Category: Writings

Published: Design for development 2.0?

2/9/2021

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

Published: Towards an ontological expansion of design

31/8/2021

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

118 Theories of Design(ing)

19/11/2020

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

National Education Policy 2020, a Paradigm Shift in Higher Education?

21/10/2020

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.

Read More

What is jugaad?

1/9/2020

The developing world witnesses material and capital scarcity in its everyday life. This condition has led to many people finding contextual solutions to problems that arise with a product or service. The solutions are indigenous, flexible, and organic and originate through innovative fixes created by the users themselves. Jugaad is one such problem-solving approach yielding quick fixes in constrained socio-economic conditions. It is a creative approach which utilizes few resources and delivers contextual results for the users. It often caters not just to need but also to aspirations through its function or expression.

Read more

Presented at WDO Forum, Humanising Design

11/10/2019

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

Entries in the Bloomsbury Encyclopaedia of Design

28/4/2019

Please to share my Seven Entries:

in Edwards C (eds.) Bloomsbury Encyclopaedia of Design, London: Bloomsbury, 2019

Image on the left: The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, Volume 2 by Bloomsbury Academic, 2016

The Lancaster Care Charter

31/1/2019

Published: The Lancaster Care Charter, January 2019, Design Issues 35(1):73-77 Click here to read further

Report: DHS Strategic Research Grant

9/6/2018

As part of my ongoing doctoral work, I am attempting to map-out and understand the shifting positions of/on design in postcolonial India. When the study moves to Indian design schools and their visions of/on design, to access the resources, a physical visit to various design schools in India was essential. I am grateful to the Design History Society for understanding the larger purpose of my research and supporting me through this particular grant. I proposed visits to Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay and National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad for a 'research stay'. A part of the grant will also be used for the upcoming ICDHS 10th+1 Barcelona, where I intend to discuss fieldwork outcomes.

Image Courtesy: IDC, IIT Bombay

Read More

Book Review - John Thackara's How to Thrive in the Next Economy

12/2/2018

In How to Thrive in the Next Economy, design writer John Thackara offers ten thematic recommendations for flourishing in the future. First, he pummels the reader with staggering statistics that assert the intensity and magnitude of the catastrophe we humans, and especially urban dwellers, have caused. Then he uses his first-hand observations of local practices carried out around the world, especially in the Global South, to identify sustainable practices for providing future generations with necessities such as land, water, food, mobility, and clothing.

Image by John Thackara

Full article published in Design and Culture

Read More

Sarvodaya - A political version of care and design

17/1/2018

Paper presented at Lancaster University in September 2017

In the larger developing world context, the idea of ‘care’ is most visible in Gandhi’s ideas. Though Gandhi was not a designer in established notions, as an excellent communicator and critical political activist, his sense of ‘care’ was reflected in most of his thoughts and actions. He famously argued for the idea of ‘Sarvodaya’ or ‘Well-Being of All'; a thought deeply influenced by the work of John Ruskin. This action can be seen as an act of care for fellow human beings and their human rights. From Indian political history, when Gandhi dreamt of India’s future, the ‘care’ for various factors remained central in his vision. Be it caring for the human labor or towards reclaiming the environment, or cultural values to the village structures. In the domain of design and care, the idea of ‘khadi', a handmade fabric, reflect his greater ideas of Sarvodaya. Khadi’s making involves care for the human labor and environment at various levels of its existence. As a non-violent symbol of protest, ‘khadi’ even cared to take care of the opposition, an act rarely seen in the history of political revolutions. ’Sarvodaya’ as a thought might have lost in the political unfolding of history in India and the developing world, the sense of it remains at the politics of it, though more selectively. To answer the question, “What might politicized versions of care look and feel like?”, Sarvodaya can be a caring and careful answer. The study would like to unearth the idea of Sarvodaya as a political version of Care and Design. >>> Read more

Just Launched - Blue Lines of Kolkata

8/7/2017

Kolkata’s original canal (Khal in Bengali) network, the backbone of the drainage system in the city for about three centuries, has deteriorated over the years. Unchecked growth and related land-fill, lack of periodic maintenance, poor management of waste-water and solid waste are few of the reasons. Kolkata suffered terrible water-logging for over a week in September 2006. Situation has been better since then, yet there are lots to be done. Besides that, most of these water channels and large drains are stinking, dirty and unhygienic negative spaces within the city.

