Inside is Out
For interior designer and landscape architect Ahmad Sardar-Afkhami, a well-designed home knows no bounds.
Go ahead and try to fefine what exactly it is that Ahamad Sardar-Afkhami does and he'll take you on a concersational roller coaster. He will cite centuries-old texts by Renaissance thinkers–long before there was a Renaissance–and the pinks and lilacs and yellows worn by courtiers of the Safavid Era. He'll talk about how he earned a masters degree in landscape architecture but then decided he also needed an architecture degree so he could better establish himself while working at Robert AM Stern. He'll talk about how process is never linear, nor should it be. In short (we'', maybe not that short), Sardar-Afkhami is someone who fuses many interests and skills at his firm, Sardar Design, whether that means working on an ambitious garden project in the Hamptons or an eco resort in Jordan. He is someone who helps us rethink what a home can be–where it starts and where it ends, and how we get there.
How’d you get into design?
Both my parents are architects; my grandmother was a gardener, and my grandfather founded a botanical garden. When I got my degree in landscape architecture, my granny said, “Who goes to Harvard to become a gardener! We garden for ourselves.”
You also earned a masters in architecture. Explain.
Especially in Iran, where I was a child, there is an extension of the inside to the outside, architecturally. It’s warm and dry and there’s not crazy bug life, so there is a civil boundary between the two, especially when it comes to design. In our culture, we just sit outside. It’s a contemplative space. And I try to bring that notion to gardens and furniture-d outside spaces I work on.
What about, you know, weather?
I’m not going to design you a waterproof pergola. It’s nice, but if it’s raining, let’s go inside.
What influences you when working on a project?
There is a past in everywhere you look. That really speaks to me. I want to really understand what came before.
What’s exciting you these days?
I really like to look at the colors of France in the 1930s, and the miniature paintings of Iran’s Safavid Era [1501-1736] with the king in delicate pink, and his ministers in lilac and yellow—colors that we think are off for men, but I like to have that openness. Color for me is the most affordable luxury. It really scares some people; they don’t have the courage. But for me it’s very important.
What concerns you when you think about sustainability?
All of these excessive clothes we buy and throw away, it all lands in Africa. It’s frightening, it gets dumped into a secondary market and kills craft. We export our problem of overconsumption.
How do you challenge this cycle in your own profession?
Well, for instance, instead of going to a house to buy silk velvet, it’s very easy to contact artisans directly. I source silk ikat from artisans in Uzbekistan; it enables them to stay in their homeland and ply their craft. It also flatters them, when you express interest and passion in what they do—it shows it has a value, obviously, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. But it’s validating for them.
Inside is Out
For interior designer and landscape architect Ahmad Sardar-Afkhami, a well-designed home knows no bounds.
Read more
A Good Hang
From brewing to braidings, Mexican Maker Caralarga has crafted its own course.
Read more
Meet the Maker: CŌG
CŌG crafts jewelry and sculptural objects inspired by nature and rooted in textile tradition, sustainably made in NYC from organic cotton, recycled brass, 14k gold, and sterling silver.
Read more