Æquō is honoured to have received the Prize for Contemporary Design at PAD Paris 2023 for the Ajanta Daybed by Valériane Lazard.
One of only three awards presented by the esteemed PAD Jury, chaired by Jacques Grange, the recognition celebrates innovation, craftsmanship, and the most distinguished new creation at the fair.
Courtesy of Æquõ
The Ajanta Daybed embodies Æquō’s founding philosophy: Where design, craft, and culture intersect.
Conceived by French designer Valériane Lazard and realised through collaborations across India, the piece reflects an exchange between global design thought and the precision of Indian workmanship.
Carved from solid teak by artisans at Woodlabs in Bengaluru, the daybed’s sculpted voids and curved geometry draw inspiration from the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra. Lazard first encountered these forms while studying The Cave Temples of India by James Fergusson, whose detailed 19th-century drawings revealed the monumental scale and rhythm of these rock-cut spaces.
Courtesy of Æquõ
Balancing the structure’s weight is a handwoven mooda cushion created in Gadag, Karnataka - a reinterpretation of the traditional rice-straw weaving technique once used for transporting grain. Its tactile surface and airy lightness lend both contrast and comfort, transforming the form into a resting object of quiet complexity.
Courtesy of Æquõ