The workshop recognized potentials of these drains/ nullahs/ canals, and, taking inputs from multi-disciplinary intellectual exchanges, explored ideas and proposal to convert such unused spaces into environmentally sustainable and socially appropriate public places and mobility corridors.

This book, a collection of the said ideas and proposals, is arranged in two parts: the one with articles situating the project (taken up in the Workshop) in the larger urban context, and the other with concept drawings and sketches depicting ideas and explorations undertaken by the diverse groups of participants in the workshop.

Book Launch: Blue Lines of Kolkata

28/6/2017

Images from the Book Launch Event of Blue Lines of Kolkata, the first from the Search Landscape Urbanism Series. This book I have co-edited with my teacher from undergrad days Dr. Suptendu P Biswas.

The book was launched by Prof. Parth Pratim Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur with a personal note. A panel discussion on 'Future of Canals of Kolkata,' followed the book launch, consisting of Kalyan Mukhopadhyay, DC Traffic Kolkata; Prof. Samiran Datta from SRFTI Kolkata; Somnath Biswas, Civil Engineer; Abin Chaudhuri, Architect from Kolkata; moderated by Dr. Suptendu Biswas, Architect & Urban Designer from New Delhi. It was a fantastic learning experience through the diverse panel discussion and Q&A session as rarely you see such a passionate audience as Kolkata.

Blue Lines of Kolkata, emerged out of ideas and proposals from the Search Workshop 16 and selected contributions from various experts, initiates a discourse on shifting the focus to Landscape Urbanism as a method to reimagine and rejuvenate the city. Interestingly, nine of the forty-two participants in the Search Workshop 16 organized by SEARCH and RCGSIDM, IIT Kharagpur, were from various levels and departments from SPA Bhopal.

Image Credit: Subhadip Biswas, Saurabh Tewari, Anshuman Abhishek Mishra and Oxford Bookstore Kolkata

Paper Published: Holistic Socio-environmental Design

15/4/2017

Comments

In Research into Design for Communities, Volume 2
ISBN 978-981-10-3520-3

Holistic Socio-environmental Design: Practices Through Making, Craft, and Historicity
Authors: Saurabh Tewari and Aurgho Jyoti

Abstract
Situated in the postcolonial paradigm of India, he paper is an attempt to delineate socio-environmental approaches from an ideological and cultural ground of design practice. The cases are based on food, textile, product, building and urban design practices which contribute towards a holistic socio-environmental design framework. The systemic repercussions of design and decisions in the making of physical cultural objects directly influence how a society operates and functions. The research underlines the significance of an object’s making, craft, and historicity to discover holistic and inclusive dimensions of culture, society and environment as it relates to humans.

Keywords: Socio-Environmental Design; Making; Craft; Historicity; Holistic Design; Sustainability; Design; Development

Image copyright: Springer Nature

Comments

"A Tryst with the Past..." - Blog in Design History Society's Website

8/4/2017

Read here http://www.designhistorysociety.org/blog/view/feature-a-tryst-with-the-past-design-history-workshop-at-nid-ahmedabad

Paper Published: People, Chair, and Value(S)

5/3/2017

Comments

People, Chair, and Value(S): A Qualitative Inquiry into the Material Lives

In Volume 65 of the book series Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies (SIST)

Paper: People, Chair, and Value(S): A Qualitative Inquiry into the Material Lives
Authors: Saurabh Tewari and Kumar Ravi Priya
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-3518-0_3

Abstract
The objective of this paper is to explore the different value(s) that are prioritized and delegated by their users in a thing under their possession. The seating furniture at home was taken as the subject to study where users see it as an extension of their being. Using a method pivoting around Grounded Theory and Observation, it gathers meaningful data, process it through coding and memo writing and achieves a range of categories after a theoretical saturation. The paper attempts to borrow the classical rigour of Grounded Theory to come up with a Design Research Methodology for studying Design and its consumption.

Image copyright: Springer Nature (Book Cover) and Saurabh Tewari

Comments

Revisiting the work published in "Of Indian Origin"

20/6/2016

Comments

Images and words like rhythm and blues
July 21, 2010
The saying a picture speaks a thousand words is so perfectly depicted by this wonderful photo poetry created by Saurabh Tewari, a visual communication student at IIT Bombay, titled ‘The Story of Confetti’.

Comments