tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903539989932338852024-03-18T15:00:20.993+05:30Design for IndiaDesign is a powerful force that shapes culture and it is a professional activity that is beneficial for both community and business alike. This blog is for all those who are interested in exploring these wider manifestations of design as a critical human activity and would like to shape its application across all human cultural and economic activities.Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-62529919937231904582015-06-05T10:05:00.001+05:302015-06-05T10:05:22.728+05:30Reflections on Design Publishing in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><b>POOL Annual 2
Foreword June 2015<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><b>Reflections on
Design Publishing in India</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Foreword for POOL
Annual Volume Two – June 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><a href="http://www.indipool.com/product/pool-annual-2/"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.indipool.com/product/pool-annual-2/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><b>M P Ranjan</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Independent
Academic, Ahmedabad and Author of Blog Design for India<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><a href="http://www.designforindia.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">www.DesignForIndia.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Very little is
known about the early days of design in India because very little has been
written about it anywhere. The news media and the wider general business and
political media is simply not interested in design and they have studiously
avoided any commentaries about design and designers ever since the Indian
Independence. Design journalism was tucked away in back pages and remote
corners of art and architecture reporting and sustained design publishing has
been a long time coming and it still has a long way to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">I have always
wondered why this was the case till I read Gui Bonsiepe’s analysis of the
evolution of design research and practice and its links to design journalism
and serious design publishing that leads to the development of new theory. In
his book “Interface: An approach to design” (1999) he tables the evolution of
design publishing and correlates it to the evolving status of design research
and practice in a country. Indian design education, research and practice has
been flying under the radar for over 68 years since its independence and at
this stage the country is just about beginning to acknowledge its major
Institutions and we as a country are still in denial about its value to its
economy and a culture forming resource and activity. It is only design
scholarship of a very high calibre that will help change that condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">While the country
at large has been ignoring the design community and its institutions I cannot
say that the design community has been ignoring the country and its needs. A
lot has been happening and individual designers and clusters of design teachers
have been bravely carrying on their explorations and efforts to work and
contribute across 230 sectors of our economy but we are sadly not aware
of these efforts since design publishing has just not covered these
activities and achievements. Occasional conference papers and books from within
the design research community rarely reaches a wider audience and designers
themselves seem to hold the brief that if they just do their work diligently
that work would speak for itself, which sadly is never the case. Further,
understanding design which is a multi facetted activity is difficult since most
of what is on offer as part of the synthesis is invisible in the form or performance
if that offering. Design research is gradually revealing the complexity of the
design discourse and strategies and values can only be made visible through
detailed analysis and reflective ponderings about that very offering. Very
elusive indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Critical discourse
is essential if we are to make the invisible value of design visible to policy
makers as well as stakeholders alike. Design is today entering the Universities
here in India and the possibility of a new form of critical appraisal has become
a reality. However design research divorced from practice can once again become
a sterile debate and far removed from the rich learning that reflections on
practice can bring to our understanding of design and its role in development
and in addressing real needs of our society. However, knowledge and
understanding do not come without a process and here we need to recognize that
even in the design publishing space we will need to journey through all these
stages of first documenting our reality and experiences followed by discourse
and debate about multiple points of view some explaining gradually understood
concepts and strategies and through this sometimes intense debate we will glean
nuggets of truth, all hard earned from the huge volume of experiences that
would be the foundation for such theory formation as we go forward. True
maturity will be achieved by the profession only when we are able to reflect on
our collective practices and build an articulated body of theory, which would
in turn inform a deep philosophy of education, research and practice in the
days ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Sudhir Sharma,
Editor in Chief of POOL Magazine asked me to write a forward for the second
collected volume of twelve issues at a stage when the magazine itself has
crossed the magic mark of 50 issues in a sustained burst of publishing, which
for me is a major landmark in the history of Indian design publishing. This
gave me an occasion as well as a platform to look back at the seeds sown in the
pre Independence days to bring design to the attention of the Indian
intelligentsia. I find that there is very small clutch of people who have
contributed to the bulk of Indian design publishing and it would be pertinent
to use this platform to review some of these even if there is a need to look much
deeper and expand on this statement as we go forward from here. When I speak of
Indian design publishing I exclude journals about architecture, advertising,
art and applied art and a wide body of scholarly writings about social cultural
and anthropological studies, which have well-established journals of their own.
I do not claim this study to be comprehensive but it is based of my personal
experiences of trying to study design at the National Institute of Design
Ahmedabad from 1969 and my experiences as a teacher at the school since then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">The very first
magazine that looked at design and helped influence design policy was the
journal started by Mulk Raj Anand in 1946 at the behest of J R D Tata and built
up as a subsidiary of the NCPA, in Bombay, The Marg Magazine of art, culture
and heritage. While it was not exclusively on design it was the only place that
had some reflections on the emerging field in the early days. The vacuum was
ably filled by the heroic efforts of editor Patwant Singh who first started The
Indian Builder in 1953 and then Design in 1957 which was sustained till 1988.
His critical coverage of architecture, exhibitions and industrial design was
the only platform that provided any semblance of discourse for the emerging
field of design across a number of disciplines. I recall reading about the MOMA
exhibition of Industrial Design in an early issue of the Design magazine at the
time when we were studying the very same objects at the NID Library and
Resource Centre where the collection was placed after its journeys across India
from 1958 and ending up at the Design Centre in Bombay on Bhulabhai Desai Road
for many years, before ending up at NID. Very few Indian designers were
showcased and even in architecture it was a case of celebrating the foreign
masters such as Corbusier and the modern movement took root under their strong
influence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">The first Interior
Design magazine was established in 1978 with the first four issues of Inside
Outside championed by Malika Sarabhai and edited by Sean Mahoney. This magazine
was floundering although it had promise and was taken over by The Business
India group and then sustained as a bible for the interior design and
architecture community over the years. Malika Sarabhai went on with her
publishing fervor and built up the Mapin Publishing house in 1984 that has
continue to grow and produce over 300 titles capturing a rich fabric of Indian
arts and culture in illustrated volumes that have been an useful resource for
design. In the early years at NID the only other place where we could find
mention of Indian design and designers were furniture journals from Europe
where Mini Boga and Ritten Mojumdar were featured regularly in Mobilia in
particular. Mini Boga built fine furniture through her Taaru brand in New Delhi
and she was the only one to offer her designers royalty for their design when
all others simply copied foreign models from Bauhaus and international
magazines. Design did not have a place in the scheme of things in Indian
industry in those days and even today it seems to be much the same with few
exceptions, unfortunately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Design publishing
made several valiant but unsuccessful attempts within the Indian design schools
and academia with the production of a few books and some newsletters and journals,
which however did not sustain themselves. The National Institute of Design was
set up in 1961 and in the sixties a few books and catalogues were produced
culminating in the NID Documentation 1964-69. Gira Sarabhai was the silent
champion of these early publications. She went on to build the Calico Museum of
Textiles and there she commissioned numerous books, catalogues and scholarly
publications that gave it a preeminent place in Indian design scholarship. The
next round of design publications at NID came when the Sarabhai’s left NID and
Kumar Vyas was in charge. The series titled Design Folio captured case studies
of NID projects and the first issue appeared in 1973 and after Ashoke
Chatterjee took over as Director it continued to be published and a total of 8
more issues were offered in 1979, 81, 83, 87, 88 and finally in 1991. These
were all edited by R K Bannerjee. NID Publications Department was formerly
created in 1989 with Aditi Ranjan as its head and with M P Ranjan and S Balaram
she produced the first of the series called Young Designers where student
Diploma Projects were showcased for the first time. This has become a regular
flagship offering from NID and has been in continuous production ever since.
The NID Newsletter was in production through all these years as an official
organ of the Institute. After 2000 Dr Koshy with Vijai Singh Khatiyar and
Shilpa Das created Trellis and Designed as two journals from NID Publications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">In 1969 the
Industrial Design Centre was set up in IIT Bombay and a few years later Kirti
Trivedi and Sudha Nadkarni came out with a series of IDC News followed the Ulm
model as very smartly designed design folders with case studies and news from
the IDC faculty and student projects. Kirti Trivedi extended his publishing efforts
with a scholarly offering titled Abhikalp that was sustained over several
issues. Conferences at IDC also helped create published outputs of which the
Readings from Ulm is a memorable offering. Through 2009 -10 three issues of
Design Thoughts were produced to share the thoughts of doctoral students
through a journal edited by Ravi Pooviah. IDC faculty produced books and
reports which were published and a made available through their office. IDC has
since moved its publishing efforts online through D-Source, a project sponsored
by the Human Resources Ministry which promises to make its teaching resources
available to a wider audience in India so as to build a design culture across
higher education and the project is partnered by NID Bangalore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Access to the
internet and a new environment of blogging and social media helped create
another layer of design publishing that the education institutions and media
organisations were not able or willing to provide. The Design for India blog by
Prof M P Ranjan started in 2007 and has been active since to reach a wide
audience. Individual designers interested in reaching out and adding their
voice to the issues and concerns saw Sonali Sridhar offer DesignWala blog,
Manoj Kotari had Brandinsight, The Little Design Book had a brief but
influential existence and was created by four former students of NID. The other
notable blogs were Design Thoughts by A Balasubramaniam and Thinking About
Design by Deepankar Bhattacharyaya, both former students of NID. Besides these blogs
we now have an active exchange of ideas over Facebook and via the social media
sites such as DesignIndia discussion lists and PhD-Design List where
several thousand designers and design teachers are in constant touch and
sharing ideas and concerns with varying degrees of debate and discussion.
However, all this put together is a very small output when compared to the huge
body of work that is being done by the trained designers from the growing
number of schools here in India.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">It is in this
context that we need to view the sustained offerings of the POOL magazines that
have tried to capture the flow of work from the design profession and this
layer of offering is perhaps the only available reference resource to measure
the offerings of Indian design profession as it stands today. This volume of 12
issues includes volumes 12 to 23 issued from June 2011 to May 2012
respectively. At the time of writing this foreword in 2015 POOL Magazine has
already issued 56 volumes and is still going strong driven by the passion of a
small team led by Sudhir Sharma from his Pune office of Indi Design and he has
also been sustaining the DesignIndia forum on several social media platforms to
build a vibrant design community here in India. The brief editorials penned by
Sudhir Sharma in each issue calls attention to the multiple concerns that face
the design community here in India and I am sure that these will be heard
sooner than later by policy makers and industry alike when the growing
understanding of the value of design sinks into our collective consciousness at
the level of government, industry, intelligentsia and general public, the Aam
Aadmi in India?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Design publishing
needs more contributors and several additional categories from reporting,
explaining, arguing and reflecting if the theory and philosophy of the
discipline are to become visible and become truly appreciated here in India.
This will be an interesting space to watch in the years ahead and there is hope
of major breakthroughs that are becoming visible to me through the efforts of
some very committed designer entrepreneurs who have been rocking the boat and
drawing attention to the value that they can bring to wicked problems that have
remained entrenched across almost all sectors of our economy. We, as a nation,
need design action across 230 sectors of our economy and we are still to become
aware of these needs and design publishing will show the way forward I am sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><i>End of Quote
</i>
~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">In this now
published foreword I may have missed several significant contributions made to
the field and some of these that come to my mind are listed below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Economic Times
Design Page by Sadanand Menon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Full page on
Design was published weekly for over a year in the 90s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Economic Times
Design stories by Makrand Kulkarni<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Weekly column as a
collection of design stories that came out in the recent past but did not
sustain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Perhaps there are
others worth a mention as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">One of these, is
an early critical publication which is the contribution by Alberto Cannata and
Soumitri Varadarajan who produced a book based on a conference at School of
Planning and Architecture, (SPA), New Delhi titled Quality by Design in the
90s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><b>Prof M P Ranjan</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Independent
Academic, Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Adjunct Professor
(Design) Ahmedabad University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Author of blog :</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><a href="http://www.designforindia.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.designforindia.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;">Archive of papers
: </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.5pt;"><a href="https://ahduni.academia.edu/RanjanMP"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">https://ahduni.academia.edu/RanjanMP</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-55127233439042812882014-12-31T01:52:00.000+05:302014-12-31T01:57:57.234+05:30Whats Next: Future of Design Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Whats Next: Future of
Design Education</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">M P
Ranjan</a></span></b><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Independent Academic, Ahmedabad, India
& Author of Blog</a></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.DesignForIndia.com</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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A confluence organised
by the <a href="http://pearlacademy.com/whatsnext">Pearl Academy, New Delhi, Noida, Jaipur and Mumbai </a>on 19 and 20 December
2014 at ITC Welcomehotel, Dwarka, New Delhi used the World Café format. Here,
the confluence was organised in four Sessions each with a thematic keynote by a
design thought leader, round table discussions and summary presentations that
included four major themes and each had four sub themes that were discussed
across eight round tables with intensity and passion. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Key issues in design education are in
constant change and these need to be monitored and mapped into current and
ongoing programmes for the education programmes to stay relevant and
stimulating for both students and faculty. Young faculty need to be
introduced to a variety of teaching methods and since they come from a variety
of backgrounds they may need exposure to the tools and methods used by others
across disciplines as well as across schools. Exposure to current thought
leaders as well as being involved in intense discussions about design education
will help stimulate change and open them to the major shifts that are
desired <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A conference round table conducted using
the World Cafe format is a great way to sensitise and inform a group of design
teachers to several of these sweeping changes and get them to meet colleagues
and share insights that can help transform design education going forward. The
Pearl Academy management backed these proposals wholeheartedly and quickly
moved into high gear to realise the event without cutting any corners. This
post is a quick summary of our plans and intentions and the full documentation
will be carried on the Pearl Academy website and the analysis of the insights
and possibilities will continue well into the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The four keynote
speakers and eight table mentors were carefully selected to provide leadership
across the major themes and to take the table discussions to a very high level
of quality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><b>Whats Next: Future of Design Education Keynotes</b></span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 1: Trends of the Future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">John Thackara, Founder: Doors of
Perception<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">An internationally well-known design
thinker, John Thackara is a trained philosopher and a journalist. He started
his career as a design correspondent / editor for newspapers & magazines
like The Guardian, The Design Magazine and correspondent of the BBC’s The Late
Show. John is the author of best-selling design book ‘In the Bubble: Designing
in a Complex World’, and of a widely-read blog ‘designobserver’. John organises
festivals, events around the world in which communities imagine sustainable
futures - and take practical steps to realise them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 2: Pedagogy of the Future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Prof. Vijay Kumar, Institute of Design,
IIT, Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Prof Vijay Kumar’s research focuses on
framing up emerging innovation opportunities in education, health care,
communication, retail, social reform, and emerging markets among others. He has
authored a very famous book for senior management, design strategists - “101
Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your
Organization.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 3: Curriculum of the Future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Dr Aditya Dev Sood, Founder/ Director,
CKS New Delhi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A Fulbright scholar with two doctorates
from the University of Chicago and a wide range of disciplinary competencies
gained through a long and diverse education, including Architecture, Art
History, Critical Theory, Comparative Literature, and Political Economy. Aditya
heads this innovation consulting firm CKS. He set up CKS with a mission to
provide ‘Real solutions for real problems’ in the areas of User Research, User
Experience Design, Design Strategy and Innovation Management. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 4: Learner of the Future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Satish Gokhale, Industrial Designer,
Pune<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Satish Gokhale, a Pune-based alumnus of
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad has scored a hat-trick in winning
national design awards in the area industrial design for three consecutive
years. He has more than twenty five years of experience in product design. A
versatile industrial designer, he has executed a range of design assignments ranging
from a ball pen and a solar cell module to a ultra sound machine, a CNC wire
cutting machine and a hand held CATV monitor. Satish has today over a 600
products in the market - in capital goods, medical equipment, automobile and
electronic and consumer goods sectors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Special Lecture: Inspirational Keynote:
Design in Schools<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder/ Director
Riverside School & DFC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kiran Bir Sethi is the Founder/Director
of The Riverside School in Ahmedabad,In 2009, she founded 'Design for Change'
(DFC) - the world’s largest movement of change – of and by children.
D.F.C. is now in over 35 countries – reaching over 220,000 schools.
In September, 2011, she won the prestigious “INDEX – Design to Improve
Life Award”. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><b>Table Mentors at Whats Next: Future of Design
Education</b></span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T1: DEEPANKAR BHATTACHARYA, Strategic
Design Consultant He is a strategic design consultant and partner clients in
developing user-centred problem solving processes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T2: NICOLETTA MOROZZI Advisory
leader – NABA University She is the director of the Fashion Area in NABA ,
Milan since 2010. Her professional activity spreads across the fields of
fashion, art and design.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T3: JOGI PANGHAAL Design
Professional - He is a leader in bridging the gap between the
traditional craft sector in India and the global, modern design sector<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T4: RAHUL MISHRA Fashion Designer
He is based in Mumbai and Delhi, and won the 2014 International Woolmark Prize
at the Milan Fashion Week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T5: SCOTT SKIPWORTH Academician,
Think Australia is an Architect with 20 years’ experience and Acting Head of
Academic Studies for Think Education's Interior Design program across various
campuses as well as Online<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T6: MADHAV RAMAN Architect and
Urbanist He founded Anagram Architects in 2001 with a commitment towards
delivering deeply contextual designs that encourage sustainable lifestyles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T7: VIKAS SATWALEKAR Design
Academician, Apart from academic commitments, he has contributed
significantly in the fields of Graphic Design, Publication Design, Exhibition
Design, Identity Systems, etc <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">T8: SUCHITRA BALASUBRAHMANYAN
Academician, Author & Human Rights Activist Her doctoral work focused on
the global-local contexts of the genesis of modern design education in India
after independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><b>Cue Questions on the Tables</b></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Each table was seeded with </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Cue Questions designed in the form of cards that were placed on
each one with reference to the themes and sub themes that were assigned to each
table pair</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 1: TRENDS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S1: Keynote: John Thackara<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S1/T1: Ecology: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 1 / 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Climate Crisis. Are Designers
responsible?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. Consumerism being re-imagined for
Sustainability?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How - Economy, society, technology
and environment negotiate necessary “trade-offs”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. How can design slow-down ecological
crisis?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S1/T2: Economy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 3 / 4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Are Designers responsible for the
economic crisis?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. Is the global economic crisis fuelling
sustainable alternatives?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3.How can design enhance the value of
the enterprise and make a difference on the bottom line? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. How can economic drivers be part of
the curriculum?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. How can design shape economic value?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. How can we integrate design into
business thinking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S1/T3: Networked Society<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 5 / 6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. How has the Networked Global Village
impacted the world of design?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. How is ‘democratisation of
knowledge’ impacting learning?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. Anti-globalisation movements. Role
of technologies in organising these movements as grassroots movements?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Can we conceptualise a design
institution that is self organized, accessible, democratic and sustainable ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. The impact of technology on
multidisciplinarity in shaping design education. Are design disciplines
re-organising?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q7. Digital Natives and Digital
Immigrants (Prensky,2001). For the first time digital natives will become
educators and will teach digital natives. How should they harness this strength
/opportunity and what should be their newer challenges?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S1/T4: Social Groupings <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 7/ 8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. What are emerging societal issues,
re-groupings and industrial reorientation that would impact design?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. The world has seen crisis – wars,
terrorism, refugees, flood affected, crime against women, khap panchayat, and
apartheid. What role can design play to create a resilient society?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. The End of Sleep and 21st century
capitalism – call centres, 24X7 industry, night clubs, hotel services. How is
this affecting communities and the fabric of everyday life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What will be the work culture of the
future? Will the way designers work today, change? How?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 2: PEDAGOGY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S2: Keynote: Prof Vijay Kumar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S2/T1: Impact of Macro Trends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 1/4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Can we imagine a design institution
that has sustainability at its core value?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. How could today's teachers adapt to
this sustainable institute and what should be their profile? What will be their
challenges?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. What will be the role of the
educators in sustainable institutions? What will be defined as sustainable
academic processes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4.What cultural values will sustainable
institutions stand for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. What will be the role of the learner
and challenges she will face through sustainable processes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. How will it negotiate the binaries
of global and local?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q7. What do we envision technology's
role to be in the institution for a sustainable world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S2/T2: Cross-disciplinary Approaches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 3/6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. What if the students decided
everything in a design institution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2.How could today's teachers adapt to
this student-driven institute and what should be their profile? What will be
their challenges?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. What cultural values will this elective-driven
institute stand for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What will be the role of the
educators in such a learner-driven institution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. How will such a student-driven
institute negotiate the global and local binaries?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. How will elective-driven institute
articulate community?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q7. What do we envision technology's
role to be in the cross-disciplinary institution for a sustainable world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S2/T3: Integrating the Social<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 5/8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Is teaching a form of radical
activism?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. What can we expect from such a
socially aware educator? What would be some of the challenges the educator will
take on?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. What cultural values will a socially
aware institute stand for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What will be the role of the
educators in a socially aware institution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. What will be the role of the learner
in a socially-aware?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. How will this socially active
learner / institution negotiate the global and local binaries?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q7. How is the learner emerging as a
productive force in social transformation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S2/T4: New Design Disciplines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 7/2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. How is the new social fabric
impelling new design disciplines?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. What are such new design disciplines
emerging?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How will an institute that propels
new design disciplines negotiate the global and local binaries?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What do we envision technology's
role to be in an institution that propels new design discipline for a
sustainable world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 3: CURRICULUM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S3: Keynote: Aditya Dev Sood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S3/T1: Looking for Impact Areas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 1/6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Enlist Areas that need design
interventions for a sustainable world. Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. Can we conceptualise a curriculum
that directly engages with real life problems / impact areas for a sustainable
world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. If we were to design a new
curriculum that embodied sustainable processes and values, what would you
propose as essential subject areas that it must cover?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How do you imagine teacher-student
relation to be in an institute where the design is a way of life for a
sustainable world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What would be the success parameters
of a curriculum that embodies areas that need design interventions?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Can you imagine and illustrate
instances of use of technology in ways that could enable delivery of a
curriculum that encapsulates ‘design for sustainability’?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. What are the values that such a
curriculum will instil in those who participate in a learning that promotes
‘design for sustainability?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S3/T2: Project Bank<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 3/8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. How could we create learning
communities that are self organized? What would these learning communities aim
to achieve ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. Lets design projects. How do we
sustain and manage multi team student based projects?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How do we compensate external
contributors in project based learning as an incentive?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. How do we use technology to connect
global expertise to project based learning?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Can we mentor students online and
practically implement? What are the challenges to be negotiated?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S3/T3: Assignment Bank<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 5/2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. What are the values, skills and
sensibilities at the core of design learning for which abstract
non-prescriptive assignments are needed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. What kinds of assignments do great
design teachers use to instill self-confidence as well as sustained practice
without boredom during the skill development stage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. What are the qualities of good
assignments for advanced learners and those for novice learners?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. Enumerate abilities, knowledge,
sensitivities and values that structured design assignments can instill in an
extended programme of life-long learning. Example composition, typography,
colour, material sensibilities, structure, modelling, sense making etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S3/T4: Shared Tasks Across Disciplines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 7/4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. How do you imagine teacher-student
relation to be in a participatory production of knowledge?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. If we were to design assessment
briefs for collaborative tasks / projects across disciplines, what could those
be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How would we manage multi player
project with students from different disciplines?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. How might we increase opportunities
for multi player projects in our curriculum : With students from different
disciplines; With students from other schools; With students from exchange
programmes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Can you imagine and illustrate
instances of use of technology in ways that could enable delivery of such a
curriculum & in Collaborative learning?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Session 4: LEARNER<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S4: Keynote: Satish Gokhale<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S4/T1: Models of Learning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 1/8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. What is the difference from training
a specific skill to educating a student to cope with a changing scenario?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. How do we meet student expectations
to balance general abilities and industry specific demands?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. How can learning communities balance
individual aspirations and social well-being?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. Explore and articulate models based
on experiential learning, hands-on learning and knowledge acquisition through
research and instruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Explore and list possible tasks that
the learner will actually do at the place of learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S4/T2: Open Source Institution<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 3/2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. Discuss models that enable the
learner to make her own institution -- the Open source institution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. Global explanations of e-learning
are disrupting existing brick and mortar schools. What would learners need to
sharpen skills and clarify concepts in a networked situation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3.List possible tools, strategies and
approaches to facilitate learning across a variety of subjects, skills and
sensitivities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. Make a bank of challenges that you
would like the learners of tomorrow to take up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. How could tutors mentor
self-efficacy and goal-setting in an open-source institution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S4/T3: New Inspirations & Challenges<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 5/4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. What could inspire the 21st century
learner?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. What could be challenges she will
face?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. Could we conceptualise classroom
exercises that make the designer an organizer of networks?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What are the challenges thrown up by
evolving technology to learning situations and possible outcomes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q5. Global movements and socio-cultural
realignments attract student learning interest. How do institutes cope with
these diversity challenges?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q6. Who are the thought leaders driving
contemporary learning aspirations across disciplines in design learning?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S4/T4: Electives & Choices –
Learner-Centric<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Table 7/6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q1. How do we manage the huge variety of
aspirations to limited teacher bandwidth that is available in each teaching
centre or institution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q2. How do schools manage an open menu
option across disciplines as well as levels of expertise? Are there good
examples that we can study or share?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q3. What are the challenges of an
elective-rich multidisciplinary university and what are the associated
challenges?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Q4. What would be a profile of an
elective-rich multidisciplinary institute vis-à-vis a traditional institute? Is
the industry ready to absorb this graduate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
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<span style="color: #222222;"><b>Documentation and Follow through</b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The event concluded with the
announcement of the proposed Whats Next book based on the conference but the
Pearl Academy website has already posted all Table Doodle Sheets and the
keynote lectures on their website and next week all the voice recordings and
visual data will also be posted for participant review and for the follow up
sessions on social media that is a planned follow up which could involve a
wider participation. We hope that this event will have a positive impact on new
directions in design education here in India as well as around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The <a href="http://www.academia.edu/9767396/Whats_Next_Future_of_Design_Education_PDF_3.4_MB_December_2014">Whats Next brochure</a> can be downloaded from this link here on Academia.edu. The Conference was conceptualised by Prof M P Ranjan as Conference Chair with the Pearl Academy team led by its CEO Sharad Mehra and Conference Director Dr Tarun Panwar and a dedicated team of faculty and officers at Pearl Academy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">M P
Ranjan</a></span></b><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Independent Academic, Ahmedabad, India
& Author of Blog</a></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">www.DesignForIndia.com</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-8828323750761024262013-08-20T22:39:00.001+05:302013-08-20T22:50:38.055+05:30Design Thinking at Ahmedabad University: A new beginning for Indian education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Design
Thinking at Ahmedabad University: An approach paper for a proposed course for
undergraduate students<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Prof M P
Ranjan<o:p></o:p></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">August 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Design Thinking?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qoMnYD_mzkI/UhOeg2aFQOI/AAAAAAAAEXw/JeJYgNWJjhg/s1600/Design+Thinking+History+model_Hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qoMnYD_mzkI/UhOeg2aFQOI/AAAAAAAAEXw/JeJYgNWJjhg/s400/Design+Thinking+History+model_Hr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We have
constantly been amazed at the great creative actions of humanity, which can be
seen in their key inventions and major evolutionary steps that shaped human
civilisation and these have been initiated by generations of unknown creators
over time immemorial. These creators have helped shape our civilisation through
their breakthrough contributions by daring to experiment and create in the face
of social isolation and ridicule by the prevailing orthodoxy. They contributed
by innovating at the edge of society as stated by Alexander Doxiadis when he
talked about the blue dots and red dots that represented the typical
settlements where the blues were the majority conformists and the reds the
crazies who were ostracised and isolated till a paradigm shift in society
helped assimilate the thoughtful and insightful contributions from these
isolated creators. These contributions included small or major improvements and
change in processes, tools, arts, crafts, everyday artefacts, houses and public
structures which we have conveniently labelled as inventions and innovations
long before we could recognise these contributions as heroic acts of design
thought and action. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We now know
that these are early design acts that were not properly attributed in our
historic references so far. We are now beginning to understand that design
thought and action was central to all these breakthrough contributions and that
it is a basic human activity and ability at one level that is as old as
civilisation itself. The other form is a new and modern profession, and this is
created by the professional education of a designer who would be able and
sensitised to feel, think, act in an appropriate manner in a rapidly changing
material and social world in an industrial age. Today in an era of information
access and digital processes has brought on new possibilities for design as
well as enormous challenges and responsibilities that require an ethical and
feeling attitude alongside a sharp intellect and able set of hands.
