Architectural firm Studio Mumbai has once again teamed up with MANIERA gallery in Brussels, this time creating a collection of strikingly beautiful furniture pieces that teach a lesson in economics and intercultural exchange.

In 1995, after studying and working in the United States along with notable minds like Richard Meier, Bijoy Jain returned to India and founded his own firm, Mumbai Studio. Since then, the studio has developed a body of work that references aspects of both Indian and Western cultures through its unique approach. The studio works collaboratively with local artisans, craftspeople and draftsmen to design and build projects through an explorative creative process.

Described as the "result of an ongoing process of refinement and study in material, form and function", the new collection of handmade furniture and homeware features a daybed, a lamp, a console table, a bench, a folding screen and a selection of chairs. Made from "universal" materials such as stone, textiles, glass and brick, the pieces take inspiration from traditional craftsmanship found across the world.

The studio has also used unusual materials like Japanese washi paper, cow dung and lime in the collection. "The materials are very much a part of our immediate landscape...these objects are universal in their relation to water, air and light – they are free from origin or place," — Bijoy Jain