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Renowned for her fearless use of color and form, Iranian architect and designer India Mahdavi blends cultural richness with commercial clarity. Her interiors radiate personality: spaces that don’t just invite you in, but speak directly to how you want to feel once inside. For designers and clients alike, her work is a masterclass in atmosphere — demonstrating how color, materiality, and storytelling can shape both brand identity and user experience. From five-star hotels to global retail icons, Mahdavi’s spaces are as playful as they are precise. These five defining projects don’t just reflect a career that continues to shape the international design conversation, they show that in a world often drawn to minimalism, maximalism — when done right — can be timeless, tactile, and deeply human.


"I was born in Iran from an academic Iranian father and an Egyptian English mother. We moved to the United States when I was a year and a half and lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for four years. Then we moved to Heidelberg and after that to the south of France." 

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"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...
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