Understanding design and design thinking today is a major challenge since it
has so many forms and those working in a variety of domains exhibit
capabilities and competencies drawn from a vast array of traditional
disciplines that have been integrated into the skill sets of a particular
designer in his or her modern form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">University
education has become dominated by vertical specialisations with little connect
between the various disciplines and the emphasis has been on development of
knowledge resources and capability within each domain of study. However it is
increasingly seen that to solve real world problems and emerging opportunities
there is a need for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary attitudes and
abilities to collaborate and think across various styles of thought and action
to ralise innovative possibilities that are around us all the time. It is here
that many educators across disciplines are turning to design thinking to bring
these new attitudes and capabilities to the various domains of specialisations
within an educational and university setting. The core processes and
capabilities afforded by design thinking training are listed and stated below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xWtzQ9kEsqE/UhOe6VexfDI/AAAAAAAAEX4/82_L0wGBKtE/s1600/Design+Thinking+Styles_Flat+Model_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xWtzQ9kEsqE/UhOe6VexfDI/AAAAAAAAEX4/82_L0wGBKtE/s400/Design+Thinking+Styles_Flat+Model_hr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">1. Understanding the Context: Framing Intentions and
Goals<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">Learning to understand the context and the social,
cultural, material, economic and political situation that usually leads to
trying to get clarity from a very complex set of signals and processes from the
real world that help provide the essence of a direction for design thought and
action. This kind of learning, like many others, does go through several
iterations but at the end of these multiple cycles the level of conviction and
sense of purpose is usually very high in the task and the purpose that it
represents. This early stage learning is at most times very fuzzy and a great
deal of flexibility is called for to be able to cope with the ambiguity that
accompanies this kind of design exploration leading to the building of some
convictions that are supported by the faith of these experiences. Many a times
this conviction can be a source of great frustration since few others have the
same insights that the design learner has garnered from the unique situations
that has been investigated in some considerable depth. Designers learn that
these early stage sense data needs to be trusted and not abandoned too early
and this is the foundation of an innovation environment in which they choose to
work. Lifetime of experiences are harnessed through the processes of
brainstorming and mapping of the context and the various elements that may
impact the situation that is being examined with a very open minded attitude
that is inclusive in nature rather than by being overly critical. All this
exploration is done with words and images and these need to be modeled in a
composite structure that captures both the structure as well as the form of the
situation under examination and this model is a dynamic one as it develops and
responds to new circumstances and information and insights. Insights about the
context and the particular situation are the most sought after by-products from
these early stages of design exploration.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">2. Research, Knowledge and Insights: Plumbing
Information Sources and Dimensions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Design learning
needs to develop both attitudes as well as ability with tools of information
access and processing. The process of design </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">deals
with access to information to many classes of information types which includes
published and reported facts and speculations and also field based observations
and self initiated experiments that are contextually mediated to fill gaps in
the current information or for a direct confirmation of some reported fact or
speculation which cannot otherwise be verified easily, to list only a small
sub-set of the huge variety of information types involved in design
investigation. Designers have drawn from all kinds of disciplines, from the
humanities, sociology, psychology and language studies as well as from the
sciences and technology fields,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>various tools and techniques that were previously perfected within these
disciplines over the years of specialised investigations and these would be
available in published form as textbooks from each field of study. For example,
tools and procedures on field-work and observation of people in the particular
design situation, are drawn from the standard practices and work ethics and
techniques of anthropologists, sociologists a variety of humanities experts and
these have been adopted and used in numerous cases of design research that I
know of. The field of design research is growing with many of these disciplines
recognising new roles for themselves in the whole arena of innovation and
design action that is becoming recognised as a valuable area of work globally.
Design schools too are beginning to adopt many of these tools and processes as
their own and building competence in their use and analysis. The purpose of
these design research efforts however tend to be focussed on finding useful
insights for the design action and decisions to follow rather than be focussed
on finding fundamental truths and new knowledge as a final goal of the
particular design research effort.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">3. Finding Structure: Mapping of Resources and
Opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Design problems
are better understood by juxtaposing factual and observational findings with
new proposals and imagined possibilities that are visualised at an early stage
in a what if mode of thought and action. New scenarios for action come up for
active consideration and these also inform the design teams about the possible
gaps in their information that need to be filled as they move forward. These </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">conjectural models can be subjected to early analysis using a variety
tools and frameworks to conduct such analysis. The hypothesis and insights
arrived at in these early explorations drives further design investigation in
the form of advanced scenarios of parts or the whole of the design situation or
in the form of narratives and stories that cover both the micro and the macro
levels of observation and visualisation of the stated and imagined need as well
as the consequences and potentials that are being investigated by the designer.
This too moves through numerous iterations till a selection is possible of a few
major alternate courses of action that can be taken to the next level of
investment planning and decision cycles, be it the sharing of these models with
stake-holders, conduct of further focussed experiments or the building of
expensive prototypes of parts or the whole product or business offering, as the
case may be. This also applies to visualisations at many levels of expression
from the abstract to the real, such as pre-cognitive diagrams, doodles and
fuzzy sketches at one end, that are the preliminary visualisations created in
many cases intuitively by the designer for themselves in the search for
possible configurations and relationships of the various attributes of the
solution to the other extreme involving expensive articulations of scenario in the
form of detailed drawings, renderings and models and even real material
prototypes in many iterations in a search for new and particular configurations
affordances that resolve the many contradictions that exist in all design
tasks. We can call this an analytical exploration of the design situation using
visual tools and processes that generate external models rather than numerical
or verbal expressions, although in some cases even these would be used in
conjunction with the visual as well. Many of these models can be shared with
large groups of critical participants to find gaps in the offerings and areas
of improvement may emerge from the suggestions that are gathered in this
process.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">4. Communication of Concepts: Negotiating with
Stake-holders<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Designers need
to develop an ability to make their concepts visible at an early stage and to
be successful they also need to be able to communicate these effectively to a
wide range of stake-holders as well. The ability to work in a team situation
with many stake-holders with different areas of expertise is critical and using
verbal, textual and visual discourses is an integral part of design thought and
action. Design action calls for articulate expression of intermediate findings
as well as expressive presentations of findings and results of concept
explorations along with justifications of investments that would need to follow
to make the concept a reality. Therefore, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">interactions
with numerous stakeholders and in most cases approving authorities with whom
the interactions are both critical and necessary for the task to progress to
the next logical level of action with funding and other supports, calls for
fairly advanced skills of communication and language use along with multi-media
presentation skills. The learning involved is in communication, in seeking
collaborations and in understanding the responses with empathy to the situation
and the needs and feelings of the identified users. For major projects of
public utility there is the added complexity of public discourse and politics
of governance that would need to be negotiated and navigated with competence if
the design teams are to be successful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">5. Ethical Frameworks and Holistic Models: Synthesis
of Positions and Informed Decisions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Values and
ethical positions are a part of all design choice making and these would come
up at numerous stages in the process of design. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">Learning
to accept and process the feedback from stake-holders into contact with
constructive actions is a great leveller, and it brings the design thinker into
uncommon scenarios on the cusp of great change and this could induce change in
the individual themselves, since some of this feedback could be cultural in
nature or outside the accepted frame of the designers frame of “personal
ethics” – for want of a better term, which may be reflexive and transformative
in both directions. The nature of design calls for the practitioner to be
widely informed about both technical as well as socio-political matters and be
able to use these in the context of the task at hand. There are many instances
of the designer embarking on a new path outside the scope of the current task
based on the insights and convictions derived from the learning experiences
embedded in the design task. Today we are finding numerous examples of great
complexity that may contain challenges of trying to bring sustainability and
social equity into design tasks that may have in the past been considered a
pure technical exercise. Awareness levels are high and public participation in
such matters is also approaching high levels compelling designers to adopt
methods that could make the design process less intuitive and more accountable
and with public visibility at all decision stages, particularly for good
governance in public expenditure. Documentation in such situations becomes
doubly important.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">6. Exploring Alternatives:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Developing Strategies and Details for Parts and Whole.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">Learning to design leads to be open to vast range of
alternatives and in decision-making choices from out of the numerous
alternatives of parts and wholes that are the result of progressive
visualisations and experimentations conducted in the progress of the design
task. The definition of the task itself is open to review and many a times the
investigations and design investments have veered of into an entirely new
direction as a result of this kind of review which is quite normal in a design
situation that is complex and previously less explored. The ability to develop
alternatives calls for flexibility as well as the ability to generate prolific
variety of expressions that can shape possible futures through the mobilisation
of many types and styles of thinking for exploration and synthesis. Design
thinking has many modes of thought from explorative, analytical, synthesis,
abductive, categoric as well as reflective thinking styles at various stages as
the work progresses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7. Developing the Self:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learning New Attitudes, Skills and Concepts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Design students
need to be curious people and they should have an urge for constant learning
about changes in their environment as well as in society at large. The ability
to find what is not known and to quickly learn the principles or alternately to
find those who can help them learn is a quality that is valued in a design and education
setting. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">The constant self development that we see
in what designers do in their search for new and interesting bits of knowledge
that would be of value in the future on some not yet anticipated task usually
within the frame of interest paths that each designer traverses over a career
of continued learning to cope with the new and the unexpected in their usual
area of work and areas that overlap their multiple interest paths. This calls
for high degree of self-motivation and a sustained level of interest that can
be supported when the task becomes both difficult and in many cases frustrating
when no progress</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Courier; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">is
easily visible on the horizon. The attitude towards learning is one of
curiosity and with a constant search for excellence and quality in whatever is
being addressed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Design
Thinking Course at Ahmedabad University: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Course Abstract
Paper </b>for an elective course created for undergraduate & postgraduate
students<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Prof M P
Ranjan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Independent Academic & Author of Blog –
www.DesignForIndia.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Course Title: Introduction to Design Thinking<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Sessions:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> 30 sessions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Pre-Requisites:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Offered to all students of Undergraduate
and Postgraduate Programme at Ahmedabad University.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Objective:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Broad based introduction to the processes
and concepts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Design Thinking</i> with
a sensitisation to attitudes and action skills required to innovate and deliver
new and compelling design concepts. Participants will be introduced to various
processes and styles of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Design Thinking</i>
using selected real world settings in the City of Ahmedabad — to explore,
understand, structure and build new products, services and systems with the use
of design and innovation processes. Help participants appreciate design thought
and processes with a familiarity to key design thought leaders in the field
through select readings, contemporary debates on issues and perspectives as
well as online resources that are relevant and current. The assignments will
give students an exposure to the hands-on minds-on perspectives needed for
handling complex and wicked problems that are typical of design challenges and
these collective experiences as well as reflections on these actions taken
together will give them confidence to handle new and unfamiliar situations and
use these processes and styles of thinking to create new and compelling
offerings using design thinking as a way of living and action.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Methodology and Structure:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> This 30 session course is divided into 10
modules, each composed of lectures, discussion sessions on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Key Theme</b> of each module and these are
followed by structured non-prescriptive assignments for the students to work in
teams to explore and discover the boundaries of the chosen task and navigate
the complexities of the situation in exploring design opportunities through the
set of structured assignments and learning to work in teams at the same time.</span><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Course Content: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Introduction to Key Concepts of Design
Thinking through lectures, discussions, group assignments and presentations
divided into ten major overlapping modules as listed below:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A: Key Concepts of Design Thinking<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">1. What is
Design Thinking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">2. Styles of
Design Thinking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">3. Goal Seeking
& Setting Research<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">4.
Understanding Context<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">5. Visual
Mapping & Resource Mapping<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">6. Categories
and Trends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7. Compositions
and Judgements<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">8. Opportunity
Mapping and Scenario Visualisation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">9.
Communications and Reflection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">10.
Presentations with Business Models<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">(See supporting
notes attached for a description of the design thinking models and stages as
well as styles of thinking)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">B: Opportunities for New/ Improved Services </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">and Business offerings through
design. Context City of Ahmedabad of 2015 - 2020<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">These are broad sectors within which
there would be numerous specific design opportunities worth doing and these
would be explored and developed as a theme each year depending on the context
and current interest of the participating students and the imagination that
they would unfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">1. Food preparation and delivery<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>9.
Urban Farming Trends<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">2. Healthcare opportunities<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>10.
Garbage and Urban Hygiene<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">3. Urban Mobility challenges<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>11.
Web Enabled Services<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">4. Entertainment and then City<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>12.
Library & Knowledge Services<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">5. Public Spaces Utilisation<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>13.
Music Events and Competitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 9.0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">6. Tourism and Heritage offerings<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>14.
Social Networks for City Governance<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7. Events and Festivals<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>15.
Riverfront Opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 9.0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">8. Education related needs<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>16.
BRTS support Services<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">And many more which would be developed as part of the
early Goal Setting assignments in the early phase of the course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Space and
Facilities Required: </span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Flexible space planning with
appropriate furniture and lighting would be needed to conduct he various parts
of this course. Lectures and presentation sessions would be for the whole group
and depending on the total number of students the space requirements would need
to be made appropriately. During each Module the groups would require access to
lecture spaces provide with audio-visual facilities as well as clear wall
spaces with white soft boards for display and discussion of posters simultaneously
for at least five groups. Each group would be composed of 6 to 10 student
participants and the class strength could vary from 30 to 50 participants each
year. Each group would need a work space suitable for group processes in design
thinking and preferably these tables and chairs should be stackable to clear
the space for group presentations that would use the wall space around the
design space. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">List of key
thought leaders and published resources:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Design
Thinking is a rapidly evolving field and more published resources are being
made available each day as the field grows. We will keep a close watch on the
evolving literature and suggest appropriate papers, books, web sites and
discussion lists that the students can interact with as part of their course at
the University. Being an introductory course, the selection will be governed by
the material being suitable for entry-level students into the field of design
and design thinking. However the University needs to invest in expanding their
design related library so that these students can continue to use the resource
long after the course in a continued learning setting and it would also
encourage other students to think about using design as a key resource for
their own projects and initiatives. We anticipate many such innovation
initiatives from the student body once the course is set up and finds a place
in the mainstream of the University offering.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Evaluation
Criteria and Feedback:</span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Students will be evaluated on
both participation as well as performance. Participation will be on the basis
of attendance and quality of participation in group processes. Results of group
assignments will be graded for the group and not for the individual student.
However, students not showing interest or effort in group processes would need
to be counseled to ensure a level of learning that is wholesome and properly
assimilated. The final presentation would be a public event and the concepts
developed by the students will get live feedback from teachers, mentors, peers,
as well as members of the community with whom they have interacted during the
course. Attendance and individual participation tasks will carry a 40 percent
weightage while group tasks would carry 60 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Learning
Outcomes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Understanding of Design as an action discipline. Ability to frame
complex challenges using design thinking skills and visualization of these for
sharing with stakeholders. Familiarity with design concepts and tools with an
introduction to key thought leaders. Familiarity with a vocabulary of design
and innovation as they would be applied to a wide spectrum of opportunities and
complex challenges.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Suggested
References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">1. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Heskett,</b>
Design: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">2. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jon Kolko,</b>
Exposing The Magic of Design: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Methods of
Synthesis, Oxford University Press, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">3.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> John Thackara,</b>
In The Bubble, Designing in a Complex World, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">4. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Harold G
Nelson & Eric Stolterman,</b> The Design Way, Intentional Change in an
Unpredictable World, MIT Press, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">5. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roger Martin,</b>
Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage,
Harvard Business School Press, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">6. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kees Dorst,</b>
Understanding Design, BIS Publishers, 2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bryan Lawson,</b>
What Designers Know, Architectural Press, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">6. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M P Ranjan,</b>
Design Thinking Models: A Primer, The Author, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M P Ranjan, </b>Design
for India, blog : </span><a href="http://www.designforindia.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.designforindia.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "PT Sans"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> , 2007 to 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">8. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M P Ranjan,</b>
Academia.edu, Archive of Papers and Books by the author,
http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><b>Note for the record:</b></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On 18 August 2013 the Academic Council of Ahmedabad University reviewed the proposal and accorded an in-principle approval to launch the course as an elective offered across several colleges of the University, This is a significant move since in India we have over 500 recognised Universities and the need for embedding design and design thinking into the 230 sectors of our economy is still a long way away, a journey that we started on this blog in 2007 on 14th June with the publication of our <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.in/2007/06/mission-statement.html">Mission Statement for the Design for India initiative</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Prof M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ahmedabad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.academia.edu/attachments/31747627/download_file">Download as PDF file here </a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-31186354808069662862013-07-22T00:55:00.003+05:302020-09-13T04:33:09.466+05:30Celebrating the Mizo Paikawng: Reflections on The Three Orders of Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Reflections on The
Three Orders of Design: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Lessons from the
handmade baskets of the Northeast India revisited<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></a></span></b></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP">Independent Academic, Ahmedabad, India & Author of Blog</a></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">www.DesignForIndia.com</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design overview
lecture delivered at the “Uttar Purva Utsav” organized by the Crafts Council of
India at the “Dilli Haat” on 2<sup>nd</sup> February 2009 to celebrate and
promote the crafts of Northeast India in association with the Development
Commissioner of Handicrafts, Government of India.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The lecture was
simultaneously translated into Hindi by Prof. Ms Asha Bakshi, Dean Fashion
Design, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.academia.edu/4071447/Reflections_on_The_Three_Orders_of_Design_Lessons_from_the_handmade_baskets_of_the_Northeast_India_revisited">This paper has been revised and illustrations added in 2013 (download paper)</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-990UqX5mVZI/UewyEGGFG9I/AAAAAAAAERw/5rmI3snyHOM/s1600/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-990UqX5mVZI/UewyEGGFG9I/AAAAAAAAERw/5rmI3snyHOM/s640/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This invitation to speak at the “Uttar Purva Utsav” organized
by the Crafts Council of India at the “Dilli Haat” gives me the opportunity to
reflect on my three decade old association with the crafts of the Northeastern
Region of India and to ponder on the lessons that we have learned about design
and bamboo from the craftsmen of the Northeast over the years since our first
contact with their work in the field in late 1979. We began our year long
fieldwork November 1979 in the Northeast as part of the project sponsored by
the All India Handicrafts Board in those days, now the Development Commissioner
of Handicrafts [DC (H)], to study the bamboo and cane crafts of the region
which resulted in a book which was eventually published in 1986 by the DC (H)
and the National Institute of Design (NID), titled <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wCbT3JZwcbyWCLDmg2lDG0EXTrBHaWqs/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">“Bamboo & Cane Crafts ofNortheast India” by M P Ranjan, Nilam Iyer and Ghanshyam Pandya. (download pdf 35 mb) </a>It is also an
opportune occasion to connect once again with the resources that were generated
by that project particularly in the form of the very large collection of
baskets that were collected in the field as part of our study and these are
today available at the National Crafts Museum and I am told that these are on
special display to celebrate the crafts of Northeast and in conjunction with
this particular event at the Dilli Haat. The craftsmen and the crafts promoters
are invited to visit the National Crafts Museum at Pragati Maidan and see for
themselves the quality of crafts that is still a living tradition of the region
as these products are still in active use across the region but times are
changing fast and these may not remain that way for very long. Digital pdf
copies of my book can be downloaded from my website and in-print copies of the
paperback edition (2004) are available from both NID and the DC (H) and the
original hard-bound edition (1986) is now out of print.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I must share the learning that we were able to glean from
our journeys into the Northeast as well as from our interactions with the local
craftsmen which was followed by a period of deep study that we could invest
into the collection of 400 baskets that we had gathered during our field work
in the Northeastern region. Besides giving us numerous insights about bamboo
that were invaluable we were also quite surprised to see the deep appreciation
of design principles that were both applied by the craftsmen as well as
something g that we found embedded in the range of products that we had
collected in an extremely selective manner during our year long field work in
the seven states of the Northeastern region. Now Sikkim has been included in
the definition of the Northeastern Region and rightly so, since these states
share so many common characteristics with each other while keeping their
individual identities intact. Learning from the Northeast’s craftmen was an exhilarating
experience and in all very enriching experience. As a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>designer and a design teacher traveling with two colleagues
through a culture that was rich with knowledge about bamboo and design it was a
stimulating experience for us and a huge source of new learning from the field.
This learning we tried to capture in our book about the Bamboo and Cane Crafts
of the Northeastern Region and while the content may look like a normal
documentation a look at the back of the book will reveal two indexes, one a “Technical
index” that captures all the nuances of the local wisdom across many fields and
the other a “Subject index” which links and makes accessible word concepts as
they appear across the book. Our sense of amazement at each product that we saw
and the level of detail to which the thought process had helped evolve that
product was always a source of great pleasure and amazement and admiration.
From all these products I would like to draw out one specific example, The
Paikawng, a Mizo basket used for carrying firewood, not because it stands above
the rest but simply because it is one of many products that come to my mind as
I stand here and reflect on our deep learning from the field about design
itself. I will therefore use the example of the Paikawng to set out the
boundaries and contours of the three orders of design as they appear in the
fine hand crafted baskets of Northeast India.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Let me first give you an overview of the three orders of
design that I shall be dwelling on over the next few minutes. What are these
and how do they relate to our understanding of design and in particular how
these can help us use design to further our objective of building better
products and systems for the people of the Northeastern region? The fine
detailing in the baskets from the Northeast represent the climax of a bamboo
culture and the field study and our book tries to pay homage to that spirit.
