Thanks to the IDC School of Design IIT Bombay invite, I presented my doctoral research experience in Design History to the PhD aspirants. My presentation, "PhDing Design History: An Uncharte(re)d Research Journey in India?" elaborated on the research gaps, challenges, opportunities and a few suggestions for new and future PhD scholars. The slides presented are available in this link.
A BIG thanks to people at Design Programme, IIT Kanpur, especially my supervisor Prof Shatarupa Thakurta Roy for supporting my work throughout, and my coursework profs Kumar Ravi Priya Munmun Jha Satyaki Roy Swargajyoti Gohain AK Sharma for an engaging and robust foundation. I hope to elaborate further on my work in Postcolonial Design History in India.
School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal (SPAB), in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar (RGU), organised an online Symposium, Resilient Ziro 2041. This symposium was organised under the EU Erasmus+ project BReUCom aimed to bring together the natives, residents, urban professionals, academics, researchers and other stakeholders in visioning the resilient future of the Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. The valley, which is on the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites, is the living laboratory of sustainable practices in the domains of community, craft and culture.
The inaugural session witnessed Prof Sarit Kumar Choudhuri, a renowned anthropologist and Professor at RGU, noting the event's significance concerning the tribal heritage and the developmental visions of the planners in the North-East region in India. Prof Rama Pandey hosted the session. The inaugural session was followed by a presentation on Ziro, Learning from Ziro, by the former students (batch 2018-20) of the Department of Design at SPAB. The presenters, Ayushi Wakankar, Rik Bhattacharjee, Rinki Sambhani & Jayant Kumar, highlighted the examples of Objects, Spaces, Communication and Systems in the Ziro valley. The presentation oriented the audience towards the unique prepositions of culture, sustainability and resilience at Ziro. The panel discussion, moderated by Dr Saurabh Tewari, hosted the natives and locals of the Ziro Valley around a central question, “How do you see the Ziro Valley in 2041?”. The discussants responded to the question and elaborated their perspectives and visions for the valley. Dr Tage Kanno, DMO at Ziro, shared his logic of nominating the Ziro Valley in the Tentative List of Heritages sites at UNSECO. Nani Jalyang, a local entrepreneur, highlighted the role of women in the various facets of life and future in the valley. Rinyo Ngilyang, an architect and planner, lamented the current state of built practices. She called for adopting the local and traditional construction methods over the unsustainable techniques and materials from the mainland. Rana Gyati, an Apatani cultural activist, highlighted the role and importance of community in charting the development plans. Chobin Punyo, an artist and academic at RGU, proposed the opportunities for creative brains in the valley. The technical session, chaired by Prof Dr Natraj Kranthi from SPAB, hosted the structured presentations around the theme and site. Prof Anand Wadwekar from SPAB elaborated on the concepts and literature from Urban Resilience. Further, Rana Gyati, an Apatani cultural activist from Itanagar, highlighted the cultural wealth of sustainable practices in the valley. Rinyo Ngilyang presented the strategies for conserving the valley's built environment and cultural landscape. Her empirical study on the site highlighted the gaps in land management, water management, and settlement planning strategies among the authorities and traditional practices. Finally, Paritosh Goel explained the proposed Ziro Master Plan 2030 and called for further discussion over strategies for urban resilience in the site. The concluding session discussion brought forward the concepts of participatory design and planning, more engagements with the locals while preparing future plans, and sustained documentation of tangible and intagible heritage of Ziro Valley. The Valedictory Session witnessed the Chief Guest, Prof Dr Saket Kushwah, Vice-Chancellor (RGU), calling for greater synergy between all the stakeholders, including humans and wildlife of environment in the North-East. He also called for preparing a model for development in environmentally sensitive and tribal heritage regions in India. Overall, the event witnessed a warm reception from various audiences, including the students, professionals and researchers from the fields of Urban Planning, Social Sciences, Architecture and Design. More than 100 participants from the 172 registrations were present throughout the event. It was a great opportunity to interact with the community at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar I elaborated on the ideas around Design and Modernity through India's unique post-colonial Design History. Thanks to Prof Manasi Kanetkar at Design & Innovation Centre for inviting me. #design #history #designeducation
Design for development 2.0? Revisiting the Ahmedabad Declaration and discourse of design in India
presented at 2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, Hyderabad As the seminal India Report laid the foundation for the National Institute of Design (2013), a decade later, inspired by HfG Ulm and shaped by its local conditions (Rane, 2017), the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay emerged as another hub for Industrial Design Education in India. Together they formed the two ideological cradles, where the first formal discourse of Industrial Design in India occurred. Reflecting on the projects, pedagogical models and philosophy from India, including Balaram (2005), Vyas (2010), Ranjan (2015), particularly IDC and NID, the paper here teases out the potential paths to pursue in the current scenario of design education in India and the larger developing world. Read here Towards an ontological expansion of design: Thematic threads to advance the next design education paradigm
