Two supercars can be polar opposites of each other, while a car and a building can be approached in a similar way by a designer. Chairman and MD of the Raymond Group and founder of the Super Car Club of India, Gautam Singhania, provided such interesting insights in a conversation led by Dikshu Kukreja, spanning automobiles, architecture and how design guides both. Excerpts:
Dikshu Kukreja (DK): I’m really enjoying my visit to the Super Car Club Garage and it’s been fascinating to see what all is here. I know that you have a real passion for not just cars but all kinds of vehicles. But let’s talk about cars first. How did you make your first foray, if you still remember, into super-fast cars? Where did it start?
Gautam Singhania (GS): I think I’ve had a passion for cars all my life, starting with go-karting when I was a kid. Subsequently, in the past several decades my passion for cars grew. And it’s not only one form of cars that I have a passion for; probably the most unique range of cars—from go-karts to Formula 1 and from cars that are from the 18th century to those from 2020. I have cars from about 2 horsepower to 1800 horsepower. So it is a very diversified range of cars that I have a passion for.
DK: That is quite a range! So when we talk about supercars, what is it that really attracts you the most in terms of priority? Is it the design side of it or the engineering side? Or is it about features such as aesthetics and speed?
GS: So, when we talk about supercars, I think that word is a very broad one. I don’t think two brands or two supercars are even remotely close to each other. They are as different and as dynamically opposite to each other than they can be. I’ll give you an example – 7-8 years ago, the Ferrari 458, which was the iconic Ferrari, and the Lamborghini cars were targeted at exactly the same market, but they were very different to drive and overall too. There are differences in every little aspect of a car; one wouldn’t be able to gauge the differences even if they were standing next to each other. The Ferrari was a softer car to drive, while the Lamborghini was a much harder one to drive. The Ferrari was a two-wheel drive, the Lamborghini with four-wheel drive.
DK: Really interesting. Somebody who knows a lot more about cars can probably tell the difference. Otherwise just looking at it, one can’t understand the nitty-gritties.
GS: Both the cars have different market shares. If one just looks at them architecturally or design-wise, standing next to each other, they are very different. Lamborghini customers have always been very different from Ferrari customers
DK: What’s interesting is when you talk about it architecturally. For me, it’s interesting how a vehicle, whether a car, yacht or an aeroplane, is similar to a building, because just the way you have parameters for designing a building—plot size, how much you can build, height, etc—there are certain similar parameters for cars—like the size of an engine or the four wheels, the overall limited space one is designing in. And yet you have to give a personalised touch with regard to the space that you are dwelling in, because like you are living in a building, you are also spending time inside a car!
GS: Yes, but I believe you touched a larger subject. I believe designing a home is different from designing a plane or boat or a car due to the fundamental difference of weight. In the design of a building, you don’t worry about the weight, but if you design the interiors of an aircraft, weight is a big issue. Not only weight, but fireproof materials and other limitations are also issues. In a yacht, the more weight you add, the faster you are going to sink. Now in cars, it really depends on the safety of what you doing with the car. If you are modifying the engine, what is the actual capability of the engine that you want to stick into the car? If we are going into a race car zone, then we have to figure out what safety features we want – do you want a roll cage in it, what kind of seat belts you want, what kind of safety equipment you have (fire extinguisher, etc.). All of my supercars have a fire extinguisher. I pay extra money but I get it done because these are high performance cars. So there’s a lot of delta between the different kinds of cars. I have a Mustang Fastback standing here and it’s a piece of art! I could put it on a ramp and show how even the last nut and bolt on the undercarriage is shining.
DK: I know that you have a passion for yachts as well. I believe there is a yacht which has been completely indigenously designed by third generation boat builders from Gujarat. It has interiors which have Burma teak. When you choose to have this kind of a yacht for yourself, how important is the level of artistry and craftsmanship when you have somebody design it for you?
