Store, gallery...spaceship? A peek inside Gaia, a new Ahmedabad landmark

There’s a dramatic new shape peeking out of Ahmedabad’s skyline. Is it a giant piece of origami? Butterfly wings made of stone? No, the angular structure with a dramatic V-shaped roof is called Gaia and it’s part retail residency, part cultural space.

Gaia was envisioned by curator Jaina Lalbhai, who has a decade’s experience in curating luxury prêt pop-ups (including for The Wedding Collective) in Ahmedabad, with a brief stint in Baroda too. Style Audit, her popular series of travelling exhibitions that happen multiple times a year, has an avid fan base. Shoppers come to meet the ultra-fashionable Lalbhai herself and browse her nuanced edit of craft- and design-forward brands. “I grew up in the land of Patola and bandhej. Craft has always been part of the conversation,” says Lalbhai when we chat over the phone. Earlier this year, the former lawyer started thinking about giving Style Audit a more permanent home. “It became such a cult movement and I felt it was time to create a space to take its ethos forward.”

But Gaia is meant to be more than a multi-designer store. She envisions it as “an ephemeral space that will continue to evolve in curation, mood, and purpose… I don’t want to call it a gallery, but, yes, it is multi-disciplinary, something the city hasn’t seen before,” she adds.

The location opened this month with a special collection of occasion wear by Delhi Vintage Co. and fine jewellery from Moksh, which will be available only for a limited time. “Both brands are different in sensibility but still work together. They are also a bit low-key and don’t over-promote themselves… There’s a mystery and curiosity around them. These are the kind of brands I want to bring to the city,” Lalbhai explains.

In a few days, Gaia will also host terracotta homeware by Natasha Mehta of Taaka. The roster of brands will continue to rotate. “And then we’ll also have food pop-ups, panel discussions, gatherings of like-minded patrons,” she muses.

But while the curation was the easy part, visualising a physical avatar that matched her intentions was harder, and an even bigger responsibility, considering Ahmedabad’s cultural history. A UNESCO World Heritage City, it’s home to BV Doshi and MF Husain’s Amdavad ni Gufa as well as the world-renowned Calico Museum of Textiles. Lalbhai’s own in-laws are behind the well-established Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, which is dedicated to the history of Indian art. So, naturally, she wanted to contribute to this map.

“When I was creating a mood board, I couldn’t find any references for what I wanted to build. So, I said, let us be the reference instead,” adds Lalbhai about the design of the space.

She worked with Spasm Design Architects from Mumbai, who came up with the striking structure. The result took 15 months to finish.

In contrast to the dramatic exteriors, the interiors are subdued and neutral, so the space can continue to shapeshift based on the brands in residence. This also allows a series of larger-than-life artworks to stand out. Like a reflective metal sculpture at the entrance that mimics crushed textile, created by Delhi-based artists Nitush and Aroosh. Opposite that, she placed a 5-foot, 300-kilo pot sourced from her antique dealer in Delhi. Inside, you’ll find a pair of totem poles from Pune’s Olee Maatee. “The idea was that the new and old co-exist here at the same time. We celebrate design across time.”

And on the meaning behind the dramatic roof, Lalbhai says she’s not going to force an interpretation on you. “I want Gaia to be unpredictable. I only knew one thing when I started out: I didn’t want to do it unless it was going to be iconic.”