The three orders of design are listed here and I shall proceed to explain how
these were appreciated in the Paikawng and in all the other products that were
equally rich and deserving of our attention.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j1pTKDIHBGk/UewvPutg8pI/AAAAAAAAERQ/HJ6HZ9-lIQM/s1600/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="457" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j1pTKDIHBGk/UewvPutg8pI/AAAAAAAAERQ/HJ6HZ9-lIQM/s640/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The First Order of
Design:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Order of Design of
Material –Form – Structure <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level of design is recognised by all people and is the
most commonly discussed attribute. Here material, structure and technology are
the key drivers of the design and these help shape the form that we eventually
see and appreciate in the product. We can appreciate the product as an honest
expression of structure and material used and transformed to realize a
particular form that is both unique as well as functional. It is here that
skill and understanding of the craftsmen are both used to shape the product
through an appropriate transformation of the material with an understanding of
its properties and with an appreciation of its limitations and possibilities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Let us take the Paikawng and examine it at the level of
material and form – this basket is made of long strands of stout bamboo splits
that are first interlaced to form a square base before these are bent up to
form the sides of the basket. In forming the sides these very same splits form
elongated hexagons that are a result of the three horizontal bands that anchor
the inclined verticals between the base and the rim structure. At the rim these
splits are each divided laterally into a number of sub-splits which lend
themselves to a form of braiding so as to create a wide braided band that is
both soft as well as very strong but being flexible. The material of the split
is thus transformed at each stage, the base as flat and wide, the sides as
thick and stiff and the rim as soft and flexible, while still remaining one
single piece of bamboo that is responding to a particular structural need at
the point where it is needed. The four corners of the square base are covered
by a interlacing knot made of cane splits which does not unravel if some of the
overlapping strands are cut while the basket is in use. This lends the basket a
degree of toughness that is essential for the intended function, which is to
carry rough cut fire-wood from the field to the home and this brings us to the
second order of design.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YYrTn2ngHSA/Uewv2_auj0I/AAAAAAAAERY/XoLzKQIkuNo/s1600/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_05.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YYrTn2ngHSA/Uewv2_auj0I/AAAAAAAAERY/XoLzKQIkuNo/s640/Bangkok_Creativity+&+Design+with+Bamboo_lr_Page_05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Second Order of
Design: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Order of Design
for Function: Feeling – Impact – Effect<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level is influenced by utility and feeling and is
largely determined by the marketplace as well as by the culture in which it is
located. Here aesthetics and utility are informed by the culture and the
economics of the land. We can sense and feel the need for the product and the
trends are determined by the largely intangible attributes through which we
assess the utility and price that we are willing to pay for this particular
offering and this is quite independent of its cost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In order to examine this level of design we will need to
compare similar products across a number of different social and cultural
situations. Firewood baskets are made by many communities of the Northeast and
each of these have a distinctive form that is informed by the asthetic
preferences of that community. The Paikawng offers the Mizo a particular form
and structure and for lighter applications they have a sister product called
the Emsin which is lighter and smaller than the Paikawng but with very similar
structural and formal characteristics of the latter. The other tribes have
distinctly different forms that are arrived at by differences in the size,
shape, contours as well as the shape of the hexagon used to form the sides of
the baskets in question while addressing the same set of functions that the
Paikawng addresses for the Mizos.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lf8PfJvTkjY/UewwMIB0O7I/AAAAAAAAERg/xbCNvpcZXYQ/s1600/Orders+of+Design_Design+Thinking+Models_Primer_Landscape_LR+07.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lf8PfJvTkjY/UewwMIB0O7I/AAAAAAAAERg/xbCNvpcZXYQ/s640/Orders+of+Design_Design+Thinking+Models_Primer_Landscape_LR+07.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Third Order of
Design: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Order of Design
for Value – Meaning and Purpose<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level is shaped by the higher values in our society and
by the philosophy, ethics and spirit that we bring to our products and events
as well as all the associated services and the stories that we can tell about
the relationships between these entities and our lives. At this level value
unfolds through the production of meaning in our lives and in providing us with
our identities and these products becomes a medium of communication itself, all
about ourselves. It is held in the politics and ethics of the society and is at
the heart of the spirit in which the products are produced and used in that
society. There are deeply held meanings that are integral to the form,
structure as well as some of the essential features which may in some cases be
the defining aspects of that product, making it recognizable as being from a
particular tribe or community. These features define the ownership of the form,
motif or character of the product and these are usually supported by the
stories and legends about their origin and these give meaning to the lives of
the people for whom they are made. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Paikawng has this distinctive character and can be
recognized as a typical Mizo product both by the Mizos themselves as well as by
those around them. The braided band at the rim has a distinctive name in the
Mizo language – it is called “vawkpuidang phiar”, meaning “the braided pattern
of palete of the pig or sow” which has a similar knitted pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These stories bring value to the
product that goes far beyond its material and utility value that is usually
embedded in such functional products. We need to recognize the characteristics
that these three orders of design bring to the contemporary products of our own
society and in doing so we can learn to enhance the value that it brings to the
market as well as tone the quality standards that are applied to each instance
of these products at the various stages of production, marketing and
utilization in the society. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">All three layers are important and we need to learn to
appreciate our creations along all three axis if we are to reach a sustainable
offering in the handicrafts sector in the days ahead. Design therefore has a
number of layers that are addressed in our traditional artifacts and when we
embark on the making of our new and innovative products for new markets we will
need to pay a great deal of attention to all three orders of the design
spectrum if we are to reach a semblence of sustainability and order in our
creative offerings for the future.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">~</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bamboo & Cane
Crafts of Northeast India by M P Ranjan, Nilam Iyer and Ghanshyam Pandya,
National Institute of Design 1986</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">About the Author<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Independent Academic, Ahmedabad</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Author of blog www.DesignForIndia.com</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">_______________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As a member of the faculty since 1976 he has been
responsible for the creation and conduct of numerous courses dealing with
Design Theory and Methodology, Product and Furniture Design and numerous
domains of Digital Design. He has conducted research in many areas of Design
Pedagogy, Industrial and Craft Design and on the role of design policy in
various sectors of the Indian economy. He has held many administrative
positions at NID and is currently Head, NID Centre for Bamboo Initiatives at
NID. Besides publishing several papers on design and craft he has edited
numerous volumes of NID publications including the “Young Designers” series and
is author of a major book titled “Bamboo and Cane Crafts of Northeast India”
(1986) and two CD-ROMs titled “Bamboo Boards and Beyond” (2001) and “Beyond
Grassroots” (2003) which contain all his papers and reports on bamboo and on
design. He helped build the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design at Jaipur and
the Bamboo & Cane Development Institute, Agartala. He is co-editor of a major
publication “Handmade in India” (2008) which documents the crafts of India and
is produced by the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, Government of
India.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As a professional designer he has handled many design
projects for industry, government and international agencies in areas of
product design, interior design, exhibition design, craft design and design
policy. As Chairman of NID's consulting Design Office from 1981 to 1991 he was
responsible for managing over four hundred professional design projects handled
by the Institute in that period. He has headed the NID’s Publications and
Resource Centre as well as the Information Technology initiatives as Chairman
Computer Centre and Head Apple Academy at NID. He completed several major
projects for the UNDP and Government agencies to demonstrate the role of bamboo
as a sustainable craft and industrial material of the future. These innovations
contributed to the creation of new strategies for the use of bamboo in India. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">M P Ranjan was born in Madras in 1950 and after his
schooling and junior college there he joined NID as a design student in 1969 in
the PG programme in Furniture Design. He joined the Faculty at NID in 1972 and
for a short while, between 1974 and 1976, worked as a professional designer in
Madras before returning to NID as a full time faculty member in 1976. He now
teaches fulltime at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is on the
Governing Council of the IICD, Jaipur and is the Chairman, Geovisualisation
Task Group set up by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of
India.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">His website set up in late 2004 is a growing resource of
writings and visual presentations on his numerous areas of interest, projects
and teaching programmes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp">http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">(shut down by Apple)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 2007 he created and launched a blog called “Design for
India” on his thoughts on policy initiatives for the spread of design in all
sectors of the Indian economy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com/">http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">~</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-86159411582136712372013-06-26T00:19:00.001+05:302013-06-29T00:55:58.452+05:30Web of Connections: Indian Design education with influences from the HfG Ulm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Web of Connections: Indian Design
education with influences from the HfG Ulm<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></span></a></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP"><span style="color: #e06666;">Professor– Design Chair, CEPT University, Ahmedabad</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
was invited to write a reflective piece on the connections between the design
pedagogy of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and that of the HfG Ulm
to be included in a proposed issue of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’s magazine
issue that would look back at the impact of the Bauhaus and Hfg Ulm on the
Tropical nations of the world long after both these German schools were shut
down for different reasons. I have been researching their connections with
India for many years and this invitation gave me an opportunity to continue my
research a bit deeper into the connections between the schools. I interviewed
four former NID faculty who had studied and worked closely with faculty from
HfG Ulm in the early 60’s when the NID was being founded at Ahmedabad and used
this to build my paper. Interesting new facts were revealed in these interviews
and we will need to do more before we have a deeper understanding of the real
influences and how these have shaped the foundation of design education in
India.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My
paper was not carried in the Bauhaus 5 – Tropics issue released in June 2013
but on pages 76 to 79 they carried a brief interview with me about a set of
questions that their editors had set for me to respond. However, they have also provided
a link to my blog “Design for India” <a href="http://www.designforindia.com/">www.designforindia.com</a>
and their own website at <a href="http://www.bauhaus-online.de/">www.bauhaus-online.de</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for extracts from my paper that is
reproduced below in full text.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XXPOBMjh9yU/UcnhtlX6HTI/AAAAAAAAEOE/IWwT7X5SSZk/s1600/01_NID+Faculty+with+Ulm+Connection_Names.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="331" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XXPOBMjh9yU/UcnhtlX6HTI/AAAAAAAAEOE/IWwT7X5SSZk/s640/01_NID+Faculty+with+Ulm+Connection_Names.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #e06666;">Image:
Paramanand Dalwadi, H Kumar Vyas, Gajanan Upadhayay and Jayanti Panchal — all
former Faculty of NID who had close connections with HfG Ulm in the 60’s and
later.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Web of Connections: Indian Design education
with influences from the HfG Ulm<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professor
– Design Chair, CEPT University, Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Paper
prepared at the invitation of the </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Bauhaus Dessau foundation</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> for inclusion in </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/">"Bauhaus 5 ‑—Tropics"</a> magazine. in June 2013</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prelude<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
his 1999 article titled – The “Ulm Model” in the Periphery – Gui Bonsiepe
discussed the various manifestations of the “Ulm Model” especially its reach
and establishment In India in the process of bringing design education to
India. He states – “HfG influences had a part in the founding of the National
Institute of Design (NID) at Ahmedabad in India, where HfG faculty members gave
guest courses (Hans Gugelot, Herbert Lindinger, Wolfgang Siol, Christian Staub
and others). These institutions based themselves in policy, design, curriculum
and teaching methods (problem based learning in design courses), on the
experience of the HfG. This experience was brought to them through contacts
with HfG faculty members, through Ulm alumni who came there to teach, and also
through the publications of the HfG, especially the magazine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ulm</i>.” This statement from “Ulm Design”
(1999) provided the setting for me to research deeper the connections between
HfG Ulm and NID in the early years as well as in contemporary times
particularly in the context of the invitation from the Bauhaus Dessau
Foundation who are setting up a retrospective of the exhibition that had been
shown in Calcutta in 1922 that included works of the Bauhaus of which very
little is known here in India in the context of the arrival of modern design
and its taking roots here in India. Little is also known about the various
connections between the HfG Ulm and NID and I used this occasion to try and
correct these lacunae. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image:
HfG Ulm Faculty (from top left clockwise) — 1. Visiting faculty at HfG Ulm and
at NID - Charles Eames. 2. Hans Gugelot with architecture students at NID in
1965, 3. Horst Rittel author of "wicked problems" and 4. Tomas Maldonado author of "Design, Nature, Revolution".</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">I
had detailed interviews and video recorded four former NID faculty who had
substantial contact with Ulm and Ulm faculty in the 60’s and 70’s and these
interviews as well as other resources and information available with me I
proceeded to build the final article. I interviewed Kumar Vyas who started the
Product Design Programme at NID in 1966 after spending 11 months at Ulm in
Gugelot's office in 1965-66, Paramanand Dalwadi who set up the NID Photography
Department was a student of Christian Staub at NID in 1963-66 and Wolfgang Siol
at Ulm in 1970. Gajanan Upadhayay started the Furniture Design activity at NID
and worked with Hans Gugelot during his brief visit in 1965 and finally Jayanti
A Panchal who also worked with Hans Gugelot in 1965 on the tangential fan
project at NID and later went to Gugelot office in 1970-71 as a product-engineering
designer. All of them had intense interactions with Prof Hans Gugelot when he
visited NID in 1965. As we know Hans Gugelot passed away in 1965 some time
after his return from India but not before he had set up the faculty training exposure
programme for Kumar Vyas to undertake at Ulm over 11 months in 1965-66. I also
got in touch by phone with Prof Sudha Nadkarni in Mumbai and reviewed his
papers for the Ulmer Model Exhibitions in 2010 at Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
Sudha Nadkarni studied at HfG Ulm from 1962 to 1966 and came back to India to
work at NID 1966 to 1969 and then went on to set up the Industrial Design
Centre at IIT Bombay in 1970. Kirit Patel of CEPT University had apprenticed in
Frei Otto's studio in the 80's and this interview too provided insights about
the approach to design that was followed by one of the prominent guest faculty
at HfG Ulm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Herbert
Lindinger in his forward to the book “Ulm Design” tells us that the HfG Ulm had
been through six phases of development and before the NID teams interacted with
them they had already developed a critical approach to design education and
design theory that was well documented and disseminated by the Ulm magazine 1
to 21 from 1955 to 1968. He states – </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">“The third phase, 1956-58, was
dominated by the teaching of Otl Aicher, Maldonado, Gugelot and
Vordemberge-Gildewart. These instructors tried to build a new and markedly
closer relationship between design, science and technology. This was the first
manifestation of the Ulmer Modell, the Ulm model, which has lost none of its
relevance. The HfG evolved a model of training that aimed to give designers a
new, and rather more modest and cautious, understanding of their own role. As
design was now to concern itself with more complex things than chairs and
lamps, the designer could no longer regard himself, within the industrial and
aesthetic process in which he operated, as an artist, a superior being. He must
now aim to work as part of a team, involving scientists, research departments,
sales people, and technicians, in order to realize his own vision of a socially
responsible shaping – Gestaltung – of the environment. Under Maldonado, a new
Basic Course came into being, which broke away more and more clearly from
Bauhaus concepts and absorbed the lessons of perceptual theory and semiotics.”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The National Institute of Design
(NID)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
was this Basic Course that Kumar Vyas understood deeply at Ulm and introduced
to the new batch of Product Design students when the Postgraduate course was
offered to graduate engineers in 1967. The NID documentation from 1964-69 shows
examples of the Basic Design assignments as well as the early projects and the
methods used in these projects that echo the Ulm paradigm as well as the muted
shades of grey and colours that were a hallmark of the HfG Ulm way. According
to him, while the spirit of Ulm may have directed the assignments a lot of
innovations were brought into the teaching to meet local needs and challenges. I
joined NID as a student in the postgraduate programme in Furniture Design in
1969 and Kumar Vyas, Sudha Nadkarni and Rolf Misol conducted the interview.
While the Furniture Design projects that started from day one were formulated
by Misol and his teacher and chief consultant, Arno Votler, the Basic Design
assignments conducted by Kumar Vyas were the same as those done by the Product
Design students. The evening discussions that we had with the Product Design
students and those from Graphics and Textiles did show different threads of
pedagogy that were being explored at NID by the various departments and each
was informed by the specific positions of the selected consultants and visiting
faculty who were involved in these programmes. While Product Design was based
on Ulm the Graphic Design programme was modeled after the Swiss school at Basel
and the Textile Design programme came from Cranbrook and the Scandinavian
traditions of weaving. Furniture Design and Ceramic Design had German
consultants to set the curriculum and to conduct the early programmes. Arno Vottler
and Hans Theo Baumann developed the Furniture Design and Ceramic Design
programmes respectively.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I<i><span style="color: #e06666;">mage. H K Vyas conducting class at NID in 1967 and Exhibition at NID of basic design work done in the first Product Design
programme in 1969 and GIRNAR scooter designed by H K Vyas and Sudha Nadkarni with J A Panchal in 1969.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NID
too had a large number of visiting consultants and guest faculty members in the
formative years and many were involved in project work where students actively
participated. The first of a string of major exhibition and multidisciplinary projects
was the designing of the Nehru Exhibition and in 1964 the entire team of
faculty and students in the Graphic Design and Architecture programmes were
involved with the team from Eames Office and this helped set up a very vibrant
work culture at the new Institute located in a building that was designed by Le
Corbusier where NID had access to the loft spaces which had been suitably
modified to start the school of design and host its activities till the new
building was made ready across the street at Paldi in Ahmedabad. Gautam and
Gira Sarabhai with their vast network of contacts in the art and design
community worldwide were able to attract the best talent available to Ahmedabad
and with the generous grants from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations the
talent pool, that they assembled reads like a who’s who of world design and the
students and faculty were exposed to these ideas and work methods. This
procession of international talent continued well into the late 80’s with the
support of the development grants from the United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation (UNIDO). The first UNIDO- ICSID conference on Design
for Development was held at NID Paldi campus and at IDC in Mumbai in 1979 and
amongst the speakers were Victor Papanek and Gui Bonsiepe along with designers
from Europe, Asia and Latin America. I mention this here since NID had been
evolving internally as well towards development oriented design action and
there was much discussion at the Institute on what would be an appropriate of
design action for a country like India and these debates continued to impact
the education programmes at the Institute over the years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hans Gugelot and Product Deign<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For
the formulation of the Product Design programme Kumar Vyas was asked by Gautam
and Gira Sarabhai to stop by at HfG Ulm in early 1965 on his way back from the
opening ceremony of the Eames designed Nehru Exhibition that opened in New
York. This halt at the HfG Ulm turned out to be quite significant for the NID’s
Product Design programme. Kumar Vyas met Hans Gugelot there and it was agreed
that Gugelot would travel to India and help in the formulation of the new
programme for the NID. Gugelot traveled to India in the summer of that year and
spent a little over two weeks working with NID designers and craftsmen to
develop the new pedestal model of the tangential fan with Kumar Vyas and
Jayanti A Panchal and with Gajanan Upadhayay a range of furniture using wooden
strips in a T section arrangement and canvas and plywood strips inserts for
stiffness. The model making for the tangential fan was made by the legendary
Haribhai, a Guajarati craftsman and carpenter of fine skills and an amazing
ability to make models in a wide range of materials, plastics, metals and
woods. The wooden furniture system was detailed and developed by Gajanan
Upadhayay and he made the full set of scale models as well as the prototypes
himself. Gugelot returned to Ulm but passed away before Kumar Vyas could
commence his planned training programme at his office in Ulm. Kumar Vyas did
however travel to Ulm and work under the guidance of Herbert Lindinger at HfG
Ulm and Horst Diener at the Gugelot office where he spent the next ten months
understanding the Ulm approach to design education and practice. He also met
and befriended Sudha Nadkarni at HfG Ulm and this set the stage for the next
level of partnership since Nadkarni joined NID as a faculty and designer and
worked there from 1966 to 1969 before moving to Bombay to set up the IDC as
part of IIT Bombay. Jayanti A Panchal traveled to Ulm in 1974 to work in
Gugelot’s office under E Reichl and Horst Diener and during this period worked
on many ongoing projects of the office as a design engineer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian Staub and Wolfgang Siol –
Photography at NID<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photography
Department at NID was set up by Christian Staub who lived in Ahmedabad for
three years and trained the early students at NID including Paramanand Dalwadi
who became the main photography faculty at NID after his period of training at
NID under the mentorship of Christian Staub. Dalwadi recalls that period with
warmth and deep respect for his classical perfection in his work. Staub
introduced Dalwadi to the finer aspects of photography, camera work as well as
lab and darkroom techniques and in his own words gave him confidence to teach
the subject as well as carry out complex professional tasks in studio and
architectural photography using various formats that were available at NID. The
assignments were all refined at HfG Ulm these formed the basis of teaching at
NID as well. In 1969-70, Dalwadi was deputed for training at Ulm under Wolfgang
Siol for four months and there he had complete access to the equipment in the
studio although he arrived as an apprentice from India. This gave Dalwadi
insights into the Ulm classic techniques of “isometric photography” that was
achieved by perspective correction and appropriate camera position in relation
to the subject, unwritten rules of composition learned by practice and
attention to detail. He had another occasion in 1974 to return to Siol’s studio
and spend one month there to be immersed in the studio practice as a refresher
dose. Dalwadi had joined NID as a student in 1963 and he started teaching at
NID and built his own reputation as one of India’s leading photographer and
teacher.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guest Teachers at HfG Ulm and at
NID<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Herbert
Lindinger tells us – “The HfG was planned as a place for experiment, an
institution open to new hypotheses, theories, and development, in itself the
enormous preponderance of guest instructors (around 200) as opposed to
permanent faculty members (20) led to a sustained dynamic, a constant state of
mental unrest. The list of those guest instructors, then still young and
largely unknown, now looks like a Who’s Who of science, literature and art.”
Lindinger visited NID in 1970 to review the new curriculum for the
undergraduate programme that was started then.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Klaus Krippendorff whom I met at
the IDSA conference in 2006 writes about his experiences at Ulm where the
visiting lecturers and faculty included Charles and Ray Eames (1955 and 1958), Buckminister
Fuller, Bruce Archer and Horst Rittel, his favorite teachers. Krippendorff’s
paper of 2008 states – “</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">The school seemed to look for
students who connected intellectual, cultural, political and technological
conceptions and willing to act.”</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">He also has a comment on the politics of the HfG
Ulm and he states – “Perhaps the lack of appreciation of the virtues of higher
education by the design faculty explains at least part of its shortsighted
politics.” This seems to be true of NID as well as other design schools in
India where a lack of scholarship and publication is sometimes seen as a virtue.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
later years both NID and IDC managed to obtain UNDP funding and faculty from
both schools revisited contacts from HfG Ulm as pert of their training
programmes and guest faculty from HfG Ulm also came to India as UNDP
consultants to bring a renewed level of exchange between these organisations.
Detailing these will need additional research that I hope will be done in the
near future by Indian as well as German scholars. These experts include Kohei
Suguira from Tokyo, Herbert Ohl, Herbert Lindinger, and Gui Bonsiepe. I also had
a conversation with my colleague, Kirit Patel at CEPT University to explore his
contacts with Frei Otto and his team at IL, Stuttgart. Frei Otto was an active
guest faculty<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ulm Journals at NID Library<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomas
Maldonado and Gui Bonsiepe provided intellectual leadership to several
generations of Indian students as well as faculty at both NID as well as IDC
through their sustained efforts to publish the HfG Ulm Journals and books in
later years that were followed with awe and respect. NID Library had a bound
volume of these and many of the assignments documented here were also followed
explicitly at NID as well as at IDC over the years. For instance in Ulm Journal
10-11, Maldonado and Bonsiepe argue for a unique position for design and design
thinking in a world dominated by science. This is a position that we are still
to resolve and in my view an important debate that will continue to attract
research attention for years to come. I met Bonsiepe on his several visits to
India and also Maldonado when I made a visit to Milan in 2010 and I interviewed
him on a number of research questions that I had in mind that stemmed from his
perceptive writings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #e06666;">Image.
Look Back Look Forward workshops were conducted at Bangalore and Kolkatta in
2010 to accompany the traveling exhibition of the HfG Ulm work and design
pedagogy. These workshops looked at the impact of HfG Ulm on design pedagogy in
India and at basic design education in particular. Prof M P Ranjan (sitting on
the Ulmer Stool) chaired the two conferences along with Suchitra
Balasubramanian, Prof Sudha Nadkarni and Prof Kumar Vyas (seen above) were
keynote speakers at the Bangalore event while Prof Kirti Trivedi delivered
the keynote at Kolkatta. </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
1994 Kirti Trivedi of IDC approached me at NID to obtain Xerox copies of Ulm
Journals in the NID Library. He used these as a backdrop for the conference at
IDC, “Ulm and After” and selected papers were reproduced in a book for the
benefit of Indian teachers for the first time. In 2010, NID in collaboration
with the Ulm Archives and the Max Muller Bhavan hosted the traveling exhibit at
Ahmedabad and later at Bangalore and Kolkatta. I organized the conferences titled
Look Back Look Forward: HfG Ulm and Design Education in India at Bangalore and
another on Basic Design at Kolkatta and we released a digital set of the Ulm
Journals for Indian academics for the first time and since then these have been
available for a wider audience. The impact of these Ulm Journals on design
education is still unfolding and they will be in active use for many years to
come I am sure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further Research Questions<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Science
and Design article raises many research questions about the nature of design
and science that are still active in our debates on various online discussion
lists to this day. HfG Ulm had raised these in their corridors and these
questions still reverberate in our minds. The HfG Ulm is a rare case of design
thought and action that was both intense and comprehensive and the various
threads that started there may need to be followed up by current day
researchers to build a body of scholarship that will help put design at a new
level of acceptance in India and elsewhere. One wonders what discussion Eames
had the HfG in 1955 and 1958 and what impact if any it had on the Eames Report of
1958. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
also wonder what roles Guest Faculty could play in Design schools of the future,
particularly in the transmission of knowledge and cross fertilization of
ideology and techniques that seems to get lost in the implementation of narrow
curriculum that is being attempted here in India in an effort to expand the
reach of design education without adequate research. I believe that the seeds
of these questions and their answers lie in the archives and memories of
Ulmers, NIDians, IDCians and others and this need to be researched urgently. I
traveled to Ulm in 2005 at the invitation of Rene Spitz to be part of the round
table organized there. I followed this with another visit in 2008 when I had a
memorable experience of staying at the HfG Ulm campus in a faculty studio thanks
to the hospitality of Nick Roerich and the Ulm Archives and I hope more
researchers will explore this rich space to appreciate design and shape the
education of the designer of the future. The Max Bill building of 1953 is still
in pristine condition and the Ulm Archives has now moved back to the campus and
this bodes well for future research on the people and activities at HfG Ulm
that has had such a huge impact on the world of design education.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">References<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">01.