presented at 2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, Hyderabad The new millennium widened the forms and perception of design as ‘Objects, Communications, Spaces, Events, Services, Systems, Environments, Organisations, Futures’ and associated it with ‘the idea of transformation’ (Ranjan, 2015). This expansion of forms and the idea of transformation is pertinent to the urgency displayed in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2015). Be it Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), Sustainable Cities and Communities, or Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG3), the design has a role, agency and ability to critically and constructively address each of the seventeen SDGs poignantly. The author argues that the 'design' needs to be expanded to work in the larger world, with plural world-views, in facilitating the process. The paper elaborates thematic threads, which Design Education (DE) structures and networks can pursue to advance the next paradigm in its pedagogy. This paradigm (or paradigms) will surely be more relatable to the context and localities, and empathetic to the users and the mother earth. Elaborating the threads as critical practice will also allow DE to offer integrated solutions (UNDP, 2019) towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Read here Visual Alankars: Toward a Decolonized Visual Design Framework
Authors: Raina Singh and Saurabh Tewari The research aims to experimentally evolve visual design fundamentals by borrowing literary principles from Hindi Vyakaran (Hindi grammar system). Alankars, which are literary devices in Hindi Vyakaran, are used to enrich literary compositions through the playfulness of structure and enhanced meaning. This study methodologically explores Alankars in the context of visual design. The pragmatics of the research employs Madhubani folk-art tradition from the region of Mithila in India. Compositions using visual elements and styles of traditional Madhubani folk-art attempt to understand the structures and meanings of Shabd Alankar and Artha Alankar in the research. The study highlights the potential of indigenous knowledge systems to offer a methodological lens for visual design research. More here Dots and Lines: Indian Folk and Tribal Art Inspired Activities for Kids
Authors: Rinki Sambhani and Saurabh Tewari Moving beyond the models of passive learning through secondary sources, the design aims at employing an interpreted form of indigenous design tradition to engage children in various creative art and craft activities. In this case, the Gond paintings of Madhya Pradesh and its visual forms are explored to create an activity kit. The methodology in designing the learning tool involved a series of steps to conceptualise, develop and synthesise a designed product. The dots and lines activity book and the Gond art learning kit inspire kids to pursue creative art and craft activities at an early age. More here PowerPost: A Framework for Designing Visual Political Communication
Authors: Anik Ghosh and Saurabh Tewari Visual media is an essential medium of political communication which is used by various stakeholders in democracies. However, most people engaging in political discourse are not professionally trained in design and are unable to communicate their messages effectively through visual media. The process of designing visual political communication (VPC) can be made more effective by incorporating domain-specific design principles in the design process. These design principles are identified by an examination of existing research on perception and cognition of VPC and analysis of its useful examples. An application, PowerPost, is proposed based on the basis of this analysis. More Here Honoured to be speaking at IDC Alumni Awards Talk Series on 23rd January, 2021 | 16:00 hrs. Image Credit: IDC, IIT Bombay
Co-presented at #ICoRD21 Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay with Raina Singh, Anik Ghosh, Rik Bhattacharjee and Rinki Sambhani. It was an honour to present the project explorations-turned-papers to the Design Research fraternity. It also allowed us to reflect more on the methodological, pedagogical and critical components of the Design Research at Department of Design SPA Bhopal Thanks to all the chairs (Profs Peer Sathikh, Ravi Mokashi Punekar, Mazhar Kamran, Shilpa Ranade) and audience for the valuable feedback.
Thanks to the editors Paul Rodgers and Craign Bremner for this witty addition to the discourse of Design. I am one of the contributors in the book 118 Theories of Design(ing) with:
#68 A Jugaad Theory of Design[ing] #69 A Gandhian Theory of Design[ing] #70 A Rasa Theory of Design[ing] Proud to be listed along the heroes like Arturo Escobar and Rachel Cooper In this short article, I am sharing some of the points I discussed in a panel on the National Education Policy 2020 at my alma mater, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon last week. I argue that how the National Education Policy 2020 is the much-needed paradigm shift in the Education & Academic sector. Though top-down, as a policy, it is going to revolutionise not just education and the whole idea of education in our society.
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Design Samvãd 26 | Aman Sadana
Journey of a Project in a Design Studio Recorded on Monday, May 11, 2020 Hosted by Saurabh Tewari Department of Design School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal www.design.spab.ac.in Speaker's Bio Aman Sadana is an Industrial Designer, who specializes in consumer electronics and home appliances. Over the past decade, he has been a part of the Design Studios of LG Electronics, Kohler, Lumium and Tata Elxsi. He is currently working on Atomberg's foray into kitchen appliances. After graduating in Architecture from SSAA, he went on to pursue his Master of Design from IIT Delhi. His work encompasses everyday objects like Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Ceiling fans, Water Purifiers and Mobile Phones. As a part of the Design Research & Strategy team, he travels extensively to discover insights, greenhouse ideas and develop new product concepts. Just heard about the tragic departure of Prof Vikas Satwalekar, the Design Guru from NID. We VC guys in IDC were fortunate to have studied a module under him. Regret of never connecting him back during all these years in between. Sharing the three of the posters I made during his workshop on Poster Design in 2009.
