MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission: A room of my own
Designer Nipa Doshi shares a deeply personal reflection on how memories, rituals and relationships can enrich human experience with 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 kaavad – 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 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.
The MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission is a major series that invites internationally renowned female designers and architects to create significant new work for the NGV Collection. The five-year program is supported through M-POWER, MECCA’s social change initiative that champions opportunities for women and girls through the power of art, design and cultural storytelling.
The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of this work.
Nipa Doshi
The practice of London-based, Mumbai-born designer Nipa Doshi draws on her Indian heritage, adult life in England and career that has seen her travel the world. Exploring the intersections of culture, craft and contemporary design, Doshi transforms her personal history and memories into tangible forms and images, expressed through vividly coloured textiles, furniture, lighting and interior design.
For over two decades, Doshi has developed a design practice that is intimately linked to her individual experiences while engaging with collective narratives. In 2001 she and Jonathan Levien co-founded the design studio Doshi Levien, a partnership known for its thought-provoking contemporary furniture, textiles and interiors. Their portfolio spans serial production, limited editions and one-off works, each defined by a profound engagement with materials and the studio’s signature use of colour and vibrant visual references.
Doshi Levien has collaborated with leading international brands including Moroso, Kvadrat, B&B Italia and Cappellini, and has been exhibited at major cultural institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In recognition of her contribution to the field, Doshi was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2023 for her services to design.
Nipa Doshi is the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission recipient for 2025.
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Jonathan Levien collaborator
Scotland born 1972
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
Atelier Helbecque, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés maker
France est. 2009
A room of my own, cabinet
2025
density fibre board, timber, glass, gold leaf, polyurethane lacquer, brass, aluminium
Nipa Doshi’s handcrafted cabinet is experienced in the round. Conceived as a double sided ‘room’ for nurturing oneself through small daily rituals, the cabinet provides a platform for reflection, writing and dressing. The work evokes a distinctly architectural quality, referencing the buildings that formed the backdrop to Doshi’s upbringing in post-independence India, when European modernist ideals were reimagined through the local culture. This coexistence of worlds – modern forms, vibrant colour, familiar domestic rituals – is captured here, along with vivid snippets from Doshi’s memory.
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Zeenat, Loud ladies, Self-portrait, Mayaand Nina, cabinet drawings
2025
digital prints on paper
Inside her cabinet, Nipa Doshi’s hand-drawn portraits honour women who have influenced and inspired her, transforming the work into a vessel for her values, culture and personal passions.
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this work was made possible through the MECCA × NGV Women in Design Commission. The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of this work.
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
A room of my own, typeface
2025
digital
Nipa Doshi’s debut typeface translates her design sensibility into letters, numbers and symbols that function as both communication and composition. Each character is conceived as an object, recalling the precision of engineered machine components or fine jewellery, reflecting Doshi’s admiration for functional and decorative objects crafted with purpose and precision. The typeface evokes two-dimensional architectural plans and diagrams, extending Doshi’s spatial thinking into graphic form. For Doshi, typography is an egalitarian medium, a tool that others can use to create and communicate.
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this work was made possible through the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission. The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of this work.
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
Memories of home: Real and imagined, drawings for illuminated wall panels
2025
digital prints
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Jonathan Levien collaborator
Scotland born 1972
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
Atelier Helbecque, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés maker
France est. 2009
A room of my own, cabinet
2025
density fibre board, timber, glass, gold leaf, polyurethane lacquer, brass, aluminium
Nipa Doshi’s handcrafted cabinet is experienced in the round. Conceived as a double sided ‘room’ for nurturing oneself through small daily rituals, the cabinet provides a platform for reflection, writing and dressing. The work evokes a distinctly architectural quality, referencing the buildings that formed the backdrop to Doshi’s upbringing in post-independence India, when European modernist ideals were reimagined through the local culture. This coexistence of worlds – modern forms, vibrant colour, familiar domestic rituals – is captured here, along with vivid snippets from Doshi’s memory
Nipa Doshidesigner
India born 1971
Zeenat, Loud ladies, Self-portrait, Mayaand Nina, cabinet drawings
2025
digital prints on paper
Inside her cabinet, Nipa Doshi’s hand-drawn portraits honour women who have influenced and inspired her, transforming the work into a vessel for her values, culture and personal passions.
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this work was made possible through the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission. The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of this work.
Nipa Doshidesigner
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
A room of my own, typeface
2025
digital
Nipa Doshi’s debut typeface translates her design sensibility into letters, numbers and symbols that function as both communication and composition. Each character is conceived as an object, recalling the precision of engineered machine components or fine jewellery, reflecting Doshi’s admiration for functional and decorative objects crafted with purpose and precision. The typeface evokes two-dimensional architectural plans and diagrams, extending Doshi’s spatial thinking into graphic form. For Doshi, typography is an egalitarian medium, a tool that others can use to create and communicate.
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this work was made possible through the MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission. The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of this work.
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
Memories of home: Real and imagined, drawings for illuminated wall panels
2025
digital prints
Nipa Doshidesigner
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
Lahiru Karunaratne digital animation
Mega Bollywood production studio, Devdas
Sanjay Leela Bhansali director, Devdas
Ismail Darbar music, Devdas
Shreya Ghoshal vocalist, ‘Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka’
Aishwarya Rai actor, Devdas
A room of my own, video
2025
colour digital animation, video, sound
4 min 27 sec
In this video, footage of Nipa Doshi’s handcrafted cabinet and animated sequences featuring her debut typeface are intercut with a musical sequence from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 Bollywood film Devdas. The video invokes the emotional impact of Indian cinema, with coloured light, mirrored compositions and stylised edits heightening the joyful and at times introspective atmosphere. It captures a universe of cultural resonance – spatial, sensual and symbolic – evoking a cosmos born of Doshi’s memory and imagination
Nipa Doshi designer
India born 1971
Doshi Levien, London design studio
England est. 2001
A room of my own, video
2025
colour digital animation, video, sound
4 min 27 sec
In this video, footage of Nipa Doshi’s handcrafted cabinet and animated sequences featuring her debut typeface are intercut with a musical sequence from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 Bollywood film Devdas. The video invokes the emotional impact of Indian cinema, with coloured light, mirrored compositions and stylised edits heightening the joyful and at times introspective atmosphere. It captures a universe of cultural resonance – spatial, sensual and symbolic – evoking a cosmos born of Doshi’s memory and imagination.
Digital animation: Lahiru Karunaratne
Production studio, Devdas: Mega Bollywood
Director, Devdas: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Music, Devdas: Ismail Darbar
Vocalist, ‘Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka’: Shreya Ghoshal
Actor, Devdas: Aishwarya Rai