Charles and Ray Eames, The India Report, Government of India, New Delhi, 1958,
reprint, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1958, 1997</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">02.
Thomas Maldonado, Gui Bonsiepe, Renate Kietzmann et al., eds, “Ulm (1 to 21):
Journal of the Hoschule fur Gestaltung”, Hoschule fur Gestaltung, Ulm, 1958 to
1968</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">03.
Hans M. Wingler, The Bauhaus: Weimer, Dessau, Berlin, Chicago, The MIT Press,
Cambridge, Mass., 1969<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">04. Tomas
Maldonado, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">Design, Nature, and
Revolution: Toward a Critical Ecology,</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Harper & Row, New York,
1972</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">05.
Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World, Thames & Hudson Ltd., London,
1972</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">06.
Stafford Beer, Platform for Change, John Wiley & Sons, London, 1975 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">07. </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Frei Otto,
IL20 TASKS, Institute for Lightweight Structures, Stutgart, 1975<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">08. R
Buckminster Fuller<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">Critical Path,</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">St. Martin's Griffin; 2nd
edition, New York, 1982<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">09.
Gui Bonsiepe, Estrutura e Estetica do Produto, Centro de Aperfeicoamento de
Docentes de Desenho Industrial, Brasilia, 1986</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">10.
Herbert Lindinger, Hoschule fur Gestaltung - Ulm, Die Moral der Gegenstande,
Berlin, 1987</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">11.
Kirti Trivedi ed., Readings from Ulm, Industrial Design Centre, Bombay, 1989</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">12.
Otl Aicher, the world as design, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, 1991</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">13.
Otl Aicher, Analogous and Digital, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, 1994</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">14.
Gui Bonsiepe, Interface: An approach to Design, Jan van Eyck Akademie,
Maastricht, 1999<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">15. Herbert
Lindinger, Eds., Ulm Design: The Morality of Objects, Hoschule fur Gestaltung –
1953 – 1968, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1999.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">16. Rene Spitz, HfG Ulm: The View Behind the Foreground<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– The Political History of the Ulm
School of Design –1953-1968, Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart/London, 2002<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">17.
Martin Krampen & Gunther Hormann, The Ulm School of Design – Beginnings of
a Project of Unyielding Modernity, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, 2003</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 17.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -17.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">18. </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Klaus
Krippendorff, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Semantic Turn: A New
Foundation for Design,</i> </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Taylor & Francis CRC, New York, 2006<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">19. M P
Ranjan, Lessons from Bauhaus, Ulm and NID: Role of Basic Design in PG
Education, in proceedings of DETM Conference, NID, Ahmedabad, 2006</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">20. M P
Ranjan. Design for India blog, </span><a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.in/"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.in/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">.
Ahmedabad, (2007 – 2013)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">21. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Klaus
Krippendorff, Designing in Ulm and Off Ulm, University of Pennsylvania, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the Author<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">M P Ranjan</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professor
– Design Chair, CEPT University<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">Design
Thinker & Author of blog</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u><a href="http://www.designforindia.com%2C/">Design for India</a></u></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prof M P Ranjan is a design thinker with 40
years of experience in design education and practice in association with the
National Institute of Design. He helped visualize and set up two new design
schools in India, one for the crafts sector, the IICD Jaipur and the other for
the bamboo sector, the BCDI Agartala. His book Handmade in India is a
comprehensive resource on the hand crafts sector of India and was created as a
platform for the building of a vibrant creative economy based on the crafts
skills and resources identified therein.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His book on bamboo opened up new frontiers for
design exploration in India. He has explored bamboo as a designer material for
social transformation. Bamboo has been positioned as a sustainable material of
the future through his work spread over three decades. His work in design
education covered many subjects including Design Thinking, Data Visualisation,
Interaction Design and Systems Design<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">His blog</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com/">“Designfor India” </a>has become a major platform for Indian design discourse.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.design-for-india\.blogspot\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1155cc; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com</span></u></b></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Jaipur and advises other design schools in India and abroad. He lives and works
from Ahmedabad in India.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;">He has been acknowledged by peers as one of
the international thought leaders in Design Thinking today<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-48569746145412539422013-05-28T16:06:00.000+05:302013-06-03T15:47:33.735+05:30Design Education for India: What should be our focus and areas of emphasis?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Design Education for India: What should be our focus and areas of
emphasis?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Prof M P Ranjan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Professor – Design Chair,
CEPT University, Ahemdabad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">28 May 2013 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wORNX4T3Qc/UaSGv4kCE7I/AAAAAAAAEK4/CK12y9MH5Yk/s1600/IMG_3545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wORNX4T3Qc/UaSGv4kCE7I/AAAAAAAAEK4/CK12y9MH5Yk/s320/IMG_3545.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">With several new design
schools coming up in the private sector as well as the four new National
Institutes of Design (NID) that are being set up by the Government of India in
different regions of India we have at our hands many questions that would need
ot be addressed if these are to be truly useful for the needs of our times. In
1961 when the first NID was set up at Paldi, Ahmedabad it was informed in its
content and scope by a vision report articulated by the team of Charles and Ray
Eames, an eminent American design couple who produced the India Report at the
request of the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. We now know that
the four new NID’s </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">would be
located at Jorhat, Hyderabad, Kurukshetra and Bhopal since the foundation
stones have been laid for three of these already and the fourth must be waiting
for the right politician to find time to grace the occasion at a short notice,
since all the others were done in indecent haste in any case with very little
notice given to the design community at large. We are not aware of any approach
paper or feasibility report that has been drafted for the new NID’s and it is
widely assumed that what worked in Paldi will work for the future as well and
this is unfortunately a very lazy assessment. Very little is visible in the
public domain for the plans and future actions proposed at the four new NID’s
except the three foundation stones that are in place and very little else by
way of intellectual articulation of focus, curriculum and strategy that would
inform the management and growth if each of these new NID’s in the days ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A group of concerned design
activists formed and set up a group called VisionFirst <<a href="http://visionfirst.in/">http://visionfirst.in</a>> soon after the
Government and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotions (DIPP) that
handles NID matters at the Central Government level had called for public
tenders for the setting up of these proposed four new schools of design and the
manner in which the matter was handled at that time led to much dissatisfaction
in the design community online as well as in many pockets of serious
interactions. Thanks to this public pressure and the intervention of Sam
Pitroda at the Planning Commission level the plans were modified and the effort
was made to make the Institutes fully Government owned and operated. The
VisionFirst group had been calling for a fresh assessment of needs in the
country </span>and the experience that we have in the country is so diverse and that experience was at hand for the repositioning of design and its use at the heart of
government and industry. <a href="http://visionpehle.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/update-on-dipp-sam-pitroda-meetings-mp-ranjan/">The group was invited to meet representatives of theDIPP</a> and at this meeting they suggested that wide ranging consultations would
be the order of the day since design action in all these areas were available
in the field in a pretty diffuse manner and offered to help garner these ideas
based on which the country could move forward rapidly and with a clear focus.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One of our colleagues on the
VisionFirst group, Uday Dandavate, wrote to the DIPP to supplement the submissions made by the core
team in their face to face interaction at New Delhi. This submission can be
seen <a href="http://visionpehle.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/letter-to-dipp-uday-dandavate/">at this link on the VisionFirst blog site</a>. However I quote two highlighted
paragraphs from Uday’s letter that capture the essence of our concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><http: letter-to-dipp-uday-dandavate="" visionpehle.wordpress.com=""><o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I Quote, “</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt;">I share strong concerns the design
community in india has about the current process being followed by the DIPP in
appointing a consultant for setting up four new campuses of NID.
The current process has by-passed a critical phase of institution
building- that of building a vision. Therefore I believe this process must be
paused. It will lead to arbitrary use of public funds without following due
diligence. The haste with which the RFP process is being pushed has created an
impression in public that the government is more keen on spending
large amount of money than following due diligence in building institutions of
national importance and contemporary relevance.” </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">UnQuote</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And at another place in his
letter he says – “</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt;">By
excluding leading thinkers of design profession from the process of visioning
the expansion of NID’s the Government is sure to fall into the trap of
investing in outdated concept of design education. I wonder what would have
been the fate of India’s democracy if we had floated a tender inviting consultants
for building various ministries”instead of forming a constituent assembly to
draft the constitution through collaboration of the eminent thinkers of India.”
</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">End of quote</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There was a long silence
after these interactions in 2011 and then there was a spate of stone laying
functions at Jorhat and then at Kurukshetra and Hyderabad. The India Design
Council held a three day conference on design education titled <a href="http://www.ddei.in/">“DesigningDesign Education for India (DDEI)</a> which many of us hoped would represent a
progressive approach to national consultations but the website that called for
perticipation opened public registration just one week before the event and
many of were excluded from this event due to tight time planning that would
have been required to make it to the event. I hope that the event that did take
place was a useful one and that we will soon see some of the discussions that
did take place there and that the website will soon be updated and provide the
proceedings for public review. <a href="http://www.ddei.in/">http://www.ddei.in/</a>
What the VisionFirst team and in particular Uday Dandavate in his letter to
DIPP had offered was a platform for co-creation and what was managed was a
seminar with “peer reviewed paper” whatever that means in this particular
context, all done in great haste in one week before the conference itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If there are detailed plans
drawn up by the DIPP and the NID administration, these should be shared with
the Indian public and with the Indian design community before public money is
expended on making clones of the NID in Paldi, Gandhinagar and Bangalore.
Design is getting National attention today and the Indian Cabinet has placed
its recommendation on the agenda of the Indian Parliament for the recognition
of NID as an Institute if National Importance. What we are suggesting here is
that we go one step further and make the NID and the design agenda one of
national relevance as well. Design is a subject that evolves with time and is
very context sensitive and this needs to be recognized when looking at new
design infrastructure and education processes that will address the needs of an
India of the current and the next century. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7dx4aNctB0/UaSHXUlW3KI/AAAAAAAAELI/_ACqHK0Jmng/s1600/MPR+Geometry+Class+NID_01172F~1_Hr_col.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7dx4aNctB0/UaSHXUlW3KI/AAAAAAAAELI/_ACqHK0Jmng/s320/MPR+Geometry+Class+NID_01172F~1_Hr_col.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The evolution of design education
was the subject of my paper at the DETM conference at NID in 2005 and I offer
it here below as a footnote to our call for a fresh rethink in the shaping of
the new design education landscape for the India of today and the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">~</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Lessons from Bauhaus, Ulm and NID: Role of Basic Design in
PG Education<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b>M P Ranjan</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Faculty of
Design<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">National
Institute of Design<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Paper submitted for the DETM Conference at the National
Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in March 2005.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Abstract:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Basic Design
within Design Education has come a long way since its origins at Bauhaus and
its further evolution at Ulm. At NID it has found a durable place in the
Foundation programme offered to the Undergraduate programme students but is not
yet seen as either critical or necessary in the various Post Graduate streams
that are offered today. The assumptions seem to be that the mature students who
enter these disciplines can pick up the concepts of design due to their
advanced learning qualifications or backgrounds. The other concern that
surfaces with the widespread use of computers is the notion the traditional
skills need not be offered since design too has become a knowledge driven
discipline with the significant use of computing tools thereby obviating the
need for basic skill training. The author argues that basic design as it is
offered in the Foundation Programme has evolved from a need that was originally
perceived and dealt with at Bauhaus and Ulm as a critical orientation to design
thinking and action and this need has not changed in spite of a substantial
change in the tools and processes of design in the information age. We
therefore need to revisit the traditions of design learning and try to
understand the role played by basic design and see how it should be woven into
the process of inducting new entrants into the realm of design thinking and
action. Design is taking on new meaning and it is increasingly being separated
from the skillful base that it was originally married to due to the tools and
traditional processes that are a fallback of various historical stages of
evolution in a large number of disciplines. Design is being recognized finally
as being distinct from both art and science and the search for educational
processes that are distinctly designerly may not be a misplaced pursuit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Key words:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Basic Design,
Foundation Programme, Design Fundamentals, Design Education, Design History<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b>Background</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Modern design
education had its roots in the Industrial revolution when changing modes of
production displaced existing crafts traditions and apprenticeship processes
through which design used to be transmitted to new incumbents within guilds,
work spaces and educational settings which echoed the situations that existed
in the realms of practice. The Bauhaus in Germany was the first school to
formally create a series of assignments within a curriculum to prepare new
students to enter a journey of design learning. Set up in 1919 after the end of
the First World War, the Bauhaus was a center of creative expression that
housed some of the greatest design thinkers of our times. The educational
experiments of the school still find an echo in all design education across the
globe. What the founders of the Bauhaus tradition formulated is of value since
they were looking at those qualities that needed to be nurtured in the art and
design student, both in the form of skills and sensibilities as well in their
conceptual abilities and attitudes when dealing with materials and the real
world of design action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully
for us the Bauhaus pedagogic experiments were published by the teachers as 14
remarkable monographs that were edited by the founders Walter Gropius and
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. The work that was started in the Bauhaus continued unabated
after the teachers were dispersed to new locations by the upheavals in Europe
that led to its closure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Bauhaus Way<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The foundation
programme was however credited to Johannes Itten was a master at the Bauhaus
from 1919 to 1923 when he left due to disagreements with Walter Gropius. His
book “Design & Form: The Basic Design Course at the Bauhaus” was published
much later in 1963 but the seeds sown at the Bauhaus were durable and it spread
to most design schools across the globe. The focus of the Bauhaus Foundation
was spelt out quite clearly by Itten and the core objectives and the teaching
strategies employed are listed below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Liberate
creative forces<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Open artistic
talents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Train own
experiences and perceptions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Create “genuine
work” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Remove deadwood
of convictions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Develop courage
to create own convictions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Help make career
choices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Expose to
variety of materials and media types<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Help discover
comfort levels in materials and media<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Understand
creative composition principles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Explore laws of
colour and form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Develop ability
to handle subjective and objective problems of colour and form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Explore
permutations of the interplay, build a vocabulary<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;">Teaching Strategy<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Evoke individual
responses from students<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Encourage
variety of talents and temperaments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Create an
atmosphere conducive for original work<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Encourage the
“Genuine”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Help student
acquire natural self-confidence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Help students
discover the self and their talents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Explore student
strengths in the elements of design<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Categorise and
diagnose student leanings and qualities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Help students
open these discovered talents or leanings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Develop
individual potential by directing teaching of media explorations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Basic Premises:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Imagination and
creative abilities to be liberated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Strengthen
Imagination and expression<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Build on these
capabilities and set technical and practical goals later<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the early
years when it was implemented at the Bauhaus the various workshops were yet to be
fully established. Several other masters, all painters and sculptors, from the
Weimer days were involved in the instruction of theory and method, were called
‘masters of form’, while the craftsmen heading the workshops were ‘workshop
masters’ were involved in technical instruction. The preliminary course called
‘Vorkurs’ was initiated by Itten and made compulsory a year later. Other
masters contributed to its strengthening and in developing the core meaning
that it held for the curriculum as a whole. What is significant about the
Bauhaus Foundation course is the close interplay of theory and skill. The
sensitive hand and the experience of doing structured assignments are used to
raise awareness and to raise critical issues that lead to the development of convictions
and conceptual understanding. The production and understanding of theory is
therefore a direct outcome of numerous practical engagements within
well-defined constraints of structured assignments that are mediated by the
masters who use their diagnostic skills to advise and direct the learners to
help discover creative potentials in themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The sequence of
learning therefore went through the following stages: experience, perception,
practical ability, intellectual explanation, comprehension and finally
realization. The assignments for the foundation courses explored three basic
directions: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Experience with the senses: Sensory stimulation and
training the senses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Objectivising these at an Intellectual level: Development
of logic and understanding concepts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Realising these through synthetic means: Ability to produce
or execute with quality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This three stage
process is iterated numerous times with various design parameters such as
contrasts, form, colour, texture etc till the learner develops his critical
faculties and is able to make his or her own judgments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The arguments
that came up within the masters veered between theory and practice. Masters of
form focused on theory and its application while the masters of workshops dealt
with the practical. But in the early stages of the Bauhaus a lot of theory was
perforce discussed in great detail at the Bauhaus perhaps since the workshops
were still to be formally set up as the school was extremely short of funds.
This set an unusual trend for design schools where theory played a lesser role
with most teachers were practitioners who wrote very little. The masters of
form at the Bauhaus were an exception to this rule. After the departure of
Itten the foundation programme at Bauhaus was influenced by Albers, Klee,
Moholy-Nagy, and Kandinsky. Further development of the foundation programme
took place in the United States by the masters, each at their chosen centers of
learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Ulm Experiment<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One of the
Bauhaus students, Max Bill went back to Germany to become the first Director of
the new design school at Ulm, the Hoschule fur Gestaltung, that was to continue
the work begun at the Bauhaus on the basic design courses under his active
guidance. Max Bill managed to bring back some of the Bauhaus masters and their
teachings to Ulm and he set up a course similar to the foundation course at the
Bauhaus incorporating the advances made by Albers at Yale and Peterhans at the
Institute of Technology in USA. The Ulm school design pedagogy went through
many critical stages of transformation under successive leaders who came after
Max Bill. Otl Aicher, Thomas Maldonado, Hans Gugelot, Herbert Ohl, Herbert
Lindinger and Gui Bonsiepe made major contributions to the design pedagogy and
in particular to the evolution of the foundation programme at Ulm. The Ulm too
shared the results of teaching systematically with the world at large through
the publication of the Ulm Journals, which represents one of the greatest
contributions that was made to design education in the fifties and sixties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While Max Bill
stood for an aesthetic tradition it was Thomas Maldonado who drew attention to
the need for scientific temper in design education and its associated set of
theory inputs. Maldonado understood that design needed to draw fro many other
disciplines and the sciences and he talked about an almost feverish and
insatiable curiosity towards some disciplines that appeared on the time horizon
in the late fifties. Cybernetics, theory of information, systems theory,
semiotics, ergonomics and disciplines such as philosophical theory of science
and mathematical logic were explored to bring a solid methodological foundation
to design thinking and action for the first time. The focus on science and
methodology was a Pandora’s box that literally swallowed design thinking and
sensibilities at Ulm for quite some time and it took great effort from the
inner group of designers Maldonado, Aicher and Gugelot to reassert the
supremacy of design at Ulm. The third and final phase of the Ulm pedagogy experiments
brought in the use of the social sciences with Abraham A. Moles playing a
critical role.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The foundation
course or “Grundlehre” focused on non-object-oriented design and the training
of the hand and the eye and a number of assignments were innovated by the
teachers. While Albers came back to teach colour at Ulm with a hand on
approach, Itten who came later intellectually opposed Albers. Further the
teaching of colour theory by Helene Nonne-Schmidt upset Albers who withdrew
from teaching at Ulm. Maldonado took over the foundation programme and brought
in simplicity and precision to the core of the assignments. Drawing too was
modified to focus on reflective visualisation. In a way Maldonado carried out a
purification of the Bauhaus way in the teaching of the foundation programme, he
made it interdisciplinary and brought in theory of symmetry, topology and
Gestalt. None of the Ulm foundation assignments had a practical basis and they
were all abstract and non-object oriented in nature. The focus then could be on
the understanding of principles and not on immediate application of the
concepts. It was here that the basic design course got elaborated and evolved
further to have a discipline focus, the assignments were developed to meet the
needs of different disciplines such as graphic design and that of product
design, industrialized building and information design. Maldonado stressed on
the need for continued non-objective studies even in the senior years when
students were dealing with real life design problems however with gradually
reduced time allocated for such studies in the curriculum. The non-objective
assignments provided the students with critical abilities in the judgment of
form when applied to real design situations. In the search for new capabilities
a number of three-dimensional assignments were innovated to suit the needs of
product design students and nature studies and bionics got integrated into the
search for science principles that permitted new explorations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This took the
Ulm contributions well beyond the areas of explorations conducted at the
Bauhaus since these were restricted to the application in small objects of low
complexity and the Ulm designers were venturing out into the world of complex
products and looking for means to deal with this complexity at the structural
and formal levels. The Ulm teachers raised the understanding of design to a new
level through their practical demonstrations in the fields of household
products, electrical and electronic products, automobile and transportation
systems and in industrialized building while establishing unchallenged
leadership in the field of Graphic Design. Taken together, the live
demonstrations of design success across disciplines and a systematic
documentation of their design pedagogy helped create the Ulm influence across
the globe and spread it to many centers of design education<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Otl Aichers'
models for design education explorations at Ulm that are beautifully modeled
and represented in Rene Spitz's book "hfg Ulm: The view behind the
Foreground", (page 86) where he compares conventional education models of
the situated lectures (model 1) with the teacher in a dominant position holding
the students in an array in front and holding forth with his lecture from a
position of authority as compared to an alternate model where the student group
is divided into sub-groups in a networked structure (model 2) with the teacher
playing a facilitating role and the text caption accompanying both these image
representations is quoted below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Quote<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Model 1: Pedagogical principles: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Organisation,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Lecture, Authority
of teacher and of the material. Mass processing, Examinations, Supervisions, Certificates
of class attendance, Rigid syllabus and scheduling, From theory to practiced, Knowledge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Model 2: Pedagogical principles: </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Free community<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Free form of
instruction, Discussion, Teachers only in auxiliary capacity, From practice to
theory, Working independently, Personal interest Incentive, Enjoying the work,
Going deeper, Unfolding of personal talents, Experimental learning instead of
dead facts, Teaching framework in lieu of syllabus, Independent critical
judgment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Unquote<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So this does
throw some light on the difference in lecture based conventional education and
the hands on experiential education seen in the basic design courses at Ulm and
now in many design schools. I also see that while "Design Research"
may be about the creation of "design knowledge" the use of this
knowledge in "Design Action" would be in the form of an exercise of
contextual judgment in design synthesis when numerous threads of factors from
multiple knowledge streams get embedded into a particular solution. Design
education needs such critical-ability forming processes and not just knowledge
gathering skills and processes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;">Transfer of pedagogy to NID<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoBodyText3">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt;">At NID too we
have been keenly interested in the design pedagogy of Ulm right through the
seventies and later and we were fortunate to have had faculty members who spent
a good deal of time at Ulm in the sixties and therefore our programmes too got
a strong dose of the Ulm flavor in the early years. Prof Sudha Nadkarni was a
student at Ulm and Prof H Kumar Vyas was deputed to spend 10 months at Ulm
before commencing our first Product Design programme in 1966. Our library also
had the full set of Ulm Journals and these were a great source of inspiration.
We have since been active in following the Ulm people having had contact with
several of them over the years. Gui Bonsiepe and Kohei Suguira being the most
prominent of these. Herbert Lindinger was a consultant to NID for the Product
Design programme as well and his book is also in the library. The Ulm story
never fails to inspire, since the achievements have been so stupendous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Ulm will
have great significance for the international design community for many decades
to come since so much was done by way of path breaking thinking and much of it
was documented in real time and now we have such a fantastic resource created
by Rene Spitz that it opens up the material for further contemplation by a
wider audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My brief account
(above) of the influence of Ulm on NID is far from complete and much new
information will emerge if design historians subject it to serious research in
the years ahead. Hans Gugelot from hfg Ulm was responsible for drafting the
curriculum and then commencing the Product Design programme at NID. He visited
NID in the early stage and he passed away soon after his return from India. He
was followed by E. Reichl ( Director, Institut fur Produktuntwicklung, Neu Ulm)
who was recommended by Gugelot and later Herbert Lindinger came from Frankfurt
( Institut fur Umweltgestaltung ) to evaluate the Product Design course and to
help formulate the proposed undergraduate programme that commenced in 1970
which included the NID foundation programme across all disciplines for the
first time. The other prominent teacher to visit NID was Prof Herbert Ohl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the Visual
Communications stream we had Christian Staub, Hfg Ulm, who set up our
Photography Department and commenced the education programmes in Photography.
We also had a strong German presence ( from outside Ulm)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Ceramic Design ((Zettler Lutz),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furniture Design ( Arno Vottler,
Braunschweig and his students Rolf Misol 69-70<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Max Janisch 70-72) and in Exhibition Design (Frei Otto).
