Furniture wrapped in silver and gold

Designer Gunjan Gupta has used the two precious metals to great effect.

Transparent, polycarbonate chairs from Philippe Starck's feted Louis Ghost line; a Zettel'z 6 hanging light by Ingo Maurer over the desk; an old, rustic Indian cupboard to hold her files and books, furniture designer Gunjan Gupta's studio in Ghitorni, New Delhi, is a good indicator of her aesthetic sensibilities "" very international, very contemporary, and at the same time, very India.

Gunjan, who was recently chosen the Indian finalist at the British Council's International Young Designer of the Year (IYDY) award, has wowed everyone with her collection of silver- and gold-foil wrapped furniture.

This was the project she worked on for her MA in Design course at the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, which was unveiled at the 100% Design trade fair in London last year (an achievement in itself for a newcomer).

Starting off as an interior designer, Gunjan came to furniture design because she saw a huge gap in the area. She uses the ancient Indian technique of silver and gold wrapping (patre ka kaam), once used to decorate thrones, and still practised by a handful of artisans in Jaipur and parts of Gujarat.

But on the minimalist, geometric lines of Gunjan's Eastern Recline, Dining Throne and Damroo (a traditional Indian shape that has been turned into a stool), the sheets of the two precious metals, especially the effects she gets by playing with their individual sheens, the result is not just rich and luxe, it's also very modern.

Or, in her words, a combination of "austerity and audacity", and one that she attempts to replicate in her next collection, a line of coffee-table arrays, where she uses granite and silver, hand-cut and polished by Indian stone carvers.

Indeed, preserving Indian crafts that are all but extinct, and giving them relevance in the modern context, are central to Gunjan's design credo.

Sustainability, and ethical use of materials flow out of this: "Our crafts have survived on patronage, but over the years they've been much degraded. Look at the shops on the main road outside [MG Road, which has a number of shops selling all kinds of hand-crafted items]. For the skills they bring to their craft, they would get far higher remuneration in the West."

As the IYDY judges noted, "Gunjan has identified a future for Indian craft in the contemporary context, clearly articulated and executed to high quality."

Besides the IYDY and awards by Elle Decor, Gunjan says she has had enquiries from Sotheby's, and commissions from a number of private and institutional clients in India and abroad. Apparently, Aston Martin wanted her to do up an entire car interior in silver.

Later this month, Gunjan, under the label of wrap, as her design studio is very aptly named, will also start retailing in India from Bungalow 8 in Mumbai.

She is also one of the designers selected to be part of Swarovksi's crystal chandelier project in Paris next year, in which designers worldwide have been invited to come up with products for the wedding market. Gunjan's line will be the throne "" but encrusted with crystals this time.