Sunita Surya Kohli, popularly known as Sunita Kohli, is counted among the most popular interior designers in India. She is a self-taught and research-based interior designer. She is known for the architectural restoration of many iconic buildings, palaces and forts in Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. They have preserved well-known national heritages which were on the verge of extinction.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sunita Kohli was born on Sunday, 28 December 1946 (age 75 years; as in 2021) in Lakshmi Mansion (Victoria Building) in Lahore, Pakistan. She grew up in Lucknow. Sunita Kohli studied from Roman Catholic School in Lucknow. Later, she pursued her graduation in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi and completed her master’s degree from Lucknow University. After his studies, he taught at Loreto College, Lucknow. Sunita Kohli used to accompany her father Inder Prakash to many sales and auctions in her childhood, where her collection of Osler chandeliers and Ritt & Butler lamps could be seen. Seeing those collections sparked his interest in design.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 5″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye colour: brown
Family
Sunita Kohli’s family roots are in Lahore. After the partition of India, his parents decided to relocate to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Sunita Kohli with her family
Guardian
Sunita Kohli’s father, Inder Prakash, is from a Rajput family, and her mother, Chand Sur, is a Hindu Balochi from Quetta. Sunita Kohli lost her mother on 3 December 2021.
Picture of Sunita Kohli with her mother Chand Sur.
husband and children
Sunita Kohli married Ramesh Kohli, one of India’s most successful equity investors, on 21 November 1971 at the age of 24. They have three children, Kokila Kohli, who is the sole owner of Koko’s Kitchen, Kohlika Kohli. is an architect, educated at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and his son, Suryaveer Kohli, who is CEO and founder at SVK Homes. Sunita Kohli has three grandchildren, Anadya, Zohrawar and Aryaman Bhati.
A picture of Sunita Kohli with her husband Ramesh Kohli from her 60th birthday celebrations
Picture of Sunita Kohli with her daughter Kohlika Kohli.
Address
31st, Golf Links, Ground Floor, Front Apartment, New Delhi
livelihood
Interior Designer and Architectural Restorer
According to Sunita Kohli, she decided to become an antiquarian after visiting several ‘Kabadi’ shops (junk dealer shops) in Lucknow, Rajasthan, Dehradun and Mussoorie with her husband, where she found works of art such as early 19th century lighting. Many ancient objects were found. and Edwardian furniture; She decided to sell the Davenport desk and the Regency wine table. He learned this skill from a skilled artisan of Lucknow. According to Sunita, when she started selling these antiquities, many customers started coming to her for redecoration work. His first major project was to design a small hotel in Khajuraho. Talking about this in an interview in 2007, he said,
“When clients entrusted me with furniture restoration, they also asked for advice on redecorating their homes. Interior design as a profession really came to India only in the 1970s.
In 1971, she founded ‘Sunita Kohli Interior Designs’, an interior design firm in New Delhi, India. In 1972, she formed ‘Sunita Kohli & Company’, a contemporary-classic furniture manufacturing company. As his business grew, he began receiving offers to redesign embassies and ambassadorial houses. He has renovated many British and non-British buildings. Sunita Kohli has helped restore the works of many prominent architects including Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker and Sir Robert Tor Russell. Sunita Kohli has renovated and decorated the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House Colonnade, Prime Minister’s Office and Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India. In Bhutan his work can be seen in many hotels and public buildings, including the Parliament of Bhutan. He has designed the interiors of the British Council Building and the DLF corporate office in Parliament Street, New Delhi, India. Sunita Kohli has worked in several countries, most notably in Egypt, where she designed several resorts and luxury hotel yachts on the Nile for the Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) and the ‘Oberoi Group’. He has also renovated, designed and decorated the Naila Fort in Jaipur for Shri PRS Oberoi, Chairman of the Oberoi Group.