There were perhaps others who are not mentioned in the available texts since
the NID’s documentation and publication record is indeed very poor. Even Sudha
Nadkarni who was a student at Ulm and who joined in Product Design as a faculty
in 1967 was still at NID when I came to NID in 1969 as a student in Furniture
Design. His name is not mentioned in the list of faculty of Product Design in
our 1969 documentation titled "National Institute of Design: Documentation
1964-69", NID Ahmedabad. I am surprised at this omission and I am sure
that there is some minor politics of that time at play here since I was
personally interviewed by Prof. Sudha Nadkarni and Prof H Kumar Vyas along with
the junior consultant and teacher Rolf Misol when I first joined NID as a
student in 1969 April-May. Prof. Sudha Nadkarni left NID soon thereafter and
set up the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at the IIT in Bombay in 1969. He
retired a few years ago and was then given the task of setting up yet another
school, this time in the IIT Guwahati which is now the first undergraduate
programme in design under the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) fold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So three schools
in India were directly influenced by the Ulm doctrine and many friends of Ulm
have connected with these schools in the years that followed which has not been
documented as yet properly. The NID library had the only set of Ulm journals in
India and I made a xerox copy of the full set (piracy admitted) for the IDC
library at the request of Prof Kirti Trivedi faculty IDC and a few years later
he re-published some of the papers in a collected volume called "Readings
from Ulm" which was used at a seminar on the influence of Ulm on Indian
and world design. Prof Gui Bonsiepe and Kohei Sugiura, both alumnus of hfg Ulm,
attended this seminar and I was there as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeading7">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">The NID experiment: NID’s
own foundation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The NID
Foundation Programme started with the first batch of undergraduate students
joining NID in June 1970. Mohan Bhandari coordinated the programme and the
teachers were drawn from the various existing disciplines at the Post Graduate
level. At first the programme was an amalgamation of inputs from primarily
Product Design and Graphic Design programmes. Freehand Drawing, Composition and
Colour came from the Graphic Design stable and drew heavily on the Swiss
graphic traditions implanted at NID by Armin Hofmann from Basel who helped set
up the NID’s Graphic Design programme in the early sixties. The other courses
of Geometry, Elements of Form and Space, and Basic Materials drew on the
Bauhaus and Ulm models for assignments and pedagogy. Basic materials too faced
pressure from downstream disciplines and the Textile faculty introduced linear
materials as an input in addition to the traditional wood and metal workshop
assignments. Colour quickly moved to the Textile design teachers but a Product
Design faculty always offered colour theory. The foundation programme was of
three semester duration across one and a half years. The third semester was
used for basic courses offered by the disciplines and these included
Typography, Photography, Film Appreciation and Music Appreciation to provide
media skills to all students. Design Methods was the final course at the end of
the programme and inputs in science, mathematics and liberal arts were offered
as lecture modules. The teachers freely experimented with basic design
assignments and there was much discussion on the effectiveness of particular
courses as feedback from the disciplines to the foundation teachers. Individual
teachers had access to a very rich library from the Bauhaus, Ulm and several
other schools which had linkages with NID through the Ford Foundation sponsored
consultants who had helped set up the early education programmes at NID and
they were also responsible for training the first batch of NID faculty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h5>
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari was deputed to Germany to
work with Herbert Lindinger for a year and on his return he was asked to
coordinate the foundation programme. In 1975 he was given the task of reviewing
the foundation programme with the teachers and the management consultant
advising on Inter-personal relations, Professor Pulin K Garg from the Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Through numerous meetings all the
foundation inputs were reviewed and discussed with a view to integrate these
into a cohesive unit rather than as a collection of disparate inputs from the
specialised disciplines. This process continued well into the late seventies
beginning with a revised programme that was created and offered to the batch of
1976. This was the first time that the NID foundation had a new look and an
environmental focus that transcended the traditional inputs from the Bauhaus,
Ulm and the Swiss and French schools of design. The Design Methods course was
then called Design Process as the problem solving process in design and inputs
in sociology, psychology and field exposure were offered as a preparatory set
of inputs. The approach in Space Form and Structure too had an environmental
bias and this had extended to Geometry as well. I recall that both G Upadhyaya
and I had severely critisised the geometry course with excessive environmental
bias during the first faculty forum meeting in 1976 and thereafter we were
asked to develop the course and conduct the same, which we did for many years
thereafter. By the end of the decade Mohan Bhandari set out to capture the
revised NID foundation programme as a manuscript for publication. However he
left the Institute in 1982 and unfortunately the book was never printed. I did
try in 1991 to get him to agree to take the project forward in my then capacity
of Chairman Publications but he declined the request since he felt that he had
moved on in his views and could no longer relate to the contents. It was a
great loss for design knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></h5>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At NID there was
a discussion on teaching maths to designers at design schools. Here too there
is a difference in both content and style of delivery for design students. In
1976 I was involved in the creation of a new course aimed at teaching maths to
design students at NID in our foundation programme. The course was called
"Geometrical construction" at that time and in later years
"Geometry and Morphology" where we introduced design students to a
vast array of math concepts through many exciting practical drawing and model
building assignments including recreational maths puzzles while relating these
tasks to the body of numerical expressions and algebric expressions using
visual analogies. While I cannot claim that it is a complete substitute for
formal instruction in mathematics, however it provides students from non-math
backgrounds sufficient conceptual tools to deal with complex structural and
formal math and logic problems. I helped teach this course for many years
before handing it over to my younger colleagues who happened to be my students
in the early days. We discovered that the domain of visuality is under valued
in most areas of formal education at the school level while the emphasis is
greatly on textuality and numeracy and we set out to correct this imbalance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Space Form
and Structure modules exposed the students to elements of form and space using
concepts of semiotics and Gestalt theory of figure and ground relationships. A
number of exploratory assignments are given and the results are discussed to
help build an attitude of exploration and experimentation with visual language
and in the visualisation of ideas leading to a degree of fluency of concept
articulation in the visual medium. The Environmental Perception and
Environmental Exposure modules got the students out of their studios in an
attempt to connect with society at large both to bring the real world concerns
into the classroom as well as to help prepare students in the early stages of
the Design Process where they were expected to identify meaningful design
problems before setting out to solve them with the use of various design
methodologies. The design process course went through a number of cycles of
development under different teachers. In the first phase the problems had a
distinctly scientific basis, and all introductory assignments had low technical
complexity, usually very simple products were chosen and these were redesigned
using ergonomic and functional explorations and the stages were documented and
decisions were justified, usually after the fact. In the second phase more
complex problems from the environment were identified and these required more
elaborate processes of information collection and analysis. The third phase
that began in the mid eighties took on a more systems focus and design tasks
were treated as a process of understanding complex situations through which
many potential solutions were explored. Today this course is called “Design
Concepts and Concerns” and it is offered to students from all post graduate disciplines
at NID in addition to the module offered at the undergraduate level. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This systems
model of design that some of teachers adopted for building courses and to
conduct research and client interventions had over the years given us the
conviction that design in India is quite different from that which is practiced
in the West. Design for development has been discussed at many platforms for
discourse on design, many a time leading to utter confusion with the debate
being clouded by as many differing definitions of design as there are people in
the room. Notwithstanding this difficulty with the subject as complex as design
we were convinced of the need to use the power of this discipline to further
the real needs of a huge population desperately seeking solutions to many
vexing problems in a very tight economic climate. It is our belief that design
at the strategic level can be used as a catalytic tool to mobilise innovations
and policies that can indeed transform the country in more ways than one. This
ideological bearing has informed many initiatives of design action at NID and
it was reinforced at several critical stages by confirmation of our methods and
goals by the work of other visionaries who were examining the role of design
for development. The UNIDO-ICSID conference on Design for Development that was
held at NID in 1979 and the work of Victor Papanek, Nigel Whitely and Gui
Bonsiepe, all of whom came to NID for brief or longer periods, left a mark on
the thinking of the design teachers at NID. Design in India was being
discovered as a whole new genre of action through the application of design
principles through research and development to new areas such as the
development of crafts, health communications, strategies for small industry,
and in areas of social and economic development while working at the community
level. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today we have an
even broader definition of design, that is design as a vehicle for leadership
as articulated in the “Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable
World” by Harold G. Nelson and Eric Stolterman, who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>approach design as a form of leadership from two assertions
quoted below. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Quote: “The
first is the belief that good designers (when not acting as applied scientists
or artists) are leaders by definition. They play an essential instrumental
leadership role in any change project. The second is that good leaders,
including entrepreneurs, act as designers even if they do not identify
themselves as such or are not identified by others as designers. They do not
define their work in the language of design because they have not been brought
up in that tradition, but their intentions are nevertheless realized through
designerly behavior. I have found this to be the case whether the design is of
a new nation, a governmental agency, a business or service, a research project,
a curriculum or any number of other examples. However, without a common
framework or language that is design-based, it is difficult to build a full
appreciation for the role that design thinking and designers play in the
thousands of ways that design shapes the world at every level, every day,”
unquote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To this new
dimension and goal for design education we can add the impact of new tools that
take us into the digital realm of performance in many disciplines. This raises
many questions and many assumptions are made about the nature of design
education in today’s world that may not hold true at a deeper examination. It
is assumed by many that Post Graduate students need less intensive inputs and
resources to make them into designers and design thinkers when compared to the
under-graduate group. The second category of design thinkers are seen as a real
need and alternative to designers in a knowledge driven world and this is
particularly worrisome since it is assumed that design thinkers can be trained
without the burden of learning skills through the adoption of digital abilities
in lieu of the analog capabilities that has been the historic vehicle for basic
design education so far. We know that design thinking and design sensibilities
are earned through hard practice and through a process of systematic induction
training and these are distinctly different from the development of science
based knowledge and attitudes that takes place on a daily basis in the university
system of education. The methods of teaching adopted at the Bauhaus, Ulm and
now in the NID experience have all generated huge success stories in the
creation of the thinking and sensitive designer who is able to make critical
judgments on complex issues and perspectives and then they are also able to act
in ways that help solve these problems using creative scenarios and
alternatives which reflect their deep understanding and empathy with the milieu
in which the opportunity is located. This capability of effective design action
is unique to designers who by virtue of their training are able to act on the
real world and create future scenarios that can be embedded in the real world
as analog solutions even if they were mediated by digital means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This brings me
to a series of linked statements by the founder of Ulm, Otl Aicher, in his book
“analogous and digital” where he says ”….the culture of thinking requires the
culture of the hand as a subtle, sensitive organ.” He goes on to say “…we are
rediscovering the domain of making as a prerequisite of thought.” Many modern
innovations have been produced outside the domains of large and organized
industry, in garages and shacks outside industry with small teams of motivated
individuals. “…human ability to make anything, his ability to design anything
is atrophying…we have become children of a thought culture that has
disconnected thinking from making…..the more we know the less we can do” and
this is not the design way. There is much wisdom in the search for processes by
which basic design evolved at Bauhaus, then Ulm and later at NID and these
lessons must not be lost because we throw away the baby with the bath-water
when we replace wholesale the analog processes of design education with digital
tools sets that we see all around us, particularly at NID. I am concerned that
many of the new disciplines at NID that attempt to teach design as a narrow
specialization at the Post Graduate level are not equipped to handle analog
design processes, that is to use the hand as a firm route to the inner recesses
of the mind in order to create the deep understanding that is the hallmark of
basic design education that has been proven and tested by time. Let us pay heed
to the masters of design thinking who have created an alternative to science
education and learn those lessons which we will need to take forward with new
experimentation and testing based on new frameworks of theory that would inform
the design educational processes in our changing times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Royal College of Art, The Anatomy of Design: A series of
Inaugural Lectures by Professors of the Royal College of Art, the Royal College
of Art, London, 1951<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Paul Klee, Pedagogical Sketchbook, Frederick A. Praeger,
New York, 1953, 1962<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Charles and Ray Eames, The India Report, Government of
India, New Delhi, 1958, reprint, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1958,
1997<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jurg Spiller (Ed.), Paul Klee: the thinking eye: The
notebooks of Paul Klee, Lund Humphires, London, 1961<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">David Pye, The Nature of Design, Studio-Vista, London, 1964<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Armin Hofmann, Graphic Design Manual: Principles and
Practice, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1965<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">David Pye, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Studio-Vista,
London 1968 1971<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Norman Potter, What is a Designer: education and practice:
a guide for students and teachers, Studio-Vista, London, 1969<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">National Institute of Design, National Institute of Design:
Documentation 1964-69, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1970<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Johannes Itten, Design and Form: The Basic Course at the
Bauhaus, Thames & Hudson, London, 1963, 1975<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Thomas Maldonado, Gui Bonsiepe, Renate Kietzmann et al.,
eds, “Ulm (1 to 21): Journal of the Hoschule fur Gestaltung”, Hoschule fur
Gestaltung, Ulm, 1958 to 1968<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Maurice de Sausmarez, Basic Design: the dynamics of visual
form, Studio Vista, London, 1964 1968<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Hans M. Wingler, The Bauhaus: Weimer, Dessau, Berlin,
Chicago, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1969<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World, Thames &
Hudson Ltd., London, 1972<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stafford Beer, Platform for Change, John Wiley & Sons,
London, 1975<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">David Pye, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design: A Design
Handbook, The Herbert Press, London, 1978<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Introductory Information for the courses of
Environmental Exposure, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract
paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari & H K Vyas, Environmental Exposure II,
National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Environmental Perception, National
Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Elementary Environmental Analysis, National
Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, A Framework of Criteria for the broad based
Analysis in the Environmental Context, National Institute of Design, 1977
(course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Elements of Form/Space: Geometry and
function of form in nature, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract
paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Elements of Form/Space: Part I Crash
Assignments, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Elements of Form/Space: Part II, National
Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Elements of Form/Space: Part II Major
Assignments, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari & Shailendra Yagnik, Elements of
Form/Space – II, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper
handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari & Shailendra Yagnik, Elements of
Form/Space – III, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper
handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari & H K Vyas, Exposure to problem solving
process in Design, National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper
handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan & G. Upadhayaya, Geometrical Construction,
National Institute of Design, 1977 (course abstract paper handout)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan (Editor), Syllabus and Information Bulletin:
National Institute of Design, NID Ahmedabad 1981<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mohan Bhandari, Foundation Programme at NID: An Approach,
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1982 (unpublished manuscript)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Morton Hunt, “The Universe Within: A New Science Explores
The Human Mind”, Corgi Books, London 1984<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Frank Whitford, Bauhaus, Thames & Hudson, London, 1984<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Gui Bonsiepe, Estrutura e Estetica do Produto, Centro de
Aperfeicoamento de Docentes de Desenho Industrial, Brasilia, 1986<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Herbert Lindinger, Hoschule fur Gestaltung - Ulm, Die Moral
der Gegenstande, Berlin, 1987<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Kirti Trivedi ed., Readings from Ulm, Industrial Design
Centre, Bombay, 1989<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Victor Margolin, Design Discourse: History Theory
Critisism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, Jatin Bhatt et al, Accessory Design Curriculum,
National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi 1991<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">John Chris Jones, Designing Designing, Architecture Design
and Technology Press, London, 1991<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Otl Aicher, the world as design, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin,
1991<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Nigel Whiteley, Design for Society, Reaktion Books Ltd,
London, 1993<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S Balaram, M P Ranjan, Suranjana Satwalekar & Dhimant
Panchal, Curriculum Review and Development: Volume I, National Institute of
Design, 1993 (unpublished report)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ellen lupton and J. Abbot Miller (Eds.), the abc’s of the
Bauhaus and design theory, Thames & Hudson, New York, 1993 2001<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">J A Panchal and M P Ranjan, “Institute of Crafts: Feasibility
Report and Proposal for the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation”, National
Institute of Design, Ahmedabad 1994<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “Design Education at the Turn of the Century:
Its Futures and Options”, a paper presented at ‘Design Odyssey 2010’ design symposium,
Industrial Design Centre, Bombay 1994<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Otl Aicher, Analogous and Digital, Ernst & Sohn,
Berlin, 1994<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Richard Buchanan and Victor Margolin, “Discovering Design:
Explorations in Design Studies”, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, Jatin Bhatt et al, Curriculum, Indian Institute
of Crafts & Design, Jaipur 1995<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">National Institute of Design, “35 years of Design Service:
Highlights – A greeting card cum poster”, NID, Ahmedabad, 1998<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “The Levels of Design Intervention in a Complex
Global Scenario”, Paper prepared for presentation at the Graphica 98 - II
International Congress of Graphics Engineering in Arts and Design and the 13th
National Symposium on Descriptive Geometry and Technical Design, Feira de
Santana, Bahia, Brazil, September 1998.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">51.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S Balaram, Thinking Design, National Institute of Design,
Ahmedabad, 1998<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">52.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Gui Bonsiepe, Interface: An approach to Design, Jan van
Eyck Akademie, Maastricht, 1999<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">53.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “Design Before Technology: The Emerging
Imperative”, Paper presented at the Asia Pacific Design Conference ‘99 in
Osaka, Japan Design Foundation and Japan External Trade Organisation, Osaka,
1999<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">54.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ashoke Chatterjee, R K Banerjee & Neera Sethi, 40 Years
of NID, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1999 (unpublished manuscript)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">55.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Martin Downie, Barry Hepton, Matthew Hopper & Sabine Kazich,
Thinking About Me & Design: A design primer for ‘A’ level school education,
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, 1999<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">56.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “Cactus Flowers Bloom in the Desert”, paper
presented at the National Design Summit, Bangalore, 2001<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">57.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Brian Czech, “Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train”,
University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">58.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Tom Kelly with Jonathan Littman, “The Art of Innovation:
Lessons in creativity from IDEO, America’s leading design firm”, Doubleday, New
York 2001<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">59.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Charles Wheelan, “Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal
Science”, W W Norton & Company, New York, 2002<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">60.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Martin Krampen & Gunther Hormann, The Ulm School of
Design – Beginnings of a Project of Unyielding Modernity, Ernst & Sohn,
Berlin, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">61.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Uffe Elbaek, “Kaospilot A-Z: International School of New
Business Design and Social Innovation”, KaosCommunication, Aarhus, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">62.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Brenda Laurel (Editor), “Design Research: Methods &
Perspectives”, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">63.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Harold G. Nelson & Erik Stolterman, The Design Way:
Foundations and Fundamentals of Design Competence, Educational Technology
Publications, New Jersey, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">64.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “The Avalanche Effect: Institutional frameworks
and design as a development resource in India”, paper written in 2002 for the
proposed India issue of Design Issues Journal but subsequently posted on
PhD-Design discussion list in 2004, National Institute of Design, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">65.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Wolfgang Jonas and Jan Meyer-Veden, “Mind the gap! on
knowing and not-knowing in design”, H.M Hauschild GmbH, Bremen, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">66.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">George Soros, “Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism”,
Viva Books Private Ltd, New Delhi, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">67.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Richard J. Boland Jr., and Fred Collopy, Managing as
Designing, Stanford Business Books, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">68.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">C K Prahalad, “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid:
Eradicating Poverty through Profits, Wharton School Publishing, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">69.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ashoke Chatterjee, The DNA of Design for Development,
Convocation Address, Indus Valley School of Art & Design, Karachi, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">70.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M P Ranjan, “Prof. M P Ranjan: Archive of Papers”, Web
archive of papers, presentations and pictures,
http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/, M P Ranjan, Ahmedabad 2005 <a href="http://cept.academia.edu/RanjanMP"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(now shifted to Academia.edu download site here) </a><http: anjanmp="" cept.academia.edu=""><o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-61105760744957919622013-05-21T16:40:00.002+05:302013-05-21T16:50:40.614+05:30Design in the Real World: The time has come to reposition NID<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Design in the Real World: </b>An Open Letter to the <b><o:p></o:p></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Secretary (DIPP) Ministry of Commerce & Industry Government of India</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This open letter to the
Secretary (DIPP) Ministry of Commerce & Industry Government of India was
prepared in 2003 urgently for taking stock of the status of Design in India,
and in particular, to take a fresh look at NID’s position in the world of Indian higher education and
it is now awaiting a serious review, ten years on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Prof. M P Ranjan</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Views expressed in this paper are personal to the
author and do not represent the views of the Institutions where he has worked.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I Quote here </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">below</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">the full text of the
“open letter” prepared in July 2003 with an additional status note at the
end of this post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">An analysis of the first
ever national design competition for design in corporate India which is
represented by the Businessworld-NID Design Excellence Award and the winners of
these awards as reported in the 30<sup>th</sup> June 2003 issue of
Businessworld makes for some very interesting reading between the lines just as
it raises many questions about the status of design and the National Institute
of Design some fifty years after it was established in India as its first
school of design. The telecast of the awards event over the NDTV 24x7 channel
yesterday provides further data on the participants and the winners across the
categories of corporate design that were included in the awards list for this
year. Six categories were announced for the awards, all largely dealing with
the generally accepted area of new product creation through Industrial Design
with the exception of FMCG Packaging, which is usually considered to be in the
domain of the Graphic Designer or the Marketing wing of an Advertising Agency.
The other five areas were for the Best – Indian Designer, Concept, Automobile –
two and four wheeler, Consumer Durable and Lifestyle Product.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The parade of award winners
and the runners-up in all six categories make very interesting reading as most
of them come from one fairly under-funded place called the National Institute
of Design that is managed by the Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotions, Government of India when compared to the giants of technology and
science that have been set up all over India at an enormous cost over the past
fifty years or so. Let us look at the details of the awardees and see whether
or not the statement above should raise some eyebrows in the corridors of power
in the Government and Industry in India.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Satish Gokhale, Design
Directions, Pune and winner of the Best Indian Designer Award has produced over
140 machines to reach markets in 17 countries and he is a graduate of NIDs
undergraduate programme in Product Design. He is one person who has through his
sustained work with industry produced wealth and value for Indian industry that
could well equal or even surpass that provided by many labs and departments in
numerous technological establishments in India taken together and he is indeed
a deserving candidate for the first ever Best Designer Award from the
Businessworld-NID Design Excellence Award. The other runners-up for the coveted
Award were Dilip Chhabria an Internationally trained car-stylist and Michael
Foley another graduate of NID, again from the under-graduate programme in
Product Design. That makes two out of the three of the very best that the
country has to offer, come from the NID fold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The second category was for
the Best Concept Design and none other than Neil Foley won it. Yet another graduate from NIDs
undergraduate programme in Product Design, Niel won hands down. Ironically all
three designs short listed for the award were done by him so the count now is
five of the six very best in the country came from NID and there is more to
come!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The third category was for
automobile design and the winners were Tata Indica and the Kinetic Nova and
these successful products are complex and multi-disciplinary efforts spread
over a number of years of research and design. The Tata Indica had a core team
of Industrial Designers from NID who worked along with the Telco engineers and
a firm of international consultants to deliver the final product. The details
of the individual contributions are for the analysis of some future historian
of design, but for now we can acknowledge a definite contribution from NID
through its graduates working at Telco R&D. The Kinetic success story was
headed by designer Ravinder S. Patil working closely with the MD of the
company, Salujja Firodia Motwani, both non-NID players. However the Kinetic
story had many levels of NID involvement as disclosed by the Chairman of the
company in the NDTV telecast of the Award event and this is quoted below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The fourth category for the
Best Consumer Durable all went to the multi-nationals with the winner position
being taken by LG of Korea for the LG Art Cool Air-Conditioner and the
runners-up were Amtrex-Hitachi Logicool i Air-Conditioner and the Phillips Diva,
a dry iron for the Indian and Chinese markets designed at Phillips Design
Centre at Pune. NID drew a blank in this category but let us read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The fifth category was the
Best Lifestyle Product and the award went to Edge, the world’s slimmest watch
produced by Titan Industries and the design once again is from a team led by an
NID graduate from the undergraduate programme in Product Design, Michael Foley.
The visionary management at Titan had placed the NID designers at the core of
their product development strategy over the years and this enabled them to take
on the giants of global business in this very competitive industry and carry
the battle successfully into their territory as well. The runners-up in this
category were Titan Fastrack from the Titan Design Studio that is a nest of NID
designers from the very early stages of the company. The other contender was
Carbon jewellery designed by a NIFT graduate in Accessory design under the
guidance of an NID graduate Jatin Bhatt, who set up and also heads the
department at NIFT and he has personally helped set the design strategy for the
company who gratefully acknowledge this contribution today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the last category it gets
even more interesting. The Award goes to John Players shirts and the design of
the innovative packaging is credited to Chittaranjan Dhar, MD of ITC Apparel
Business. However behind the scenes I am told by a soft voice that NID Graduate
Niladri Mukherjee of Whisper Design, New Delhi had conceived the product along
with the entire retail identity for the company. The other contenders for the
award were Himalaya Chavanprasaha designed by none other than Sujata Kesavan,
Ray & Kesavan, Bangalore yet another NID graduate from the undergraduate
programme in Graphic Design. Another contender for the category was Incubis
headed by NID graduate Amit Krishn Gulati for their innovative packaging for
Shriram Piston and Rings for an unusual product in this category<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So what is the final tally?
NID designers win four of the six categories outright, In the automobile design
category the NID designers are part of the company teams as acknowledged by the
respective companies. That leaves out only one category of Consumer Durables
which is a challenge that needs to be set right next year perhaps, and this should
not be difficult for the NID designers to take on in partnership with Indian
industry and this will be an eye-opener for the multinationals who are trying
to set up shop in India in the emerging WTO mediated era. Further the runners
up in all categories number six from NID out of a total of thirteen
short-listed in all six categories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is an enormous success
by any standard for the NID educated design community to be able to shine so
brightly through their singular achievements in the just concluded
Businessworld-NID Design Excellence Awards which is the first ever publically
available data on design excellence in India. I had advocated over many years
that NID and our Ministry should get a national assessment done by some
respected management consultancy organisation to assess and articulate the real
contributions of our small design community in India that has been spawned by
NID. However this plea had always fallen on deaf ears but now it is indeed
gratifying and significant to note that in a population of over one billion
Indians and in a pool of over twenty lakh strong trained technical manpower of
India, all this success is coming from a very small institution in Ahmedabad.
