INFO
| Name | Sarosh Mulla (he/him) |
| Country of Birth | Australia |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Indian |
| Artform | Design, Architecture |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Sarosh Mulla is an architectural designer, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and a director at Pac Studio. In addition to undertaking residential, heritage and civic architecture projects, Mulla has produced a number of experimental installations and exhibitions, including and as part of the design collective OH.NO.SUMO.
Mulla grew up in Wollongong (Australia) and Tāmaki Makaurau, attending Westlake Boys High School before studying architecture at the University of Auckland, where he graduated top of his class in 2008. On graduation, Mulla joined his university classmates (Patrick Loo, Katherine O’Shaughnessy and James Pearce) in forming OH.NO.SUMO, a design collective that aimed “to push the boundaries of conventional design practice” and create innovative spatial design projects. Together, they produced three public installations: Cupcake Pavilion (a laser-cut cardboard pavilion in Britomart Square for Auckland Architecture Week, 2009), Paper Sky (a ceiling installation of 20,000 hand-folded paper modules for Urbis Design Day, 2010) and Stairway Cinema (working with Vera Mey, Assistant Director at St Paul ST Gallery, in 2012). The collective won Best Awards for both the Cupcake Pavilion and Paper Sky, and their projects were featured in local and international publications such as Pasajes De Arquitectura, Diseño E Innovación and Elle Decor Italia and Urbis magazine.
In 2017 Mulla completed his PhD in Architecture By Practice at the University of Auckland. As part of his PhD, he designed the Welcome Shelter — an outdoor classroom and social space for sanctuary visitors to meet, share meals and learn — located on the Waikereru Ecosanctuary in Waimata. Mulla led the funding and construction of this project. Beginning with a zero budget, he galvanised a group of 88 sponsors and 88 volunteers, describing the project as “all about how to make architecture a community endeavour once again”. The shelter won a Gold Pin at the 2016 Best Awards and was a winner in the 2020 NZ Institute of Architects Hawkes Bay/Gisborne Architecture Awards, with the judges remarking:
There is a special level of ingenuity at work in this environmental education space: carefully positioned modules enable well-considered viewshafts; a ladder gives access to a rooftop platform with viewing windows; and fold-down walls and bird-nest niches elevate the shelter above the status of an abstract architectural response.
Throughout his career, Mulla has produced exhibitions and installations as a mode of exploring architectural ideas. These include an exhibition at CoCA in Ōtautahi Christchurch and leading a research node called Ideal Home(land) in The Lab during the 5th Auckland Triennial, curated by Chinese curator Hou Hanru. His work has also been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City as part of Archiprix in 2011.
Alongside friends Patrick Loo and artist-designer Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh, Mulla created Rainbow Machine, a public art installation for Auckland City Council. The oversized interactive sculpture invites families to work together to angle the device to channel sunlight through its prisms to create rainbow light effects. It can be relocated to different public parks, playgrounds and events. The project was awarded a coveted Purple Pin at the 2019 Best Awards — recognising it as the best entry in the spatial design category that year.
Since 2015, Mulla has been a Director at Pac Studio. The studio’s projects have included designing the new space for Artspace Aotearoa in 2020. Then-Artspace Director Remco de Blaaij described how the studio offered “an unusual approach to design, which I would call more a form of research-led design. They didn’t focus on set ideas of space and architecture or furniture but really dived into our programme, our infrastructure, our needs and anxieties for the future, Auckland as an urban environment, and so on”.
Mulla currently teaches at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, where he is a Senior Lecturer. He is also a member of the Auckland Council Public Art Advisory Panel.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2021 — Drawing Room, Toi Moroki, Centre for Contemporary Art, Ōtautahi, with Aaron Paterson and Marian Macken
2018 — Penumbral Reflections: Sarosh Mulla & Aaron Paterson - PAC Studio, Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau
2017 — Rainbow Machine, with Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh and Patrick Loo, for Auckland City Council
2017 — Welcome Shelter, Waikereru Eco Sanctuary, Waimata
Key awards
2023 — Good Design Australia Award (Waimataruru)
2022 — NZIA National Architecture Award: Housing (Waimataruru)
2022 — NZIA National Architecture Award: Housing (Crinkle Cut)
2020 — NZIA National Architecture Award: Small Project Architecture (Waikereru Welcome Shelter)
2020 — NZIA National Architecture Award: Small Project Architecture (Point Wells Cricket Club)
2019 — Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Award, Purple Pin for Overall Winner in the Spatial Category (Rainbow Machine)
