For the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission, Nipa Doshi shared a deeply personal reflection on how memories, rituals and relationships can enrich human experience through A Room of My Own. The project embodies Doshi’s design philosophy, which merges craft traditions with modernist design principles to celebrate the coexistence of cultural influences.

The multipurpose cabinet at the heart of A Room of My Own pays homage to the women who have shaped Doshi’s life. Inspired by the Indian kavad, a portable shrine that unfolds to create a temporary site of worship, the cabinet functions as an intimate “room” for gathering one’s thoughts. Accessible from two sides, the cabinet also includes a vanity and a writing desk – components that support contemplation and self-expression. Inside the cabinet, portraits by Doshi that were hand-drawn from memory capture the clothing, jewellery and gestures of women she has known and admired. Combining solid and void, colour and geometry, the materials and structure of the cabinet create an architectural composition that recalls the buildings that inspire the designer.

Accompanying the cabinet is Doshi’s first custom typeface, a bold and ornamental design originally drafted by hand. Together, these elements represent a kind of manifesto for Doshi’s practice: complex, layered and deeply rooted in cultural narratives, celebrating design as a living practice of care and creativity.