That the NID message is a powerful one cannot be overlooked any more and the
Ministry of Industry should recalibrate its assessment of the NID as an
Institution of National importance and of the NID Faculty as members of an
elite establishment who are both effective and worthy of parity with the IITs
and IIMs of this country. This will have a great and positive impact on trying
to cull out the real values that this lesson holds for all of us in trying to
preserve those values that have made NID a success in spite of its being small
and fairly unconventional in its educational practises and experiments over the
years. The pressure that is being placed on it to expand mindlessly due to some
skewed financial logic holds a real danger of it loosing the very essence of
its vitality that has been nurtured over the years. We need more experiments
like NID and we need to boldly take stock of what we have and set a course for
the future that includes that learning from the lessons of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Looking back at the string
of NID successes over the years and at the particularly sharp distinction in
this very significant national award one begins to wonder where all the
investment into science and technology establishments have gone when it comes
to the creation of cutting edge products for the competitive marketplace being
addressed by corporate India today. Why do we not see enough products of
excellence in the marketplace coming from the great technological and
scientific giants set up all over the country at investments running into
thousands of crores of Rupees of Government funding (One crore = 10 million).
My answer to this question is that they too need to learn to use Design as an
integral part of their work in the creation of new technologies and in
directing science initiatives that are based on need and not on some whims of
administrators or on some other esoteric pursuits. This will help bridge the
gap that we see in the lab to land efforts of many technology-alone players we
see all over the country. Even
today as we read this so much more investments are pouring into the science and
technology sectors and design and design education establishments are being
undermined at the centre and at the periphery in India due to some mistaken
notion that they, the former will deliver great results, while it is the latter
who is now actually taking the cake in the Businessworld Awards of 2003, almost
all of it to boot. This award is the first time that we have public data on the
fact that Design, and of the kind championed at NID (not fashion or styling –
both of which have their role to play and they attract enormous media
coverage), can deliver results that India cannot afford to ignore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The area in which I have
been personally working now for over twenty-five years too suffers the same
dilemma when it comes to funding from the government kitty. Our work at NID has
demonstrated in a succinct manner that Bamboo holds the promise for the
creation of millions of jobs and a ten thousand crore industry in India that is
sustainable but we still have difficulty obtaining funding for our research and
development initiatives in this very sector. The Government of India that has
finally set up a National Bamboo Mission is working overtime to exclude Design
through an unhealthy emphasis on science and technology alone through their
channels in DST and TIFAC and one wonders when the design scene in India will
change for the better. The Government practises Design by public tender, which
is perhaps the worst way to do any design task, and the other method that is
often used is “Design by Committee” so that nobody is responsible for the
fiasco that follows. Design is sorely needed in all the sectors of our economy
and the NID message must inform these initiatives if excellence and
effectiveness with limited resources are our goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Is there a message in these
awards for the scientific and technological establishments represented by the
IITs and the DST, the CSIR labs of India and the numerous educational and
research establishments in corporate and the government sectors when it comes
to the creation of new products for a competitive economy? Does the Ministry of
Industry realise the value that has been produced at the National Institute of
Design over the years? Yes indeed, they all need to adopt design as an active
partner in all their initiatives if any success is to be achieved in the near
future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In this extremely clear
scenario that is emerging from the above analysis, one wonders why the NID has
been left to literally languish due to lack of official supports when compared
to the NIFTs that are under the Ministry of Textiles and the IITs and IIMs that
are under the Ministry of Human Resources Development and the numerous
scientific research establishments that are under the Department of Science and
Technology and the CSIR etc all of which are far better funded than NID.
Besides the absence of adequate funding on the magnitude of the sister
organisations in fashion, technology and management, the NID faculty too are
also at a continuing disadvantage, where its faculty are still not paid an
appropriate salary scale or have the benefit of any incentive system that has
parity with these organisations, a matter that is on demand from the NID
faculty as a long outstanding dispute that is being ignored by the
establishment due to the small size of the Institute in a democratic country
like India where might is usually right. That the salary scale offered by the
Fourth Pay Commission was accepted as an interim measure after much delay and
this has been used by the Ministry and the officials that be to ignore this legitimate
demand, and the matter has not been corrected for over twenty years now. It is
under silent protest that the NID faculty had accepted that skewed interim
measure and the call for parity with the IIMs and the IITs are a legitimate
demand of the NID faculty that should be taken up at the highest levels of
Government, particularly in the light of the demonstrated excellence of the NID
contribution over the years in all sectors of the Indian economy. These
demonstrations have been there all along as a silent achievement of a dedicated
team of designers from the NID fold and the time has now come to recognise and
reposition the Institute along with the best in the country, which I believe we
are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The proof of this excellence
is held in the impassioned comment by Shri H K Firodia, Chairman, Kinetic Auto
Ltd., Pune when he spoke at the Businesworld-NID Design Excellence Awards
ceremony where he thanked NID and its graduates for the sustained help that had
been rendered to his company in the form of high quality indigenous product
design services over the past twenty five years while they were competing with
others in the auto industry who chose the route of design transfer from
overseas. He said “..thank you NID and the Arun Khannas and Pradeep Sinhas of NID
for placing my company where it is today..”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As a member of the faculty
of NID for almost thirty years now this comes as no surprise but it is
gratifying to finally see due recognition coming our way from this very public
event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The magazine goes on to
examine the global reach of Indian design and in this too NID graduates are
featured. Uday Dandavate of Sonic Rim, USA calls for deep research into
user-centered design research to identify the key features of a future product
as against the usual tendency of our industry of investing in a massive
advertising or market research which cannot help define the market potential of
a future product that does not as yet exist. There are many areas and
categories of critical design action that were not covered by the
Businesworld-NID Design Excellence Awards this year. That design is a critical
resource in as many as 230 sectors of the Indian economy is a looming fact and
both Government and our Industry alike do not as yet understand this fully.
This Businessworld initiative we do hope will change perceptions about the role
of design in India that is not delayed too long. However this is a great
beginning and I do hope that in the years ahead other sectors of design
excellence too will be recognised and celebrated, particularly the enormous
work that still needs to be done in the social and economic sectors that lie
far outside the scope of the corporate world as it is narrowly defined today.
This will then usher in the age of Design in the Real World, and the pun is
intended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Ministry of Industry
should take cognisance of the message that we read from the awards under
analysis and initiate measures to take stock of the potential and promise of
the spread of design in India by numerous initiatives that may be needed and
also take up the matter of setting right the parity issue between NID and the
IITs and IIMs so that design will get its rightful position in the educational
space as well as in the National economy in the years ahead. The NID faculty
have waited patiently for all these years for due recognition and I hope that
this wait is not in vain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since 2003 there have been a
few significant developments concerning the status of design in India but much
still needs to be done. In 2007 the National Design Policy was announced and
after a couple of years the India Design Council was set up by the Government
of India to promote the use of design by industry and Government. The India
Design Council has launched the India Design Mark which has dine two rounds so
far. The Government of India and the Union Cabinet has drafted a note towards
the recognition of the National Institute of Design as an Institute of National
Importance and the Bill is now awaiting approval by the Indian Parliament. The
Government of India has announced plans to set up four new NID’s in four
regions of India, however all this is taking place within a closed circle of
officers and players and very little is available in public space about the
nature of the plans and by way of access to feasibility reports and budget
provisions etc. We do hope that this will change soon and a more vigorous
support will be forthcoming form the Government of India for the cause of
design in the real world and that the much needed sectors of agriculture,
education, rural development and healthcare are given their due share of design
attention just as 230 sectors of our economy have been starved of this all
these years due to lack of Governmental attention and apathy in general. The
time is ripe now and we must change all this and bring a balance to the substantial
investments that would need to flow into design and design promotion and design
use when seen in the context of the huge investments made by Government into science and technology as well as by all ministries of Government in areas of critical need and we must bring an increased involvement of design in the industry and business
sectors </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">as well if we are to remain globally competitive and to break b]new ground and harvest value on the way forward from here. We have over fifty years of design action on the ground that has yet to be mapped and assessed for what it is worth and we must take this task up in real earnest and I am sure that the country will be surprised by the findings of a detailed analysis when it s eventually conducted and presented. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">This data should help reposition the NID and
the time is now.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">~<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Prof. M P Ranjan</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</a></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-88432766284215330302013-02-26T14:36:00.003+05:302020-09-13T04:55:40.009+05:30An Ecology for Design: A call for integrated action in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An Ecology for Design: A call for integrated action in India</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UfqISp0P68/USx6YAEqWSI/AAAAAAAAD7I/Mu4M2MkEFaE/s1600/Title+picture_MICA_Ecology+for+Design_2013_Lr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UfqISp0P68/USx6YAEqWSI/AAAAAAAAD7I/Mu4M2MkEFaE/s320/Title+picture_MICA_Ecology+for+Design_2013_Lr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I was invited to a panel discussion at MICA, Ahmedabad (MUDRA Institute of Communication) as part of the National Seminar on Ecology, Communication and Youth: An ICZMP initiative at MICA campus, Shela, Ahmedabad from February
25 – 27, 2013 organised in partnership with, Gujarat Ecology Commission
(GEC). </span><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <!--EndFragment--></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The participants were NGO's and Field workers who are all youth from across the country, ecology and
communication scientists and researchers and I was asked to speak in Hindi, which I did. The speakers at my session were scientists from ISRO, SAC and International expert in disaster management and the title of the session was Science and Arts for Managing Coastal Resources and as usual design was missing from the session title. My paper that I presented at the seminar is quoted below and the visual presentation can be downloaded from this link here as a pdf file. </span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fqHcKFwo9o_r2yzjHkYvoBrQ0Y_eHU-E/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Download visual presentation here as a pdf file 3.8 mb</a></span></span><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pXYWQ80PSNqXjc0U5ebbuOncrrKo2dH6/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Text file of my lecture is here as a pdf file 65 kb size</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I did not stick to the text submitted below but I did vent my thoughts on the disparity in funding and support from the Governemnt of India as well as the States for science and technology when compared to design although the premier Institute for design has now (finally) been accorded National recogntion by the Union Cabinet with the status of an Institute of National Importance. The scientists present at the seminar conferred with me and in response to my enquiery told me that the SAC gets about Rupees 600 crores a year and the parent organisation ISRO gets Rupees 6000 crores per year as their annual budget support for the year. Add to this the Rupees 5000 crores per year that is given to the CSIR and many hundreds of thousands more to defence and other sectors in the name of technology you will see that there is a complete absence of support for design in comparison. </span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15.5556px;">My stated position is that our country will not be able to solve</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15.5556px;"> its critical problems if this kind of disparity of funding continues in the future and I hope this message is heard and acted upon by the Finance Minister in his forthcoming budget or in a followup action when the matter of design as an activity of national importance is brought before the Indian Parliament, hopefully soon.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An Ecology for Design: A call for integrated action in India</span></b><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">M P Ranjan</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ahmedabad</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Presentation at National Seminar on Ecology, Communication and Youth at MICA, Ahmedabad on 26 February 2013</span></b><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Preamble</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Quote from her “A Note from the Author”</span><br />
<i><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">“As corporations, which play such a powerful determining role in our species’ behavior as a whole, understand and abide by the sustainable survival principles of living systems, their goals will come into harmony with our personal and community goals. We can then mature like other species from competition to cooperation and build a human society in which the goals of individual and community, of local and global economy, of economy and ecology are met. This will shift us out of crises and into the happier, healthier world of which we all dream. Let it be so!”</span></i><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabet_Sahtouris">Elisabet Sahtouris,</a> September, 1999</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">as quoted in Elisabet Sahtouris and James E Lovelock, Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution, iUniverse, 2000 (ISBN-13: 978-0595130672) <a href="http://www.sahtouris.com/#1_0,0,">This excellent book can be downloaded from her website here.</a> or from a direct link as a pdf file here <a href="http://www.ratical.com/LifeWeb/Erthdnce/erthdnce.pdf">Earthdance.pdf 800kb</a></span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ecology and Design</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">For me the seminar at MICA that will focus on the ecology of coastal Gujarat is an occasion to reflect on the terms – “Ecology” as well as “Design” – since both of these for me are central for understanding the world as a system and not as a collection of parts that we most times tend to do in order to achieve administrative convenience. </span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The word Ecology is perhaps well understood by this gathering as the overarching processes of nature that includes the scientific study of the relationships that living organisms have with each other and with their natural environment. It alludes to the manner in which the various parts of the natural environment relate with each other and contributes to the sustainable survival or demise of the whole system.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My definition of the word Design, however, may not be generally known nor accepted easily since we all carry so many versions for this particular word. So let me state it here in brief to explain my arguments further. </span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design is a cultural system just like literature, music, art and philosophy. Design is driven by human intentions and actions that shape our environment and over time it shapes us and the culture and values that we hold dear. It is not only informed by culture, but also helps create it and is one of the central contributors of both the tangible and intangible resources of any cultural entity through a constant process of evolution and assimilation that these living cultures tend to do. Design at a deep level deals with all aspects of human evolution and in the production of culture through the human use of local resources as well as the unfolding of human imagination and political action that brings change. Therefore this search is not just for truth that exists (which is what science does) but a search for what could be the imagined possibilities and options and these are preferably aligned with an existing trajectory of culture so that it is more acceptable to local inhabitants and the holders of that particular culture. Therefore, design imaginations offerings cannot be tested in a laboratory but can only be manifested in the world through its acceptance by the people who wish to own it and put it to use. They need to be prototyped and visualized at an early stage and then taken through many stages of refinement and testing before a wholesale adoption of the se offerings can be made practical and desirable. Design is also a profession and here our understanding of its knowledge, skills, sensibilities and its scope are all changing as we continue to gather insights from our practice and research here in India and today it is substantially different form when it was introduced as a modern discipline in India some fifty years ago</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design is a discipline that uses all the disciplines known to humanity in order to build a synthesis of new offerings –settlements, products, spaces, services, activities as well as organizations – for the betterment of our society and to meet their aspirations, needs and desires with the natural and cultural resources that are available and accessible at any given time and place. Over time, what we build tends to shape us and all that we think and do.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design as a System</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have used the metaphor of fire to define design using a model that was developed with my students. When we look at fire we see that it has various components — Fire (Agni) is a process of transformation — a material is transformed by organic exchanges with the environment and an effect is the product of this exchange. The process is always situated in a particular context and this context is represented by the ground on which stands the fire, both time and place taken together form the context. The process of burning and the products of light, heat and smoke are all in close interplay with the environment and design too is an activity that can happen only with reference to its own context. This fire therefore represents the kind of complex transaction that I consider an adequate expression for the systems metaphor for design.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This means that we see design as a complex activity. There is not a single product that we can call a simple product. Take for example the simplest of products that you can think of and explore its possible effects. If you look at it only as a product of technology, that is, as some material transformed into a functional shape, then it would seem to be simple. However if you consider its entire life-cycle and its impact on society, it is quite another matter altogether. So it is becoming increasingly evident that design has to look beyond the object itself as a mere artifact, as produced by technology, to the effects that these objects have on a complex set of user-related parameters and finally the effects of these objects on the environment and culture at various stages of their life cycle need to be taken into consideration while we design them.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This leads us to re-evaluate the role of design and to anticipate the shape of the design activity in the years to come. We are beginning to understand the complex nature of design, which means that you also need a fairly complex method of dealing with it. Design methodologies need to be reevaluated and innovated to cope with this complexity. A lot of technological development in recent years has created negative results, some with catastrophic consequences. We are certain that the exploitation of technology without the use of design processes that take cognizance of the long term needs of users and environments will lead to disaster.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We can call this an ecological view of design when we are attempting to deal with the complexity of both natural systems as well as how they connect and are influenced by human interventions and activities.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Three Orders of Design</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In a paper that I had presented in Istanbul in 2009 titled:” Hand-Head-Heart: Ethics in Design” I had proposed a new organization of our understanding of the design activity as the three orders of design. </span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The “Ethical Design Vortex” that moves through these three orders in sweeping and overlapping stages includes various manifestations of design thoughts and actions along a growing spiral of influences and categories listed below:</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">• The First Order of Ethics in Design</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Material – Craftsmanship – Function – Technique – Structure</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level of design is recognized by most people and is the commonly discussed attribute. Here material, structure and technology are the key drivers of the design offerings as these help shape the form that we eventually see and appreciate in the artifact. We can appreciate the offering as an honest expression of structure and material used and transformed to realize a particular form that is both unique as well as functional. It is here that skill and understanding of the craftsmen are both used to shape the artifact through an appropriate transformation with a deep understanding of its properties and an appreciation of its limitations.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">• The Second Order of Ethics in Design</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Economy – Society – Communication – Environment</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level is influenced by utility and feeling of a society and is largely determined by the marketplace as well as by the culture in which it is located. Here aesthetics and utility are informed by the culture and the economics of the land. We can sense and feel the need for the artifact and the trends are determined by the largely intangible attributes through which we assess the utility and price value that we are willing to accord to this particular offering, which is quite independent of its cost.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">• The Third Order of Ethics in Design</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Politics & Law – Culture – Systems – Spiritual</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This level is shaped by the higher values in our society and by the philosophy, ethics and spirit that we bring to our products, events, systems and services. At this level value unfolds through the production of meaning in our lives and in providing us with our identities and these offerings become a medium of communication in themselves, all about ourselves. It is held in the politics and ethics of the society and is at the heart of the spirit in which the artifacts are produced and used in that society. There are deeply held meanings that are integral to the form, structure as well as some of the essential features which may in some cases be the defining aspects of the offering, making it recognizable as being from a particular tribe or community. These features define the ownership of the form, motif or character of the artifact and these are usually supported by the stories and legends about their origin and give meaning to the lives of the initiated.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Conclusion</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I do not have much time to elaborate these positions and provide all the case studies that we have gathered over the years. These are described in my previous papers as well as on my blog – “Design for India” – and can be accessed from there. However this presentation will not be complete without stressing that we need to build a suitable ecology for design itself to flourish here in India since we seem to have adopted specialization as our preferred approach to dealing with problems as and when they crop up while relegating the organized integration of these special knowledge and tools to chance encounters of committees that we put together to manage these events as they come to our attention. On the other hand we speak of public private partnerships where we place these actions in the hands of some entrepreneur who is supposed to first create these new offerings by inventions and also “jugaad” without the benefit of a nurturing environment on which these activities can take place in a sustained and effective manner. India needs to reconsider its approach to design and to recognise design as an ecological offering that has many layers and relationships and also to set up processes and organisation that can use that language and tools of design to transform our society and the environment on which they live, work and play. We will also need to look at the manner in which design can be integrated into all our activities and not leave them as domains of specialist activity as they have been in the past. For this to happen we will need to look at how design is being taught in our schools and institutes and how these will change to accommodate the new understanding of design that we now have arrived at through our various journeys and from the crisis that some of our past actions have created at the level of the ecology, while looking at the health of the whole and not just the parts.</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">References</span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. Elisabet Sahtouris and James E Lovelock, Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution, iUniverse, 2000 (ISBN-13: 978-0595130672)</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2. Harold Nelson and Eric Stolterman, The Design Way, (Second Edition)</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World, MIT Press, 2012 (ISBN: 9780262018173)</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3. M P Ranjan, blog “Design for India” www.designforindia.com</span><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">About the Author</span></b><br />
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">M P Ranjan</a></span></b><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Professor – Design Chair, CEPT University</a></span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Design Thinker & Author of blog www.designforindia.com,</a></span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Ahmedabad</a></span><br />
<br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Prof M P Ranjan is a design thinker with 40 years of experience in design education and practice in association with the National Institute of Design. He helped visualize and set up two new design schools in India, one for the crafts sector, the IICD Jaipur and the other for the bamboo sector, the BCDI Agartala. His book Handmade in India is a comprehensive resource on the hand crafts sector of India and was created as a platform for the building of a vibrant creative economy based on the crafts skills and resources identified therein.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">His book on bamboo opened up new frontiers for design exploration in India. He has explored bamboo as a designer material for social transformation. Bamboo has been positioned as a sustainable material of the future through his work spread over three decades. His work in design education covered many subjects including Design Thinking, Data Visualisation, Interaction Design and Systems Design</span><br />
<br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">His blog “Design for India” has become a major platform for Indian design discourse. <http: www.design-for-india.blogspot.com=""></http:></span><br />
<br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">He is on the Governing Council of the IICD, Jaipur and advises other design schools in India and abroad. He lives and works from Ahmedabad in India. He has been acknowledged by peers as one of the international thought leaders in Design Thinking today</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-23536512198089438902013-01-13T01:56:00.000+05:302013-01-16T09:38:29.873+05:30Recognising the Roots: NID accorded status of "Institute of National Importance"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Recognising the Roots: Indian Cabinet approves status of an "Institute of National Importance" for the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.</b><br />
<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/">Prof. M P Ranjan</a>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dOgvuprpHjk/UPG1p02M5bI/AAAAAAAAD04/4XfYnxGa2yA/s1600/P1018161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dOgvuprpHjk/UPG1p02M5bI/AAAAAAAAD04/4XfYnxGa2yA/s320/P1018161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Sand sculpture extending the buttress roots of the Big Tree in the <b>Gira Gautam Square</b> at NID Paldi in Ahmedabad created as part of the class experience of Media explorations by Textile Design students under the guidance of teacher Jayanthi Naik (J L Naik) last week. They must have had a premonition about the Indian Cabinets' forthcoming act of passing a resolution according the status of "Institute of National Importance" to the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad at the meeting held on 10 January 2013. <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=91470" target="_blank">See PIB News release here.</a></span></i></div>
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The National Institute of Design was set up in 1961 based on a report by Charles and Ray Eames called the India Report of 1958. In the past 50 years the Institute has had a remarkable journey of exploration and discovery that was informed by the spirit of the India report but the Government that had set it up with a great deal of vision and enthusiasm in 1961 seemed to have been all but forgotten over the next 50 years with the Institute being managed by a small department within the Ministry of Industry while the other major national institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management were placed under the Ministry of Education which is now the Ministry of Human Resources and they were accorded a status of importance that NID was never given for over 50 years of its existance.<br />
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The return of the echo of the dramatic roots in the sand sculpture by Naik's students somehow reflects the Governments belated recognition of NID and its value system and the contributions that it has made and the critical role that it can make in the building of the nation in the years ahead which now becomes possible with this significant act of recognition. NID can become an equal partner in the journey of nation building in the years ahead along with the other streams of knowledge that are already recognised and well funded. We should not let this occasion slip into another bout of extended amnesia since it is so easy to forget the contribution of design since most of it is intangible and hence cannot be measured by the yardsticks of science, technology or management and it needs to be sensed and felt long before the hard measurements begin to make sense. The dramatic roots of the Big Tree at the Sarabhai plaza were covered up when the platform was built in their honour just as much of NID's educational experiments were undermined by the search for formal recognition from the educational systems that dominate India. NID went through the whole process of trying to get the status of a Deemed University in a mistaken level of enthusiasm that many of us had labelled "Doomed Univerity" since the search seemed to be for qualification and not competence and sensibilities that are so important and central to design action. I hope that the efforts to write the history of NID will look at these significant moments and efforts and contributions and not gloss over the shift to grades and marks (quantitative systems of evaluation) in search of recognition of a deep and stable educational system that was an experiment at NID (qualitative systems of evaluation) that needs to be cherished and perhaps used to inform all of higher education in India in the days ahead.<br />
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We need to ponder on those values and processes of education that NID had built and through decades of hard work in the face of great opposition from outside as well as within and this is something from which so many of its alumni have found substance and sustenance to face the challenges of a very hostile Indian landscape for the uncertain and the new that has been India of the past 50 years from our experience in the lack of recognition from both India Governments as well as from Industry. This is not surprising since we live in a very controlled economy even with all the bouts of liberalisation and design can only flourish when there is real competition and an open economy and India is now heading in that very direction and design will be the core activity going forward from here.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QfcG1LzOeuA/UPJrZWFmktI/AAAAAAAAD1I/ODitwCmyRQ8/s1600/Big+Tree_Gira+Gautam+Square_P1018144_cr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QfcG1LzOeuA/UPJrZWFmktI/AAAAAAAAD1I/ODitwCmyRQ8/s320/Big+Tree_Gira+Gautam+Square_P1018144_cr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Badminton%20Ball%20Tree.html">Gautam Gira Square and the Big Tree</a> from the Wood Workshop end. The extended roots were covered when the commemorative platform was built to celebrate the founder Chairman of NID</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">- http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Badminton%20Ball%20Tree.html -</span><br />
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What are those roots that have been covered or even lost at NID and in Indian design as a whole when design education was struggling to find its feet in the larger Indian eco-system? The gradautes and alumni of the school must ponder about this and help articulate what may be taken forward and this is a call for such an articulation since we do need a new imagination for design education in india that can inform the next 50 years or more. These roots must be uncovered and revealed and from this uncovering we will reflect and build new knowledge that will help us navigate the future in the days ahead.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Tsgr4C9J6k/UPJuepESo-I/AAAAAAAAD1Y/QNvsp8u6tXw/s1600/NID_Building32_35bw_col_69_07_cr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Tsgr4C9J6k/UPJuepESo-I/AAAAAAAAD1Y/QNvsp8u6tXw/s320/NID_Building32_35bw_col_69_07_cr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Badminton%20Ball%20Tree.html">The Big Tree</a> when I joined NID in 1969 and later in 2007 after the platform was built.</span></i><br />
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NID needs to take on the mantle of leadership that has been bestowed by this act of Government and build models for designerly thought and action across the 230 sectors of our economy and not remain restricted to the pandering to the needs of large corporate industry and their short term needs for car styling and graphics when the country needs serious design investments in urban mobility and public transportation, just to give one example where we need to shift our emphasis in real earnest. We need to enumerate such actions and extend these concerns across the 230 sectors of our economy in as many conferences and workshops that may be needed to reach out to stakeholders and build a new agenda for action in the days ahead. We need to invest in design faculty and the young designers coming out of our schools so that they may serve the real clients, the people of India in addressing their needs with imagination and sensitivity as wel as design expertise and not remain happy with the <i><b>Jugaad</b></i> - patchwork quilt of poverty driven innovations for India - that seems to be celebrated by management gurus as the core capability that the world is talking about as the only major innovative ability of India today..<br />
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<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br />
<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Professor - Design Chair, CEPT University, Ahmedabad</a><br />
<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">13 January 2013</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-57620192632207042982012-09-13T00:34:00.001+05:302020-09-13T04:59:52.934+05:30Rebecca Reubens: Bamboo – Sustainability – Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rebecca Reubens: Bamboo – Sustainability – Design</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n8W7gDR7lKg/UFDZa_66z2I/AAAAAAAADmE/2pOZJh9_ZfY/s1600/Rebecca+Reubens+on+Google_Picture+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n8W7gDR7lKg/UFDZa_66z2I/AAAAAAAADmE/2pOZJh9_ZfY/s320/Rebecca+Reubens+on+Google_Picture+6.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The book <span style="line-height: 17.5px;">“</span><b><span style="line-height: 17.5px;">Bamboo: From Green Design to Sustainable Design” by Rebecca Reubens </span></b>is now on the market and available on Amazon, Flipkart and at stores in India and overseas. Today I got my hands on my own copy inscribed by Rebecca and it is a good feeling to see the seeds sown so many years ago blossom and grow into such a fine offering. Some time ago she asked me to write an Introduction for her book and my note is now part of that product offering as the "Preamble" which I have quoted below.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-From-Green-Design-Sustainable/dp/8186962905">Amazon site link</a></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flipkart.com/bamboo-8186962913/p/9788186962916?pid=9788186962916&ref=3ea37a32-8695-4386-a565-a4a9af5d998f">Flipkart site link</a></span></div>
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Preamble<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rebecca Reubens has
asked me to write an Introduction for her new book that attempts to bridge
three fields that I am deeply interested in and in which I too have been
working for a very long time now. The three fields are Design, Bamboo and
Sustainability, all of which are extremely complex in their own right and there
is little real understanding of the issues and approaches within each of them
in the modern world due to a paucity of published research here. Modern design
has been around for some time having evolved from its roots in the industrial
revolution but it has unfortunately become a form of consumerist expression by
industry and the profession and the real human development angle is all but
forgotten and we need to rediscover this aspect as a fresh approach. Bamboo is
still quite unknown tomodern
industry and the design profession although it is a grand old material
of traditional societies across Asia and Latin America. Finally, Sustainability
has arrived with a bang at the policy level since we are faced with the
excesses of industry and governence that has caused both global warming and
climate change as well as social unrest which is a product of our selfish ways,
all needing a serious rethink and I am happy to see these three issues being
addressed here in this book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the world of
traditional societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America there exists a
demonstrated deep understanding of all three subjects since these have been
used in an evolutionary manner by local communities for many centuries. These
continue to exist as a living culture in their rural communities and lifestyles
even today but I must say that modern communication and changing aspirations is
affecting these towards rapid extinction. Just as our plant and animal species
are being depleted by massive modern exploitation of resources these pearls of
traditional wisdom are being lost just as rapidly by human neglect. Here I must
draw particular attention to the Apa Tani tribes of Arunachal Pradesh who have
over many centuries of development in their niche valley in the Eastern
Himalayas demonstrated a sustainable lifestyle that is based on the careful
cultivation and utilisation of bamboo, timber and an integrated water
management system for agriculture that is as yet an unknown value in modern life
around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design, on the other
hand, is a natural human activity that evolved with man over the ages but it
has now has been relegated to the precincts of a professional marketing
priesthood that manages the activity in the marketplace of our global economy.