GS: When you build a hybrid yacht, it’s never been done before. It’s going to be a challenge. I design a lot of projects – boats, planes, cars, and now buildings – we’re doing a very large-scale real estate project here. So, it depends on what you want it for. If you want a super yacht and if you want luxury and to spend time on it, you are probably looking at very high-quality finish and utilities, as per your wants.
DK: So when you are actually trying to finalise that design direction for your real estate, is there something where your love for and understanding of design comes through?
GS: I think my love for life comes through!
DK: Fantastic! That’s also the way I see it. If you are passionate about it and have a love for it, it starts showing through in all design aspects, so to speak of. There are these different facets to you—people know you as The Raymond Man, some others know you as the one and only drifting champion of India—there are so many interesting things in your personality. I want to talk about something though which goes a while back—we are talking early 1990s—where you were also instrumental in bringing the Kamasutra condoms to India. Can you tell us a little bit about how you thought about that being very important as far as sexual awareness goes? And even there I find significant design elements because of the whole advertising. Was there an idea for the design of that whole project?
GS: Way back in the early 1990s, there was only the contraceptive called Nirodh. You can talk to me about condoms today but it was not something you could talk about 30 years ago; it was taboo. And we really had to get sex out of the closet! I think the whole campaign with Pooja—the borderline high sensuality, more than sexuality—the design of the campaign was just to keep you on the edge—it’s great! I think it brought the subject out of the closet and I think the controversy gave us tremendous free publicity that established the brand. And from there, we have gone down the design route. There’s been so much variation in design – lots of new products coming out in the offering – so it’s been a fun journey.
DK: When I heard about that, I was not completely aware of you being behind this. But talking about technology, when I look at buildings today, I realise how technology is a fundamental aspect driving them—smart homes, intelligent buildings. Design is now evolving around technology. It’s not an exterior element that needs to be incorporated into the design but rather its starting point.
GS: It’s all about technology today. If you take construction technology, in the good old days, one did shuttering and you made a slab and it took 30 days. Today, we are doing five and a half slabs a month and that’s all driven by technology.
DK: We are doing a project in Sri Lanka which is the tallest building of South Asia, with 120 storeys. And the speed of construction turns out to be mind-boggling! Everything is actually designed off ground. So it’s not that one imagines a building being built and contemplate the direction it will take or not. Technology has it all sorted before—whether it’s BIM and all the other ways that we design, where all these aspects are already thought through and seen 3-dimensionally, then it simply is all about execution. In India, of course, we all love to see the F1 and when it came to the country there was a huge excitement that we actually and eventually had the brand in India. Unfortunately, that lasted only a few years, but do you see anywhere in the country this design movement, through your involvement in designing houses and working on supercars?
GS: I don’t think you’re going to see that movement in this country because I strongly believe that for an industry to be successful in any country you’ve got to have a massive culture for the industry.
DK: But the way I see it, we both share a common passion which is towards design. And I think as that comes into the mainstream, there will probably be a change. Because as you see it, we, in India, have been extremely creative people—look at our craftsmanship, our architecture.
GS: Architecturally, India’s got great architecture. I always make this argument. Just yesterday I was talking to someone and they said it’s Dubai. And I replied that Dubai has no architecture! It’s a mix and match—if you were to ask me what is Dubai architecture, there is no Dubai architecture! It’s a hotchpotch! While if you say Indian architecture, there is so much depth in it. Whether you take the Victoria Terminus or the Taj Mahal, whether you compare Rajasthan or Kerala, it’s very different. But that’s also because we have our culture in heritage.
DK: With your love for travel and machines, would you ever book yourself on the spacecraft that Elon Musk is talking about?
GS: Maybe at the right time. Maybe once they do it a little bit better and probably if I still have the nerve to do, I might do it. I’m an adrenaline junky and I’ve done a lot of stuff. It’s on the bucket list but it’s not a priority at the moment.
DK: Thank you so much, Gautam. It’s been wonderful.
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