Yahel Chirinian or the Urban Adventure. Well known designer of the fairy and mystical Monsoon Heritage studio in Goa, Chirinian designed some of the trendiest, edgy and most exclusive interiors in California, Europe and India. If anyone is a fan of Yahel Chirinian, it’s definitely me. Years ago, I had to find out what all the fuss was about regarding her new realization, the Friedman residence in Malibu– I was amazed by the beautiful serenity of the place, loved the surreal atmosphere and the glamour factor. It looked like something out of a dream. Which was exactly what its iconoclastic designer, Yahel Chirinian, had in mind. "I want this house to be luminescent, surreal, like inside a cloud. This house is about light and bringing the outside in. That's what California is all about" she says. And, of course, everything is upholstered in white. Says Chirinian: "You're inside a cloud, remember?" You may enter through a low, discreet door, but henceforth you're in a riot of complexity, contradiction, a place shrouds in Mystery, remove from Time and Space suspended between reality and fantasy and the magnificently perverse: It's both ultrasolid and ultraethereal, ultranatural and ultra-artificial, ultra-austere and ultrasensual. It's also sophisticated and very pure. Materials penetrate and interlock, as if engaged in a long, intricate kiss. Monsoon Heritage's hip and cutting-edge studio couldn't have been built without Doris Zacheres, the sexy bewitchingly blue-eyed manager of the studio, who has worked on all of Chirinian's projects since 7 years. "At the end of every project, I think no one will want to work with us again," says Zacheres about the hectic nature of Chirinian's ventures. When I met the duo in Los Angeles many years back, Zacheres was rolling her eyes at Chirinian's last-minute request for more trees. "More trees!" she exclaimed. "The last ones took months to arrive. It's always hysteria, but that's the fun of it." No one connected with Chirinian seems to want it any other way. There's more in their project for this client in Santa Monica -a private spa, a swimming pool, and even a transcendental yoga space-but you will by now have gathered that Zacheres's energy and Chirinian's fecundity of ideas are showing no signs of diminishing. It's been 7 years since the two first collaborated in Paris, Italy and New York. In those days, Chirinian would arrange for a purring Harley to be waiting for her at JFK, so she could get off the plane and be ridded straight into the heart of her client construction site. The two may have mellowed a bit, but Zacheres describes working with Chirinian as "good sex-we understand each other completely." Close, long-lasting relationships are central to Chirinian's way of working. The two women's shared belief is that what they do is not as much about trends or design or making money it is all about emotion. Zacheres adds, "if you go for the money first, it's a perversion of the process." People find their place in the world through intelligence and taste, not merely wealth. It is all about connecting an international tribe of sophisticated modern people with a world whose resonant frequency was precisely the same as their own. There are tribes of taste today and they recognize each other by their sensibility and style. Lifestyle is the way a person distinguishes himself or herself. It is the artistry of living. "I am not trendy," says Chirinian. "I am very happy with that. I’m not a designer: I am just a regular citizen who sees something that doesn't exist that can bring happiness or humor or just a touch of love." The success of Monsoon Heritage designs and creations came from Chirinian determination to push the envelope. They hailed interior spaces as inspirational lifestyle, as place to dream, as attitude, and they do deliver an entertaining and transformative experience, but they also provide what a home should provide, an oasis of serenity. Monsoon Heritage Goa – India Email : monsoonheritage@monsoonheritage.com Website : www.monsoonheritage.com