Design as it was deeply understood by traditional societies as a broad based
human imaginative activity has been relegated to the back burner since we have
chosen to follow the specialized path of science and the trained manager since
they provide rational answers for everything and modern man and their society
can only decide based on explicit knowledge while design in most cases is felt
or tacit knowledge and is based on instincts that are better judged by
sensitive interpretation rather than by the application of cold logic. This is
why I felt compelled to set up my blog titled “Design for India” where I could
debate the other dmensions of design that are much needed in India today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bamboo, has been
nurtured by traditional societies across Asia and Latin America and its varied
species provide a natural material that had wide spread use in thousands of
traditional applications in many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America where
it was abundantly grown but with the arrival of industrial revolution and the
spread of Western know-how the dominant materials of our economies started
depending on minerals like stone, limestone and cement, metals like steel and
copper, synthetics such as plastics and petrochemicals and some economic
agricultural commodities such as cotton and jute. Bamboo was therefore
neglected by the colonial leaders as the spread of technology and formalized
knowledge also meant the reduction of local knowledge in materials that were
already in wide and sophisticated use in Asia and Latin America, particularly
bamboo which was considered the ‘poor mans timber’ while the emphasis and
official attention of the Government in India shifted to timber and wood during
the heydays of the British Raj.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sustainability is the
hallmark of most settled societies that evolved slowly over thousands of years
and gradually built up their lessons of stable and predictable agriculture and
lifestyles that were quite in sync with the beat of natures’ processes. However
with the arrival of power assisted technologies and communication man could do
a lot more and much faster and the race for the dominance of nature commenced
in real earnest and each nation tried to outdo the other in their race for
global dominance in economy, power and social well being, all measured by
growth and growth alone. However, the destruction of pristine rain forests in
search for minerals and material wealth and the release of toxic gasses into
the atmosphere has had its natural consequences and we are on the threshold of
rediscovering the concept of sustainability in the face of the threat of human
extinction, a threat that is imminent, if corrective strategies are not adopted
by the worlds citizens and their political leaders on a most urgent basis.
Sustainability is then a call for a return to a steady-state economy that
echoes nature in all its involved and intertwined processes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This impending crisis
places this particular manuscript at the centre of the debate where all three
subjects can play a meaningful role and in trying to address and bridge these
three difficult but critical fields that promise to bring long term benefits
that can counter the problems of our uncontrolled developments of the past few
hundred years. Design strategies will need to be explored and design itself
will need to be understood and applied by political leadership across the world
along with the subjects of science, technology and management and design at a
deep level will play a huge role in the reversal of global warming and the move
towards sustainability in the days ahead. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant
material known to man and we will need to learn to use it in new and improved
ways to supplement our vast needs for materials across many areas of
application and much research would be needed to fill the gaps in our knowledge
along with an urgent attempt to codify and garner the traditional wisdom that
still exists across the bamboo culture zones of the world, particularly in Asia
and Latin America. Sustainability too is a subject of current scientific and
political interest and there is much that we need to understand about the
symbiotic processes that live and work in nature and then be able to use this
understanding back into our own ways of living and doing things in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This manuscript, “</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bamboo: From Green Design to
Sustainable Design” by Rebecca Reubens </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">stands as a
brave attempt to bridge the huge gap and I am sure it will encourage others to
follow in the much needed integrative research and design actions that is needed
in the days ahead. Rebecca studied design at National Institute of Fashion
Technology (NIFT) and then joined National Institute of Design (NID) in the
Furniture Design discipline where I used to trach teach till I retired in 2010.
She started her own journey into bamboo when she took on the subject as her
Diploma Project as a student of Furniture Design at NID. We had a challenging
project handy as part of the <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2009/03/beyond-grassroots-cd-rom-on-institution.html" target="_blank">Bamboo & Cane Development Institute (BCDI)project</a> that I was heading in 2001 and she has stayed with the subject and
journeyed far as a member of the International Network of Bamboo & Rattan
(INBAR) field team and now she has taken it on as her subject for her PhD
Thesis at TU Delft in Design and Sustainability through the medium of Bamboo. She
also went on to set up her own enterprise to work with local communities in
Gujarat and from this to learn the significance of human effort at the
grassroots using Design, Bamboo and Sustainability as her driving principles
and to learn from this experience that which is not yet stated in any book so
far, lessons from real life experiences from the field. All three much needed
today and I wish her success.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Prof. M P Ranjan</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Design Thinker and <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Author of blog – </span><a href="http://www.designforindia.com/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">www.DesignForIndia.com</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">12 March 2012</span><span style="font-family: Gautami;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-89386720810130296332012-08-28T13:15:00.002+05:302020-09-13T05:04:10.199+05:30Vinay Venkatraman: Frugal Digital Design for India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Vinay Venkatraman: Frugal Digital Design for India</span></h4>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I remember Vinay Venkatraman from our <a href="http://design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">DCC class in Foundation</a> as well as from the Product Design classes later at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedaabd. He is now teaching at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design and he has matured to have a very concise idea of design and where it could be used in India in conjunction with innovation resources that are strewn across the country. His experiences and approach could be shared with the Planning Commission in its research to build innovation platforms in India and the Open Design Network that has been proposed by Sam Pitroda and his teams. Design is the keyword in this set of three terms while all of them are important for the whole to work effectively. Openness and Networks are critical since they embed attitudes of sharing and caring that is central to the success of design action here in India. The IPR regimes that the Planning Commission meeting seemed to be harping about is least of our concerns and we should understand why this is the case when we <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/vinay_venkatraman_technology_crafts_for_the_digitally_underserved.html" target="_blank">see Vinay Venkatraman's TED Talk at the link</a> here.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><http: talks="talks" vinay_venkatraman_technology_crafts_for_the_digitally_underserved.html="vinay_venkatraman_technology_crafts_for_the_digitally_underserved.html" www.ted.com="www.ted.com"></http:></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can download the <a href="http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2012S/None/VinayVenkatraman_2012S-480p.mp4" target="_blank">TED Talk as a 96 mb mp4 video file from this link</a> here.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><http: inayvenkatraman_2012s-480p.mp4="inayvenkatraman_2012s-480p.mp4" one="one" podcast="podcast" talk="talk" video.ted.com="video.ted.com"></http:></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">He is seen here in this YouTube video interview titled "What's Design mean to you?" and comes through with great clatrity that should be shown to Sam Pitroda and his team at the Planning Commission who seem to miss the point about the integrating nature of design and design thinking. He comes through with three clear qualities and abilities that are needed in design -– Conceptualisation, Visualisation & Prototyping – "Feeling and Thinking" + "Drawing and Modeling" + "Building & Testing" – as the three key capabilities that designers need to innovate new solutions to address the pressing needs at the margin in our society. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7rc8zwzfls" target="_blank">See this 9 minute YouTube video</a> below for a review of what he has to say.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7rc8zwzfls" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr></wbr>v=G7rc8zwzfls</a>></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">While teaching at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design he also handles consulting projects that address the needs of the people in the margin and by using research and design he has developed some amazing solutions that address access to education in remote villages as well as healthcare screening in areas that do not have adequate doctors or medical facilities. <a href="http://ciid.dk/consulting/people/vinay-venkatraman/" target="_blank">More about Vinay Venkatraman</a> at these links below.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><<a href="http://ciid.dk/consulting/people/vinay-venkatraman/" target="_blank">http://ciid.dk/consulting/<wbr></wbr>people/vinay-venkatraman/</a>></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Vinay Venkatraman has been writing a blog about his journey of discovery of insights into the power of design thinking and cation and you can see these at this link below. However this seems to be a new venture and still work in progress and I hope he fills out the missing pages soon so that we can all see his thoughts and actions through his sharing on the blog. Some links lead to <a href="http://ciid.dk/frugaldigital/" target="_blank">Frugal Digital Products and services</a> that have been developed. Very exciting. Take a look.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://ciid.dk/frugaldigital/</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><http: idnext.com="idnext.com"></http:></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><http: archives="archives" category="category" ciid.dk="ciid.dk" frugaldigital="frugaldigital" project="project"></http:></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We need to collect more such examples and share these with each other as well as online as an example of the Avalanche Effect, people who can bring huge transformations with little inputs in design and design thinking that I had written about when I submitted my paper to the Design Issues Journal in 2001, but alas they were not listening, and my paper was rejected only to be posted on <a href="https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind03&L=PHD-DESIGN&P=R180559&1=PHD-DESIGN&9=A&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4" target="_blank">PhD-Design discussion forum in 1st December 2003</a> when I got the news from Martha Scotford who had initially invited me to write the paper in the first place for an issue about design in India. More about this is on my blog post at this link below – <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2012/07/evolution-of-dcc-course-at-nid.html" target="_blank">Evolution-of-dcc-course-at-nid</a></span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><http: design-for-india.blogspot.in="design-for-india.blogspot.in" evolution-of-dcc-course-at-nid.html="evolution-of-dcc-course-at-nid.html"></http:></span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Planning Commission must take this into account when they make a pitch for investments in design education here in India.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" target="_blank">M P Ranjan</span></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-88337477912297673732012-08-11T12:46:00.002+05:302020-09-13T05:12:24.846+05:30Kerala State Institute of Design: Infrastructure and Directions in 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Kerala State Institute of Design: KSID - Where do we go now?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44IEP_cRbqU/UCXatOEVVxI/AAAAAAAADkU/jXdsIzO7Kfk/s1600/KSID+CAMPUS_Birds+eye+view.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44IEP_cRbqU/UCXatOEVVxI/AAAAAAAADkU/jXdsIzO7Kfk/s320/KSID+CAMPUS_Birds+eye+view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Architects visualisation of KSID campus</span></div>
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On 9th and 10th November 2009 I was invited to a vision document meeting at Kovalam and this event was reported previously at this post here on my blog as <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-design-school-at-kerala-state-level.html" target="_blank">New design school at Kerala State level.</a></div>
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The proposed institute has come a long way and the infrastructure is now taking shape on the ground and we will now need to review and refresh our approach and take the next steps in the process of establishing a new design school for Kerala State.<br />
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For this first meeting I had also submitted a note that raised several questions and proposed some directions that would need to be addressed by the political and administrative establishment in Kerala that is dealing with the setting up of such a school of design. We would need a working definition of design as well as a strategy that could inform the managers and faculty in shaping the programmes and activities of this new institution. My note of 2009 is quoted below and these questions are still relevant when we go forward towards the establishment of the infrastructure and teaching programmes and other activities of the institute.</div>
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Kerala State Design Institute: An approach paper and some
thoughts for the meeting.</div>
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Prof. M P Ranjan</div>
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National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad</div>
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7 November 2009</div>
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Design is a very old activity and Kerala is full of great
examples of its sensitive but unselfconscious use in most of their traditional
buildings and spaces, traditional artifacts, festivals and events and
traditional knowledge systems, all of which are the product of great design
thinking in the past. However we need to ask the question in the context of the
emergence of modern design as a contemporary discipline and one that has now
been seen as a critical resource for development and planned change across many
sectors of need. We now need to know – What does Kerala really need? Do we know
the answer to this question?</div>
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This is very different from asking the question – “What does
Kerala want?” – another design institute! What shall be the unique
differentiators and driving principles here?</div>
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Ever since design was imported as a fairly developed
offering from the West (USA and Western Europe) into India in the post
Independence era we have been asking this question and there has been much
confusion on the true role of design amongst even those people who funded and
managed design in the country including those in Government as well as at the
Institutions that were set up to further the use of design in India. The
initial impetus came from Western ideas that were adopted wholesale and it took
many years of engagement before the faint questions started emerging about how
this genre of design could be adopted to local conditions in a developing
economy such as India and at the same time corporate industry went ahead and
addressed the consumption side of the equation and used design as a corporate
bedfellow to generate hype, style, and a pursuit of business profit.</div>
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Many people equated design to being a subset of art and
numerous art colleges set up in India over the past century were called upon to
provide services in the design sectors and this has produced a vast range of
design professionals across many sectors of Indian industry in the absence of
any formal design education schools in the country. Design has also been
equated with science and technology and numerous R& D centres have been set
up across India to deal with technological innovation and technical and
scientific research and these too have created bodies of expertise that have
impinged on various design contributions in many sectors in India. However, the
products from design schools have been few in comparison and it is only after
economic liberalization that many of these trained individuals have been able
to make a significant mark in the innovation landscape of the country. In
recent years design is being seen as a management resource and in particular
design thinking is being offered as a critical new approach to planning and
creating exciting scenarios for the solution of complex problems facing all
kinds of development and business objectives.</div>
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A few year ago, in 2005 as part of my Design Concepts and
Concerns course, I asked my class in the Foundation Programme at NID to explore
and imagine the nature of new design schools that may be needed across a number
of regions of India since there was the talk in those days about an impending
Design Policy for India and it was under active discussion in Government as
well as in some circles of design professionals and academics in India. Many
interesting alternatives were explored and offered by the students teams each
having looked at the regional resources and their own map of the strengths of
each region since the thesis was that design is a local phenomenon that must be
based on available resources to meet recognized local needs. Each region has
its own strengths that can be leveraged to get it locational advantage as well
as traditional resources that could form the platform for differentiated and
unique offerings informed by the local culture and its creative
reinterpretation as a modern offering to meet contemporary needs.</div>
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Around the world new design institutes are springing up each
day and the diversity of these new institutes are a challenge for us to try and
understand the forces that are at work in the attempts to apply design and
design thinking to a whole new set of applications and areas that have so not
been addressed by traditional design schools that have been based on the
imported models from the West. Over the past 15 or 20 years we have tried to
look at the introduction of design capabilities to Indian needs in specific
sectors and here I can offer the examples of three specific institutions with
which I have had a personal association in trying to articulate and establish
in a climate and a context in which design itself is not easily explained nor
understood by those who need to nurture it and provide it with sustenance in
the form of funds and a climate in which it can take root and grow. This I
believe will be one of the biggest challenges for the new institute in Kerala
and much of our effort may need to be focused on trying to make a space for it
and the people associated to establish themselves before they are asked to
deliver great results.</div>
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The experience so far points out that there are several
approaches that could be taken and much will depend on the canvas that is
available on which to paint our visions. The establishment of IIT’s and IIM’s
in India seem to have some consensus as far as scale, reach, content and value
but unfortunately no such consensus exists when it comes to the establishment
of a design based organization be it a school or a development oriented
organization. We will need to cross this hurdle first at the forthcoming
meetings on the 9<sup>th</sup> and 10<sup>th</sup> November 2009 at Trivandrum
and if we can get both a political as well as administrative blessings for a
shared vision for a new design institute for Kerala the task ahead will be much
easier than the various cases shown by many the efforts that have taken place
across India in the past 20 years. However there is no ambiguity about the
value of design when we are able to embody design thinking and action skills in
particular individuals and teams through the process of design education and it
is here that we need to ponder as to whether we need specialists or generalists
who can be open to work with the huge body of technical and administrative
teams that are already available from many fields and use this as a base to
make for a vibrant platform for innovation with the use of these capable and
flexible generalists who are able to work as team players and provide the essential
ingredients to bring sensitive change where it is most needed in Kerala. </div>
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The big question is what are these needs and what needs to
be changed and how should we go about this? </div>
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Some recent efforts to look at design from a fresh
perspective are worth noting and we may look at our emerging understanding of
design and design thinking in a number of unconventional areas of application
before we freeze on directions and content. Design and design thinking have
been applied to numerous exciting and complex situations and we need to take
stock of these before we spell out the roles and responsibilities of a new
institute of design for Kerala that will find its direction and purpose and
reach maturity and excellence over the next 10, 20 and 50 years ahead. Can we
look forward and jointly draft scenarios that are plausible and feasible and
then decide the platforms form and content and articulate the way in which we
can navigate our way towards the future?</div>
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References</div>
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1. <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/qgyyd28n3gr3f82/Eames_IndiaReport.pdf" target="_blank">Charles& Ray Eames, India Report, 1958</a>, Government of India, New Delhi</div>
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2. National
Institute of Design, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/01eucd7wxs7r3uz/IICD_Feasibility_Draft_1993.pdf" target="_blank">Feasibility Report for IICD Jaipur</a>, Government of
Rajasthan, 1993</div>
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3. National
Institute of Design, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/hnbfd9qrmndxf7x/BCDI%20Feasibility_31Dec2001.PDF" target="_blank">Feasibility Report for Bamboo & Cane DevelopmentInstitute Agartala,</a> Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, Government of
India, 2000</div>
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4. National
Institute of Fashion Technology, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bs9jq11jif04b04/NIFT%20_Curriculum_2002.pdf" target="_blank">Accessory Design Curriculum, NIFT New Delhi</a>,
1991</div>
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5. Soumitri
Varadarajan, Ambedkar University, <a href="http://campaignprojects.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/the-school-of-design/" target="_blank">Service Design Curricullum, AmbedkarUniversity</a>, New Delhi, 2009</div>
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6. <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.in/2007/07/kaospilot-business-school-that-teaches.html" target="_blank">UffeElbek, Kaos Pilot A-Z</a>, <a href="http://www.kaospilot.dk/" target="_blank">Kaos Pilot, Aarhus Denmark</a>, 2003 (http://www.knowmads.nl/)
and (http://www.kaospilots.dk)</div>
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7. G K
VanPatter, <a href="http://www.nextd.org/" target="_blank">NextD website, Sensemaking initiatives 2002 to 2008</a> (http://www.nextd.org/)</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">8. <a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Design for India blog</a> (http://www.designforindia.com)</span>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCfhZksEaA/UCX-VJjKwrI/AAAAAAAADkk/wg7fziqQr6Q/s1600/KSID_ADMIN+BLOCK_lr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCfhZksEaA/UCX-VJjKwrI/AAAAAAAADkk/wg7fziqQr6Q/s320/KSID_ADMIN+BLOCK_lr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Admin block at an advanced state of construction at KSID campus</span></div>
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The Government of Kerala has taken a step that no other State Government has done so far, that of setting up a design school to address the needs of the region. The only other example that comes to my mind is the setting up of the <a href="http://www.iicd.ac.in/" target="_blank">Indian Institute of Crafts and Design (IICD) in Jaipur</a> as a centre of excellence for creating change agents for the crafts sector using design as a core driver. This institute was set up by the Rajasthan Government based on a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g_dhZOp3LETWtQYBGBPQpf6qUOorn_p8/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Feasibility Report for the proposed School of Crafts</a> that was prepared by me as a member of the National Instituite of Design, Ahmedabad in 1993. In 2001 we helped redefine through our <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TfPHX4CFqpG76VmbV1eO5__L3rpgMuK7/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Feasibility Report, the role of the Bamboo and Cane Development Institute at Agartala</a> to use design as a core driver for the bamboo sector of the country, as a sector specific institute that used design, technology and management in an integrated manner to get best results. Kerala too will need a forward looking vision statement in the context of our new understanding of design and the ongoing debates that have been raised by the mindless expansion that has been initiated by the DIPP, Government of India for the premier design education institute of the country, the <a href="http://nid.edu/" target="_blank">National Institute of Design</a> that led to a public outcry from groups of concerned design academics and professionals from across India through a new initiative called the <a href="http://visionpehle.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Vision First initiative </a>that has called for a serious rethink and wider discourse about the four new NID's that are proposed as part of their plans.<br />
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We now need a second meet on the proposed KSID's directions and this should lead to a clearly articulated vision statement that can help both Government of Kerala and the KSID functionaries to steer the institutes fledgling infrastructure as well as its new education programmes through the political channels of approval and public acceptance in the days ahead. Just yesterday evening, I was discussing the status of the <a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-design-school-at-kerala-state-level.html" target="_blank">KSID proposals with the members of the vision meet in 2009</a>, Prakash Moorthy and Sangita Shroff, while having tea at the BMW at the NID Paldi campus and later last night I saw P T Girish's note in my mail box with the attached photographs of the KSID as it stands today. Another interesting coincidence is that I have just started teaching a course at the <a href="http://www.cept.ac.in/" target="_blank">CEPT University</a> for the Masters level programme at SID, the MIAD class on<br />
Understanding Crafts and its Context in India where we have assigned the students three States to research, Rajasthan, Orissa and Kerala and they have an assignment to explore the use of local crafts in space making tasks that could be applied to the creation of a new holiday resort in their region. More about this course in another post soon. These connected set of events triggered this particular blog post and I hope that Kerala sets up a leadership position with the use of <a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com/2007/08/design-and-creative-economy-strategy.html" target="_blank">design for development and that this move will go well beyond what is needed in the crafts sector</a> but also look at the needs for <a href="http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com/2007/07/230-sectors-of-economy-for-design.html" target="_blank">"Design across the 230 sectors"</a> of our economy where design is critically needed but our political and administrative class do not yet seem to know this from the kind of support that design gets in the national and state budgets today. Can Kerala show the way? Only time will tell.<br />
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<a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">M P Ranjan</a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-78314470816973971082012-07-24T20:32:00.001+05:302020-09-13T05:30:55.021+05:30Design Concepts and Concerns: The Avalanche Effect from NID<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Evolution of DCC course at NID: Reflections in 2012</b></div>
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<a href="http://design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM2D0RvnBI/AAAAAAAACRU/WsjcTr568Hw/s1600-h/01_EAD06_DCC+Lectures.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360187420701596690" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM2D0RvnBI/AAAAAAAACRU/WsjcTr568Hw/s400/01_EAD06_DCC+Lectures.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 198px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<b>Image01: Models and lectures that were developed over the years for the Design Concepts and Concerns course at NID as they stood in 2005 as they appear in the EAD06 conference presentation at Bremen, Germany.</b></div>
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In 2009, Meena Kadri wrote about the course on her blog, <a href="http://www.randomspecific.com/sidewalk-scenarios" target="_blank">“Random Specific”</a>, and she sent me a link with a question – <b>“Has not the DCC course evolved at NID over the past 40 years or so?”</b> I sent her a brief note and then decided that the question could be answered at some length and perhaps some design historian or research scholar would be sufficiently interested in looking at the evolution of the pedagogy at NID which I do believe has made significant contribution to design education in India as well as in the world, much of which is as yet not appreciated due to a paucity of published references on the processes and personalities involved. Parts of this post appeared previously in July 2009 on my course blog named after the course – <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/07/evolution-of-dcc-course-at-nid.html" target="_blank">Design Concepts and Concerns</a> – and here I am elaborating that post with reflections on what has happened after my retirement from NID and the directions that are being explored today by the institute and its faculty.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM16UCvYJI/AAAAAAAACRM/782ywoELaUg/s1600-h/02_Design+Issues_India_ss.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360187257429909650" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM16UCvYJI/AAAAAAAACRM/782ywoELaUg/s400/02_Design+Issues_India_ss.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 188px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<b>Image02: Cover and contents page of the Design Issues journal of Autumn 2005 dealing with Design and education in India.</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The course as it stood then is documented at this blog site and through a couple of papers that I had written, first in 2002, specifically for the Design Issues magazine at the invitation of Martha Scotford </span><span style="background-color: white;">who</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">acting as a guest editor was compiling a collection of papers about design from India for the Design Issues magazine's volume on India. However, this paper that I wrote and submitted was called the "Avalanche Effect" and as luck would have it was not included in the final edited version, unfortunately. On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, after a long wait to hear from the editors I finally received a message from Martha Scotford about the rejection of my paper and I was at that time teaching at the BCDI in Agartala and I immediately posted the full text of my paper on the PhD-Design list which can be seen at this link here below: </span><a href="https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind03&L=PHD-DESIGN&P=R180559&X=0928EB0CDB477B6DC3&Y=ranjanmp%40nid.edu" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><b>Avalanche Effect on the PhD –Design discussion list.</b></a><br />
