The Architecture and Design Film Festival's South Asian debut in Mumbai brings together professionals and enthusiasts from several creative disciplines. Apart from the expanded film showcase, the ADFF:STIR Mumbai hosts ~log(ue), an experimental, interactive talks programme, encouraging participation and engagement among visitors. Inspired by the sheer scale and nature of the expansive discourse that sparks on film, design, architecture and culture at NCPA, architect and designer Tania Singh Khosla and Sandeep Khosla, in collaboration with vis à vis, present Dialogue, a typographic installation at the JSW Pavilion Park.

“The written word (subtitles) act as a bridge between the spoken word (dialogue) and the viewer; they communicate, provide access and enable meaning,” the designers tell STIR. Sandeep, founder and principal architect of Indian architecture and interior design practice Khosla+Anand, together with Tania, founder and creative director of Bangalore-based design practice TSK Design, draw on their decades of design expertise and creative outlooks to materialise Dialogue's pavilion design. The designers are conceptually and culturally driven, utilising design parameters such as form, colour and tactility to explore the intersection of art and design, aesthetics and functionality and machine-made and handcrafted works.

Curry Display, a hybrid typeface designed by Tania, who holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University, informs the visual identity of the letterforms. The typographic design installation features modified, enlarged versions of the letters displayed in an immersive composition for the visitors. “The over-scaled letters and their counter forms frame the exhibition space in exciting ways, prompting viewers to meander through the spaces, interact with each other and shift their perspectives,” says Tania Khosla in a conversation with STIR. Striving to balance the aesthetics of India and the world, she often fuses traditional and contemporary influences for crafting brand and communication identities for companies in the arts, hospitality, corporate and education sectors. For Dialogue, given the multidisciplinary nature of ADFF:STIR, the designer utilises a hybrid typeface design transformed by merging influences from the Latin script Uncial and the Indic script Devanagari.

Indian architect Sandeep Khosla, who is known for his contextual approach towards residential, office, hospitality and institutional design, meticulously curates the pavilion architecture by positioning and orienting the individual components in dialogue with each other. The visitors can see through the components to distinctively perceive the pavilion and identify the interrelationships among its enlarged objects, embodying the curatorial theme of Frames of Reference. A pioneering lighting design brand with over two decades of experience, vis à vis India is set to illuminate the Dialogue pavilion to create an immersive experience for visitors. Thoughtfully utilising light and shadow to highlight the curves and corners of the large letterforms, vis à vis will underline the meticulous detailing and craftsmanship of the sculptural design elements.

TheDialogue pavilion, with its complex, multi-directional and multi-perceptional arrangement, gives rise to an amusing, immersive paradox by being both the subject and the lens through which the subject is perceived. The designers aim to underline words' weight in arts, history and culture by actualising tiny typography into scattered, larger-than-life elements. Tania and Sandeep Khosla invited the visitors to explore the pavilion design elements in relation to each other while also establishing a contextual narrative within the Pavilion Park.

For more information, visit the ADFF:STIR Mumbai website for key highlights of the festival, including the 20+ films, 10 cinematic pavilions, special projects the ~log(ue) programme, media and press coverage and more. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026.