeneity and foster equal exchange between cultures and countries.

Born in Mumbai and raised in New Delhi, Nipa studied at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad where she developed a love not only for Modern architecture by BV Doshi, Corbusier and Louis Kahn, but also a deep life long appreciation for the ancient walled cities of India, rich in textiles and other Indian crafts.  Jonathan was born in Scotland. He trained as a fine cabinet cabinet maker, taking his understanding of fine craftsmanship to study industrial design. They met while doing an MA at the Royal College of Art in London.

Nipa and Jonathan established their studio Doshi Levien in 2000. The London based practice is internationally acclaimed for work that unites culture, technology, industrial design and fine craftsmanship. Nipa’s practice is rooted in her plural upbringing and astute eye for visual culture; and Jonathan’s in industrial precision, combined with the sensibility of a maker’s hand and deep understanding of materials. The layering of research, materiality, and the tactility of their design process – painting, model-making, colour mixing – result in work that is distinguished by their clarity of ideas and a seemingly effortless attention to detail. What makes Doshi Levien’s work so distinctive is not just their confident relationship to colour, material and form, but their ability to translate the craft and consideration behind their meticulous design ideas to the context of industrial production. This has enabled them to work coherently across industries and categories, from colour to textiles, footwear to lighting, furniture to ceramics, often bringing their understanding of one process to their work on another. They have created work for industry leaders Hay, Moroso, Kvadrat, B&B Italia, Cappellini, Sevres, Camper, Swarovski, Galerie Kreo, international museums and cultural institutions.

Doshi Levien has won several prestigious awards for their work. Nipa and Jonathan were in The King’s 2023 New Year Honours List and both awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to design.

www.doshilevien.com