Author
Sunita Kohli has written several books like ‘Tanjore Paintings’, ‘Traditional Lamps of India’, ‘Awadhi Cuisine from Jahangirabad Kitchen’ and ‘World Heritage Cultural Sites in India’. He has written a chapter titled ‘The Creation of a Planned City’ on Lutyens and New Delhi for his book ‘The Millennium Book on New Delhi’, which was published by Oxford University Press. Sunita Kohli co-authored a book titled ‘The Lucknow Cookbook’ with her mother Chand Sur; The book was published on 5 December 2017, and contains 230 pages with 18 chapters with 150 vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes, representing the tastes of his kitchen and the kitchens of his friends and family. The book became one of the bestsellers in the non-fiction category in India. The book contains the essence of the cuisine and culture of Lucknow. While talking about ‘The Lucknow Cookbook’ in an interview in 2019, Sunita Kohli had said,
The recipes in the book are drawn from this rich culinary heritage, food preparation is learned by observation, a process of osmosis. Four generations of our family are quite good cooks, this book documents the recipes we learned from our mother and other close friends.
Sunita Kohli and her mother Chand Sur holding ‘The Lucknow Cookbook’ in a picture
Social Worker
Sunita Kohli is the Founder and Trustee of Satyagyan Foundation, an affiliate of “World Literacy of Canada” in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It is a non-governmental organization formed for the economic empowerment of women by providing vocational training and literacy. She is the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of ‘Save-A-Mother’, an NGO working to reduce maternal and child mortality in India. She is also a contributor to the ‘Women’s Cancer Initiative’ of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
National Museum of Women in the Arts in India
In 2005, Sunita Kohli founded the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts in India’ in collaboration with the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’ in Washington DC. It was founded to “honor women artists of the past, promote the achievements of women artists of the present, and ensure the place of women artists in the future.” She has also been a part of the National Advisory Board of the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’ in Washington DC.
K2India
Sunita Kohli and her daughter Kohlika Kohli co-founded K2India in 2010. It is a multidisciplinary design and architectural firm, based in New Delhi. The idea of forming the company was to bring together the creativity and ideas of two different companies, i.e., ‘Kohelika Kohli Architects’ (the architecture and project management cell of the company, established in 2004), ‘Sunita Kohli Interior Design Pvt. Ltd. Ltd.’ (Interior Designer Cell of the Company, established in 1972), and ‘Sunita Kohli & Co.’ (Furniture Manufacturing Cell of the Company, established in 1971) under one roof. The company specifically deals in the design of restaurants, hotels and resorts, gyms, private residences, corporate offices, luxury hotels boats and aircraft; and restoration of forts, palaces, public buildings and heritage sites. The company has successfully completed many projects in many countries like Egypt, Bhutan, England and Sri Lanka. In 2014, the company was honored with an Architectural Digest 50 Award. The company has received several other awards such as AD Award (2020), FCCI FLO (2019-2020), India’s Foremost Architect and Design Award (2019), Inkpot Achievers Award (2019), ID Honors Award (2019), AD Award (2108), The Fashion Awards (2017), AD50 Award (2017), Festival of Architecture and Interior Designing Award (2016), Society Interiors Honors Award (2015), The ET Architecture and Design Summit (2014), AD50 Award ( 2014), Building Industry Leadership (2006), Wade ‘Role Model’ Interior Designer, Jama Masjid United Forum: Terrorism National and International World Conference, etc.
One of the residential projects of K2India, ‘Mongolia Apartment’
‘Underdog Sports Bar & Grill’, one of the business projects of K2India
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 1992, Sunita Kohli was awarded the Padma Shri, making her the first interior designer to be awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award for her work in the field of “Architectural Restoration and Design”.
- Sunita Kohli is the first woman to be appointed as the chairperson of the School of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; He was appointed in January 2014.
- In 1991, she received the prestigious Mahila Shiromani Award from Mother Teresa; The award recognizes women who have made achievements in the field of civil society.
Sunita Kohli received the ‘Mahila Shiromani Award’ from Mother Teresa in 1991
Facts/General Knowledge
- Sunita Kohli has lectured at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom.
- She is the only interior designer to be awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
- He has presented various papers in various fields such as design, architecture, historical preservation, literature, Mughal jewelery as a narrative of empire, World Heritage Cultural Sites in India and social entrepreneurship.
- He is one of the members of the Advisory Committee of Rashtrapati Bhavan. She is also a member of the General Council of the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, India. Sunita Kohli is also a member of Della Leaders Club (DLC).
- She is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Haryana, India.
- Sunita Kohli’s home furniture is contemporary in design and most of them are designed and manufactured by her daughter Kohlika Kohli.
- She is also known by the name Guddi.
- Sunita Kohli’s favorite sweet is home-made kulfi.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn