Raseel Gujral Ansal

Raseel Gujral Ansal
Raseel Gujral Ansal
Born	6 January 1965 (age 56); Delhi
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Interior designer, architect, business owner, entrepreneur
Years active	1990s - present
Known for	Residential projects, commercial projects, hospitality projects, home decor lines and stores, product design
Spouse	Navin Ansal (m. 1998)
Children	2
Parents	Satish Gujral (father); Kiran Gujral (mother);
Relatives	Mohit Gujral (brother) Feroze Gujral (sister-in-law) Alpana Gujral (sister) Inder Kumar Gujral (uncle)
Awards	PHD in Architecture (Honoris Causa)

Raseel Gujral Ansal (born January 6, 1965) is an Indian designer, with design expertise in Architecture, Interiors and Product .^[1] After setting up her own architecture and design studio, Raseel Gujral Ansal Design in the early 90s, she founded the popular retail brands, Casa Paradox and Casa Pop, in 1995 and 2014, respectively. Launching multiple stores along with shop-in-shop collaborations, she designed several product lines including furniture, furnishings, decor and fashion & fashion accessories.^[1] Operating with Delhi as her base,^[2] Raseel gradually built up a reputation as one of the country's leading designers. Her glamorous signature style, artful display and use of luxe materials, bold colours^[1]^[3] and varied influences, has found favour with a large clientele comprising of uber HNIs. Her work has been featured across major publications and she has won several awards for her contribution to the industry.

Early life and education

Raseel Gujral Ansal was born in 1965 in Delhi. She comes from a family of artists and politicians. Her father Satish Gujral was a renowned painter, sculptor and muralist and her mother Kiran Gujral is a ceramist. She’s is also the niece of India’s former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. Raseel is youngest of three siblings—her sister Alpana Gujral is a well-known jewelry designer, and her brother Mohit Gujral, the former Chairman and Co-CEO with DLF Ltd.

Raseel grew up in a household ‘buzzing’ with art and invention, participating in her parents’ art exhibitions and imbibing their work ethics and artistic influence from an early age. Her early schooling was at Modern School, Delhi and later, at Welham Girls School, Dehradun.

Design career

Early work

At the age of 20, Raseel Gujral Ansal joined the architectural practice run by her father and brother.She trained on the job, taking after her father on big ideas, while, from her brother, learnt the day-to-day practical aspects of running an architectural practice such as drafting, space planning and managing a team. She worked at the studio for six years working on specialised residential projects and large-scale commercial projects. While there, she designed the Dean’s space at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi, when it first opened in 1986.

In 1994, Raseel set up her own Architecture and Design studio, Raseel Gujral Ansal Design (RGA Design).

Her office at the time, had two floors of product display and her interior' clients started to demand that these products be available for purchase. Giving in to their demand, she opened doors to Casa Paradox in 1995, a company that designs and manufactures furniture and interior decor products.

Retail stores with home and fashion lines

In 1995, Casa Paradox opened its flagship store at Delhi’s MG Road. Spread across 10,000 sq ft, the store soon became a go-to with Delhi’s swish set, for furniture & interior decor products. Encouraged by the success of their flagship store, she and her husband and business partner, Navin Ansal, set up Paradox Pink, a retail store in Mumbai’s decor hub, Raghuvanshi Mills, followed by another retail store under the name Paradox Black in Bengaluru. Soon after, Casa Paradox got another outpost in Delhi’s DLF Emporio mall.

In 2014, Raseel Gujral Ansal launched Casa Pop, Casa Paradox’s younger, cooler sister. With this new prêt diffusion line, she extended the scope of her design to include product categories like clothing and fashion accessories. In 2017, Casa Paradox became the only Indian brand to participate in Maison et Objet—the globally renowned interior design fair in Paris, showcasing alongside Fendi and Kenzo.

In 2019, she, with Casa Pop collaborated with Hitkari Potteries to launch a dinnerware line carrying her signature aesthetics. In the same year she also collaborated with Olive Bar & Kitchen to design nature-inspired wall art, larger-than-life paper lanterns and table décor elements for their Olive Qutub and Serai restaurants in Delhi.

Current practice

In the last 10 years, architectural design has become a big part of RGA's offering and Raseel Gujral Ansal’s own repertoire, while her aesthetic sensibility has grown to become more sure-footed and quieter. Her studio work now spans high-end residences, showrooms, restaurants, corporate offices, hotels & resorts, all for her varied clientele ranging from politicians and diplomats to industrialists, and tech company CEOs.

In recent years, she and her husband have worked to consolidate their retail businesses, choosing to focus on the flagship store in Delhi.

In 2017, her father, Satish Gujral made a sculpture titled, "Trinity" to mark Raseel's milestone of completing three decades as an architect and interior designer.

In December 2018, she addressed a crowd of chief ministers, politicians, sportsmen, industrialists and entertainers speaking about architecture for urban Indians and her father’s legacy at the India Today South Conclave.

Style and influence

Raseel Gujral Ansal is known for her glamorous and unabashedly maximalist style which is at once opulent and elegant. She has a natural flair for combining complex concepts, textures, shapes to create harmonious vignettes. Raseel Gujral Ansal is also a colourist who believes in harnessing the power of colour to transform a space.

Like her father, Raseel Gujral Ansal likes to be fearless in her work and not be inhibited by a particular genre. She counts the visual arts and crafts as important influences. In recent years she has developed an interest in graphic art, the influence of which can be seen in her newer product lines and collaborations.

Personal life

Raseel Gujral Ansal is married to businessman Navin Ansal (who belongs to a family of landowners from Ferozepur, Punjab) and lives in Delhi with their sons, Aakarsh and Imaan.

Recognition


Yr	Award	Category	Result
2002	American Biographical Institute	Woman of the Year	Won
2007	Builder Information Bureau	Building Industry Leadership Award	Won
2011	Elle Deco International Design Awards India	Designer of the Year	Won
2012	Magpie Curates Indian Home Awards	Luxury Home Retailer	Won
2014	Architectural Digest	AD 50: Most Influential Names in Indian Architecture and Design	Won
2014	FICCI Ladies Organisation, Jaipur Chapter	Outstanding Woman Achiever	Won
2014	WCRC Leaders Excellence Award Asia	Excellence in Women's Empowerment	Won
2014-2015	Asia Pacific Property Award	Interior Design Private Residence India	Won
2015	Luxury Lifestyle Awards	Luxury Interior Design Company of India	Won
2015	Star Retailer Awards	Most Innovative Retailer of the Year	Won
2017	Elite Magazine	Influential Entrepreneurs	Won
2018	HELLO!	Timeless Icon	Won
2019-2020	Asia Pacific Property Award	Interior Design Private Residence India	Won

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