DECOR | 07th Aug, 2025
Inside a Surat-based studio that’s reimagining wooden automata through memory, mechanics, and the meticulous labour of Indian artisans.
When craft becomes a form of storytelling, and motion becomes a metaphor for memory, you get something like Out of the Shed – a Surat-based multidisciplinary design studio that approaches making as both method and message. Founded by architect and maker Priyanka Shah, the studio thrives on a philosophy that values tactility, iteration, and the nuances of material-led thinking. What sets this practice apart is its commitment to working through the process – carving, chiseling, testing, prototyping – not just to achieve form, but to embed emotion and narrative into every object. Here, the act of building is layered, human, and deeply reflective. The team behind Out of the Shed includes a close-knit group of designers, carpenters, and traditional craftspeople, many of whom have long-standing relationships with materials like wood, brass, and clay. The studio space itself is a functional hybrid – part workshop, part thinking lab, where objects evolve slowly through conversation, calibration, and conscious decisions. What might appear playful on the surface – like their kinetic wooden carousels – is in fact the result of rigorous hours of making, measuring, and constant refinement.
Among the studio’s growing body of work, their carousel series has emerged as a signature exploration of memory, movement, and handcrafted detail. From dozens of intricate pieces, four standouts – Landscape, Library, Mountain, and Old City – capture the breadth of what’s possible when design meets deep technical skill. Each of these rotating structures is a collectible, a mechanism, and a container of ideas.
The Landscape Carousel, with its balance of wood, brass, and indigo-painted Paperclay, explores the visual tension between land and water, using sculpted materials to create a moment of meditative stillness.
The Library Carousel presents a more intimate narrative – an archive of one man’s favourite things, from vintage cars to books, rendered in marquetry and motion, blending brass detailing with smooth mechanical rotation.
The Mountain Carousel demonstrates the studio’s architectural intuition, constructed from layers of wood offcuts laminated and carved to mimic the contours and undulations of a living terrain, dotted with miniature homes.
From Left: Priyamvada Golcha and Simon Marks, founders of Khanoom Jaipur.
And then there’s the Old City Carousel – Out of the Shed’s most elaborate piece yet – which required 263 days of work, 7010 man-hours, and a coordinated team of 21 artisans. Built like a vertical street, it features an assembly of balconies, columns, jharokhas, and a glass-fitted chabutro. No two houses are the same; each facade is crafted to reflect the individuality and character found in the winding lanes of towns like Gopipura and Bhagal. These carousels are not made to simply spin – they are made to feel, observe, and remember.
What makes these pieces more than just functional design objects is their insistence on the importance of handcraft. In a time when speed and scalability often define contemporary design, Out of the Shed prioritizes the opposite: slowness, material respect, and the preservation of traditional techniques. Every inlay, every cut, every concealed gear and finished joint reflects a lineage of Indian craftsmanship that is being not only respected but reinvented. The studio’s work underscores the idea that craft is not a static tradition – it is a living system of knowledge that must be adapted, stretched, and challenged in order to remain relevant. By investing time and intention into each carousel, the studio builds more than collectibles; they build mechanical memories, embedded with personal stories, cultural references, and material honesty. In a world that increasingly flattens experience into pixels and mass production, Out of the Shed reminds us that there is still value – emotional, cultural, and technical – in objects made slowly, by hand, with people who care deeply about what they build.
GLOSSARY: OUT OF THE SHED EDITION
Fancy some spatial vocab with your coffee?
Jharokha
That tiny balcony you’ve seen in forts and Instagram reels—now miniaturized and spinning with intent.
7010 Man-Hours
Yes, someone counted. Because when design is this complex, time is currency.
Rotation Therapy
Unverified by science, certified by Bonafide—watching these carousels spin is strangely healing
When A Lamp Just Sits There, But Your Carousel Tells Stories
Rotating architecture? Tiny balconies? Personal archives in motion? Welcome to storytelling with gears.
Motion, But Make It Emotional
These aren’t toys. They’re tactile memory machines, quietly pulling at nostalgia—one spin at a time.
Marquetry > Metaverse
Old-school inlay. New-age intimacy. The Library Carousel does what your bookshelf algorithm never will—show what you actually love.
Mass Production Who?
You won’t find duplicates. Each piece is unique, obsessive, and intentionally un-scalable.
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BONAFIDE is a digital design platform that goes beyond aesthetics. We spotlight the thinking, intent, and craft behind
meaningful design- not just the finished product. From architecture and interiors to product design and independent
brands, we cover work that challenges the norm and pushes ideas forward. Our content is visually sharp, editorially
bold, and purpose-driven. We ask better questions, tell smarter stories, and put creative minds in focus. If you’re
building something original with substance and clarity, we’re the platform that gets it, and tells it like it is.
BONAFIDE is a digital design platform that goes beyond aesthetics. We spotlight the thinking, intent, and craft behind meaningful design- not just the finished product. From architecture and interiors to product design and independent brands, we cover work that challenges the norm and pushes ideas forward. Our content is visually sharp, editorially bold, and purpose-driven. We ask better questions, tell smarter stories, and put creative minds in focus. If you’re building something original with substance and clarity, we’re the platform that gets it, and tells it like it is.
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