Calcutta-style chai & adda in Dubai
2022
Integrating Branding & Space
It’s not every day that someone suggests transposing the unique tea-drinking culture of a historic city to a polar opposite metropolis known for its skyscrapers and opulence. Unsurprisingly this had us beaming with excitement and joy.
The curb-side culture of Calcutta’s tea-drinking, nay,
tea-overdosing, ingrained in the fabric of the city over decades was now to be presented to the bustling South Asian diaspora in Dubai. To emphasize the intensity of this brand-build, we’ve structured this case study into challenge and its delusional yet workable solution.
Our identity is inspired by the deeply layered city that Calcutta has evolved to be.
The idea of chai & adda isn’t unique in its existence, many cultures have some form of tea-drinking whilst socialising or getting-together. So that begs the question – what makes Calcutta’s chai & adda iconic?
We can observe a richness of collective history funnelled through the geographically diverse migrant population that came to inhabit the erstwhile British capital of India. Calcutta has the original Bengali intelligentsia who need to congregate to talk about worldly affairs – the past, present and future. The Punjabi who just loved tea and consumed it in copious amounts.
The idea of chai & adda isn’t unique in its existence, many cultures have some form of tea-drinking whilst socialising or getting-together. So that begs the question – what makes Calcutta’s chai & adda iconic?
Inspired by the deeply layered city that Calcutta has evolved to be. Reminiscent of a timelessness, firmly rooted in the visual memory of Calcuttans.
We can observe a richness of collective history funnelled through the geographically diverse migrant population that came to inhabit the erstwhile British capital of India. Calcutta has the original Bengali intelligentsia who need to congregate to talk about worldly affairs – the past, present and future.