Design Samvãd 28 | Kimya Gandhi
My experiments with Type Recorded on Friday, May 15, 2020 Hosted by Saurabh Tewari Department of Design School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal design.spab.ac.in Speaker's Bio Kimya Gandhi is a type designer from Mumbai with a passionate interest in Indic scripts. Kimya is a partner at the type foundry, Mota Italic where she specialises in creating new and innovative retail and custom Devanagari typefaces. When not designing, she teaches type design and typography at various design institutes in and around Mumbai. She studied Communication Design at NIFT Bombay and IDC IIT Bombay. Today, I presented a lecture, Designama: Shifting Positions of Design in India, at the New York University, 4-5 pm, 18 Feb at IDM, Room #324, 370 Jay St., Brooklyn, Department of Technology, Culture and Society, NYU. Thanks to Ahmed Ansari for hosting me at New York. Today, I reflected on 'Critical Pedagogy in Design in India' in the Panel on Design Pedagogy at College Art Association and Get International Program organised at School of Art Institute of Chicago. Our panel included Pedith Chan (Hong Kong) as the Moderator and presentations by Dr Priya Maholay-Jaradi (Singapore) and Eiman Elgibraan (Saudi Arabia). Thanks to Ali Mahfouz and Pearlie Rose Baluyut for the images.
Presented two short papers during the Hyderabad Design Week at World Design Organisation @worlddesignorg ' s Research & Education Forum, Humanising Design, at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad on 10 October 2019. My first paper, Towards an Ontological Expansion of Design: Thematic Threads to advance the next Design Education Paradigm, elaborates three thematic threads, which Design Education structures and networks can pursue to advance the next paradigm. Further, through researching these under-explored positions, and exploring their inherent components, it can work towards creating new forms of knowledge in design research. As the Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979 remains a significant event in the discourse of design for development, my second paper, Design for Development 2.0? Revisiting the Ahmedabad Declaration, illustrated how the pedagogy, project and discourse of IDC and NID were conceptually aligned to the spirit of Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979. Image Credits: WDO, Anmol and Harshali
Visited HfG Ulm, the Gangotri of so many post-war design objects, pedagogical approaches, and service/system concepts. It's unfortunate that this iconic Design School closed in 1968. However, it's ideological variations are all over the world including NID and IDC IIT Bombay in India.
Ms Sushma, an educator at the Nai Taalim Centre, along with Mr Adwait, an educator from Bengaluru working in Sevagram, hosted us at the Nai Taalim School. The participants witnessed all the laboratories dealing with life skills including spinning, knitting, cleaning, farming, drawing, craft etc. and its integration with the mainstream academic structure for the students at the school.
It’s my pleasure to report our Study Trip to Arunachal Pradesh and Asom, undertaken with 17 students of Master of Design students (Feb 17 to Mar 1, 2019). The tour focussed on the Apa Tani Cultural Landscape of Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh which features itself in the Tentative list of World Heritage Site, bolstering the claims of the richness of indigenous knowledge systems at various scales. The continuum of its everyday life and belief systems including its agriculture, land use practices, natural resources management and conservation, festivals, material culture, objects and crafts, has been exemplarily sustainable and can be interpreted in the modern education and policy frameworks.
The studio was undertaken under the MDES203 Design Studies, with ‘Design Anthropology’ (Salvador et al., 1999; Gunn et al., 2013; Murphy, 2016) as the theoretical framework operating at four levels as:
The seven days of field work involved enquiries at above levels with ethnography, visits to various institutions within, detailed interviews and a formal community interaction hosted at our stay. The students are expected to come up with a small exhibition on the documentation and reflection from the tour within the semester. They can also further derive ‘Design Projects’ to pursue their interests. I would like to thank Prof Sridharan who accompanied us in the first leg of the trip to Naharlagun, where our institution signed an MoU with the Rajiv Gandhi Central University and further travelled to the Ziro Valley to assess the future academic possibilities. I want to express my sincere thanks to Prof Sarit Chaudhuri (Director IGRMS and Professor of Anthropology, RGU) and our local guide Mr Chobin Punyo (Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at RGU). Their insights on Apa Tani cultural practices in Ziro enriched us with an efficient orientation. We are also thankful to the people in Arunachal Pradesh who helped us during the unexpected political turmoil during the last few days of our stay. I would also like to thank Prof Ravi Mokashi and Prof Udayakumar, Department of Design IIT Guwahati, who hosted us at IIT Guwahati along with presentations by Prof(s) Keyur Sorathia (HCI), Pradeep Yammiyavar (Usability), Sougata Karmakar (Ergonomics). Blown away by the wealth of textile craft of Kalamkari in Machilipatnam, a historic coastal town of Andhra Pradesh. Met Shri Pitchuka Srinivas who has curated the Kalamkari Museum at Pedana. He comes from the family of Pitchuka Veeru Subbaiah, the man who started kalamkari in Machilipatnam. The meticulous shirt designed by him in 1980s appears to be bold in fashion. Got to see the objects associated with the craft, including copper blocks, the dyeing process containers etc. in the privately curated museum.
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