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<http: mpzwow="" tinyurl.com="">The Design Issues is a very respected peer reviewed journal from the MIT and the reviewers may have thought that the claims made by an unknown professor from India were a very tall order at that time or found some other shortcoming in my paper based on which it was declined. The journal came out with their volume about India and Indian design and this did not include my paper (“Design Issues: History Theory Criticism” volume 21, Number 4, Autumn 2005) The pdf copy of the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZL6RirYenVY1PVhVrg0Yd7w8p7QgRzD1/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">“Avalanche Effect” paper can be downloaded from here as a 55kb pdf file.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1yjKFIyI/AAAAAAAACRE/-un2o97U38Y/s1600-h/03_EAD06_DCC+Assignments.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360187124048274210" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1yjKFIyI/AAAAAAAACRE/-un2o97U38Y/s400/03_EAD06_DCC+Assignments.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 198px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></http:><br />
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<b>Image03: Select pages from my presentation titled “Creating the Unknowable” showing the series of Assignments that are offered to NID Foundation students as part of their five week course on Design Concepts and Concerns.</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">However in the same year, in 2005, I wrore another paper about this course and my paper was titled “Creating the Unknowable: Designing the Future in Education” and this was also about the DCC course and it was accepted for a peer reviewed conference at Bremen Germany, the EAD06 coordinated by Wolfgang Jonas a design thinker at the Bremen University School of Design and I was able to share the DCC pedagogy and the underlying intentions for the first time on a public forum composed of critical design professors. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u4StY8rSWavTGqtbTjCcAOJbCNWxBO5p/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">(Download the full presentation from here as a 54MB zip file containing one pdf of the presentation and six linked movies inside one folder)</a> Unfortunately, even here I faced problems of support from my own Institute. My travel costs would not be supported by NID authorities even though I was going to present a major course development done at the school over many years of experimentation and I had to bear the cost of travel myself. This does show how difficult it is to get support for design education in India in all these years when design thinking was being explored and refined through our teaching and design explorations, without much official support from the authorities that be. This lack of official support is captured in the title of my conference paper for the first National Design Summit in India called the CII-NID Design Summit that was held in Bangalore in December 2001. My paper was titled </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14bXpyCKWSU9v0UUs3mwV2RqJageivCDt/view?usp=sharing" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">“Cactus Flower blooms in a Desert: Reflections on Design and Innovation in India”.</a><span style="background-color: white;"> Download that paper and the accompanying visual presentation from here as a 14.5 MB zip file containing three pdf files.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1oDY21OI/AAAAAAAACQ8/LgUMGcB-cCE/s1600-h/04_DCC+OHP+1995.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360186943721624802" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1oDY21OI/AAAAAAAACQ8/LgUMGcB-cCE/s400/04_DCC+OHP+1995.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 194px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<b>Image04: Thumbnails of OHP sheets used for the DCC course lectures in the late 80’s and early 90’s before the course was changed significantly in 1998.</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Yes, to cut a long story short, the course dealing with design theory and design thinking has been evolving at NID for many many years from the original “Design Methods” that was first taught in its imported and refined form by Prof Kumar Vyas from the late 60’s and the early 70's for Product Design and then in the Foundation Programme and he was later assisted by Prof S Balaram and assisted by the young Dhimant Panchal. A variation in its title took place when the teachers of this course at NID started looking at processes within design in the 80's and it was then re-christened and called “Design Process”. A version of the course offered to Product Design students at the AEP Level was called “Product Design Process” and each discipline at NID had their own version of design theory being offered under different titles. In the mid 70's Prof Mohan Bhandari took over the Foundation programme after his stint of study and work experience in Germany with Professor Herbert Lindinger, a former faculty of the HfG Ulm, and he brought in the Environmental focus to the whole Foundation Programme but this course was still called "Design Process" and that was the case when I took over this course after his departure from NID in the late 80's.</span><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander" target="_blank">Christopher Alexander’s</a> papers and in particular his descriptive pages from his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_Synthesis_of_Form" target="_blank">“Notes of the Synthesis of Form”</a> were available at NID as cyclostyled papers, in a number of copies that were freely available on campus, which I had seen and I even had a personal copy way back in 1969 when I joined the Institute as a student in the first Post Graduate Programme in Furniture Design. These may have been here of many years before Prof Vyas’s course offerings and Alexander did visit India in the early 60’s as part of his research efforts for his first book that looked at an Indian Village as a source of inspiration for his theory about human settlements and design. It was only much later that I could understand the significance of Alexanders research since the Indian village held lessons of human evolution in an almost uninterupted manner in the Indo-Gangetic plains, a continuous evolution of over 5000 years that may not be found anywhere else on the planet. The cyclostyled papers could have been an early draft of his book which someone may have collected and shared with all of us in NID, I hope we get to know this background in some detail when the research about NID is conducted in some depth. There is however an official history of NID in the making and the deadline for its release has come and gone but there is still no sign of the book which has been a closely guarded secret even from members of the NID faculty who are not part of the inner circle of researchers on that project. The book - 50 Years of NID History – was "released" at the NID Convocation <span style="background-color: white;">ceremony</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">in December 2011 by the the then Chairman of the institute's Governiong Council, Salman Haider, as part of the Golden Jubilee launch but I am told that this was a dummy copy and a symbolic launch – very sly and a slight of hand; just to keep up promises made earlier - very disappointing indeed. I hope the book sees the light of day and we get to see it sometime soon.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1feTeh-I/AAAAAAAACQ0/P3Se7TQzer0/s1600-h/05_Evolution+of+DCC_1995.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360186796327995362" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1feTeh-I/AAAAAAAACQ0/P3Se7TQzer0/s400/05_Evolution+of+DCC_1995.jpg" style="display: block; height: 261px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><b style="background-color: white; color: red; text-align: left;">Image05: Chart showing the evolution of the Design Methods and Design Process course in the 60’s and 70’s leading up to the formation of the Design Concepts and Concerns course in the 90’s.</b></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">In the mid 90's we changed the name of the course and called it “Design Concepts and Concerns” to bring focus to the broader issues that underpinned design action and learning. Some of us realised that ethical and value concerns and motivation with personal commitment are just as important as the tools and processes that designers use to address complex issues and derive suitable design offerings that could be the foundation for responsible design. This is a very brief statement on a long and involved process of course evolution at NID and that paper is still to be written. Many teachers worked with me from 1988 onwards. First it was Jatin Bhatt and Sangita Shroff who then went on to join NIFT. We then had Rashmi Korjan for a long time and Suchitra Sheth and Laxmi Murthy for a brief interlude. Since 1998 many teachers audited or assisted in the conduct of the course either partly or with full involvement and these include Alaxender Bosniak who now teaches in Germany, Dimple Soni, Meena Kadri, Bhavin Kotari, Harini Chandrasekhar, Bani Singh who teaches at NIFT Bangalore and many more that I will have to recall a long list of former students and faculty colleagues if the list is to be completed. Others on the faculty included Praveen Nahar, Ramakrishna Rao and Gayatri Menon in later years. In Bangalore, C S Susanth and Jignesh Khakhar, joined the course last year and we also had a senior student helping us in 2008 from the SDM discipline, Anand Saboo and so on. Many other senior students used to come in and hang out while the lectures and presentations were in progress and there was a rich discussion both inside as well as outside the course on the subjects being explored within the course each year since we had big themes and macro-economic concerns that were addressed, debated, brainstormed, modeled and mapped by each batch and each class producing a rich crop of design opportunities that were represented as visual scenarios that stayed in the mind for a very long time as a vision that cannot be shed easily, once it is found. Design thoughts and insights are not easy to forget if they are appropriately visualised.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1WaTPuwI/AAAAAAAACQs/9BzLFBl1xOE/s1600-h/06_Evolution+of+DCC_1995_Abstract.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360186640634460930" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SmM1WaTPuwI/AAAAAAAACQs/9BzLFBl1xOE/s400/06_Evolution+of+DCC_1995_Abstract.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 261px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<b>Image06: Table showing the course structure and contents in 1995 when I had used this image to share the development of the Design Concepts and Concerns course in a presentation to the NID Faculty Forum as part of a course critique at NID in those days.</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I purchased a SONY digital camera in 1998, my first really expensive buy, and the first one freely available at the institute and I used it to record all our classes in great detail. I have shared detailed digital pictures of the student assignments done during the course from 1998 onwards and developed the use of digital images as a source of extended memory for the students to revisit their experiences during the course. These images were shared with all students in individual CD-ROMs, one for each student to take away and when the NID server was set up these images were made available to the whole institute without any editing. Besides this sharing of images, there are many xerox documents in the NID Library of selected student notes and project documents from the earlier phase (from 1988 to 1998) that may need to be revisited. In that early phase we did project based assignments that were assigned to individual students and this was after a phase of lectures and group assignments about design concepts and methods and these projects were done by individual students and that called for individual guides which we fondly called the OPD (out patient department) and here we had Pradyumna Vyas, Vinod Parmar, S M Shah, P M Choksi, S Balaram and several others as project guides for the foundation students as part of the Design process course from 1988 to about 1998 when I dropped the individual project since it was becoming a ritual and not really contributing to any form of deep understanding in the student. The teachers who were guiding the students did not really contribute to a better understanding of the design thinking dimensions but were instead, I realised, focussed on getting the students to deliver great solutions rather than them learning about the nature of design itself as the core activity and the aim of the project. From here on the course became more team oriented rather than individual focused and group processes and group grades became the norm much to the dismay of the Academic Administration, since I refused to give individual grades.</span><br />
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Shown above in Image04 are picture of an OHP sheet that I had used in 1995 to describe the design process and this is available for download as a pdf that gives the shift in content and assignments as it stood in that year which can be downloaded from here – <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O764FtSj_atAF-UzXsH0qSG5qHGQJTEX/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Download OHP Sheets used in 1995 as pdf file</a> - these are based on hand drawn OHP sheets that were used from 1988 onwards. On 15 August 2007 I had made a post on my other blog “Design for India” about this course and we have another description of the course and its intentions and effects at the link below: <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2007/08/design-concepts-concerns-blog.html" target="_blank">Design for India – Post on the DCC course.</a><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhfR-BfdVOQ/UA6yAH3qtrI/AAAAAAAADkE/K16IEuoQp6I/s1600/DCC+2010_Pages+from+Strategies+for+an+Innnovative+India_Lr_ss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhfR-BfdVOQ/UA6yAH3qtrI/AAAAAAAADkE/K16IEuoQp6I/s320/DCC+2010_Pages+from+Strategies+for+an+Innnovative+India_Lr_ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Image07: Foundation students of the 2009 batch at NID created these models during the DCC course that showed us how India could get new design education strategies that could address the needs and aspirations of the various regions of the country. Six groups developed concepts and of these three are shown above. My last </b><b style="background-color: white;">foundation </b><b style="background-color: white;">batch </b><b style="background-color: white;">at NID....</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">By 2002 the course was accepted for both the under-graduate foundation programme as a core offering as well as for all Post Graduate courses offered at the Institute. We started offering this course at NID Gandhinagar campus for the new disciplines of New Media, User Interface Design as well as for the Strategic Design Management students there. When the NID Bangalore campus was set up for three new disciplines this course was offered there as well and these are documented at each offering on the </span><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">DCC Blog for those who may be interested</a><span style="background-color: white;"> in the details of what were the themes and the work done by the student teams – all documented in some detail there. I offered this course at NID till November 2010 when I retired from being a faculty at the NID. Last year the course was offered to all batches of students at NID in much the same way that it was designed and developed over the years. However this year I am told that the curriculum review process has decided to drop the course and to adopt the older name of design methods so that the teachers at NID could focus on teaching tools and techniques of design research and not get confused by the macro issues that have been the hallmark of this course since it was revised in the late 90's. The argument, I am told, is that foundation students may not be mature enough to address the complexities of the real world at the early stage in their education that and these would be better reserved for a later stage in their education at NID. Is NID education reverting to the design paradigm of the 80's? Only time will tell!!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">When the Government of India announced the setting up of four new NID's in different regions of India it set alarm bells ringing amongst a group of NID alumni who expressed deep concern on the social networks and discussion forums in India. Almost organically a group came into existence and it was called the "Vision First" initiative. It so happened that all members of this group were NID alumni and they took up issues with Government and called for a national debate and discourse on whether the same model of the old NID at Paldi would be followed for all these schools or should we have a fresh think about where design is heading and this debate is documented in some detail at the blog set up by the group here –<a href="http://visionpehle.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Vision First – a call for new design initiatives for India</a> by a group of very concerned design professionals and academics from India. I do hope that both NID as well as the Government of India will listen to the voices from these design activists who have had varied experiences in design for development right here in India. Design Thinking and its application is indeed gaining greater acceptance in India as well as overseas. Management schools and research agencies are beginning to use design thinking to address complex problems and to search for solutions to products, services and systems that make up our lives. Governments too are looking towards design and we will need to build capacity to respond to these kinds of opportunities besides the traditional capability of giving aesthetic form to products of industry and to create marketing messages for commercial ventures in the form of advertising and business communications. I have written about these areas and more needs to be articulated here. Some of my previous posts are listed here for easy access in the context of why the DCC course is important to nurture and take forward as it has been evolving at NID over the years.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">2012 July - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2012/07/design-thinking-design-journey-revisited.html" target="_blank">Design Thinking & Design Journey Revisited</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2011 August - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-for-good-governance-call-for.html" target="_blank">Design for Good Governance</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 November - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2009/11/design-thinking-flavor-of-month.html" target="_blank">Design Thinking: The Flavor of the Month</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2008 January - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2008/01/systems-design-nid-way.html" target="_blank">Systems Design: The NID Way</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2007 December - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2007/12/design-as-research-path-to-knowledge.html" target="_blank">Design as Research: The Path to Knowledge Creation</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2007 October - <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2007/10/design-thinking-what-is-it-and-how-do.html" target="_blank">Design Thinking: What is it?</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Besides these posts from my Design for India blog here below I have linked several posts on the <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Design Concepts and Concerns blog</a> that deal with the theory associated with this course.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">2010 March - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2010/03/business-models-for-designers-2010.html" target="_blank">Business Models for Designers: Learning from the Field</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 December - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/12/dcc-2010-foundation-batch-2009-10.html" target="_blank">DCC 2010 - Foundation Batch 2009-10</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 March - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/03/scenario-visualisation-indian-village.html" target="_blank">Scenario Visualisation: Indian Village as Visual Panorama in DCC2009</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 March - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/03/scenario-presentation-learning-about.html" target="_blank">Scenario Presentation: Learning about Composite Images in DCC</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 March - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/03/scenario-visualisation-assignment-on.html" target="_blank">Scenario Visualisation: Assignment on Composite Images and Mental Maps</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2009 February - <a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2009/02/business-models-learning-from-field.html" target="_blank">Business Models: Learning from the Field</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The world of design and design education is moving inthe direction that we had anticipated in the DCC course at NID and we now see evidence of this is the new publications that are emerging from the West. I will draw attention here to one particular recent book that is available online with a good and interesting business model that makes it very accessible for our design students in India due to its attractive pricing policy for the digital version. The book that I refer to is <a href="https://www.wickedproblems.com/" target="_blank">"Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving " by Jon Kolko, Austin Centre for Design, 2012</a> and it is a recent example of the emerging expanded approach to design thinking that is being explored and shared.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Returning to the idea of the "Avalanche Effect" and the claims that I have been making over the years in my papers and presentations about this course needs to be revisited and validated. I took over from Mohan Bhandari in 1988 and I remember that Kiran Bir Sethi was in my early class and her document of the course and her design project are preserved in the NID library as a xerox document that I had placed there for posterity along with others over the years. Her "Design Process" project was on Design Education and there is no surprise for me that she is today running a school in Ahmedabad called </span><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.schoolriverside.com/" target="_blank">Riverside School</a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> that uses design thinking as a core for delivering the school curriculum and she is also the author of the world's biggest design education effort, </span><a href="http://www.designforchangecontest.com/" target="_blank">Design for Change Project</a><span style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, with millions of children being introduced to design thinking at the school level. I call this phenomenon the "Avalanche Effect" and I see this happening all the time in design schools that encourage its students to think big and connect with the real world and address real problems and opportunities in the real world.</span></span><br />
<a href="http://design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Prof M P Ranjan</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-46426850123964987292012-07-20T15:33:00.001+05:302012-07-23T13:27:09.088+05:30Design Thinking: The Design Journey Revisited<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Design Journey model was sketched out 2007 based on a conversation with one of
my former students, Sumiran Pandya who came into my office at NID to seek some
clarifications on the complexities of design thought and action. Sitting face
to face with him, I had a blank sheet of A4 size paper in front of me and as I
spoke I doodled the map and filled in terms and stars as we progressed with the
discussion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The
design journey is explained through a metaphor of a “Stone in the Pond” when
the initial intention is without much depth or definition but with a sense of
what we would like to achieve, a direction, just like the first contact of the
stone in the pond and then the ripples move out in ever growing circles till
they reach the edges of the pond to return as waves that would also capture the
contours of the lake as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In
this model the journey is represented by two sets of co-located and forward
moving lines, one red and the other black. The red line represents the state on
mind and mental processes while the black line the state of the body as well as
bodily sensations that closely coexist as we continue our journey of search,
experiment, seeking and discovery as well as small and major insights that
occur as we tend to engage with different aspects of the domain that is being
examined and explored. These insights are represented in the stars that are
marked on both the red as well as the black line since some insights are mental
constructs while others may be bodily sensations that can have a tacit existence
but may not be articulated in thoughts and in language easily. This journey is
represented by the meandering paths in red and black shown in the middle of the
page as emanating from the centre of the pond ripple. This is a sort of plan or
aerial view of the journey or a map of the terrain that has been traversed as
the design explorations progress.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just
below that representation is another path that represents the emotional status
of the designer or design team, which is represented as a horizontal line
moving in sync with the mind-body journey path in real time. This view is like
an elevation view from an orthographic diagram and each point on this line
would correspond to a particular point on the mind-body line represented above.
The emotional journey also meanders up and down with hopes rising and some
times soaring with the arrival of new insights or breakthroughs and at other
times dropping down to a pit of frustration and utter dejection at times that
could even lead to the project being abandoned for some time or altogether if
there are no mentors present who could hand-hold and help the designer move
forward and find future satisfaction or success. In some cases there could be a
long gap between one stage and the next and many such breaks before final
success is achieved, if at all. There are no guarantees in this activity and
the designer needs to develop an attitude that can cope with ambiguity as well
as cope with a lot of failure before a major breakthrough is achieved.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Design
thinking is for me a form of embodied thinking when many particular thoughts
are connected to some sense data that is carried in the body as a perception or
even an unarticulated feeling that hovers over the body whenever that
particular thought is accessed. This tells me that perception and imagination
are intricately connected and they move forward in sync as we explore and
develop design opportunities in search of viable design solutions and concepts.
The process by which these design opportunities are developed would happen in
the mind and body space, with real world explorations supported and enhanced by
imaginations that I call inplorations for want of a better word. Inplorations
have both mind and body characteristics since each held image would have both
an imagined form as well as a felt feel. The softness of feathers and the
hardness of stone are carried from our real world experiences to our imagined
construct and these can be processed just as they can be experimentally
explored in the real world. These explorations – inploration loops develop as
design actions and these leave behind a huge body of intermediate products and
by-products that are a result of both exploration and inploration alike.
Concepts as well as discarded ideas are strewn along the design journey and
very few designers pay heed to these by-products and rarely are these
documented in the rust to find the final solution. For me these intermediate
stages and its by-products such as doodles, sketches, mock-up models and draft
prototypes all have great value in my research for understanding the design
process in all its complexity. Similarly many imaginary by-products and
sensations are carried in the mind for long periods of time before these are
finally achieved in the real world constructs and the delivered products and
services that the designers approves. These imaginary by-products also play a
role in conceptual blends that will see several of these imaginary constructs
being combined and modified before a few of these imagined alternatives are
tested in real material at a huge cost of time and effort. The mental
constructs take fractions of seconds to synthesize but their material
counterparts may take years to accomplish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This
diagram tells me something about the nature of design opportunities, which
explains why it is so difficult to explain your concept to a colleague or to a
client since part of the attributes are lying in this imagined space and cannot
be felt or seen by the viewer. This is an experiential part and in some cases
future projections of scenarios of the idea that can be seen vividly in our
minds eye quite clearly but are nor apparent to the viewer even if they are
explained in great depth, the imagination that may be generated in such a
dialogue with the viewer is that of the viewer and not of the designer, there
is a mismatch. Design is not about the general principle but about the
particular manifestation, which generates value, great value, and in most cases
true value resides in the ultimate particular and not in the general concept at
all. This is my grandfather’s chair and not just any old chair!! Very valuable,
for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The
insights that are garnered and assimilated in the conscious mind are shown as
star points on the design journey map. These are harvested from all our
experiences and gathered together as a string of such insight stars along the
way and as they accumulate above in the mind and in our guts as favored thought
sensations and feelings and these familiar ones contribute to the forming of
deep convictions that are finally represented as a big star from which
decisions are empowered and supported. Design thinking also goes through many
styles of thought or modes of thought and each is used typically at a different
stage in the design journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These
modes of thought are quite distinct and each has their own mind set and
associated attitude. These are described in some detail in my paper titled
“Design Journey: Styles and modes of thought and action in design” and on my
blog at this link here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xb9go183ez8je9/Design%20Journey_Think_Report.pdf">Download pdf of the Design Journey Report here</a></div>
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<a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.in/2007/10/design-thinking-what-is-it-and-how-do.html">Previous post on Design Journey</a></div>
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This
process moves from intentional thoughts through categorical, explorative and
analytic modes to arrive at abductive, synthetic and reflective modes at
different stages of the design journey and some modes are returned to as we
move forward in iterative steps along the journey and revisit and verify
earlier concepts and refine and elaborate some of these as we go forward in our
search for a suitable fit to the problem or opportunity at hand or should I say
in the mind of the designer. This also brings up for me the role of the
designer and his responsibility in the whole process since only he can see
parts of the scenario and some scenarios are so problematic it may be possible
that these are held in abeyance as a result of their potential consequences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In
any case the designer has no control of the concept once it arrives in the real
world as a prototype or even as a sketch manifestation since these are
available for others to act upon and that is what makes design process a
reflexive journey since others immediately respond and act on their own
capacity in the face of a new design offering that may challenge their comfort
or their position of strength in a competitive business environment. The
response is usually immediate and in some cases even pre-emptive and the design
offering fails to muster support since it is doomed by the consequences of the
marketplace. There is no guarantee for success and even if a product or service
is launched the success may only be seen in the market and not be tested in any
lab or closed loop jury of peers and experts as all of them could be found
lacking in foresight and prediction of what the market would actually support. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The
last part of the diagram shows us that once the design offering is out of the
designers grasp it enters into an orbit of its own that is determined by market
forces and the real world complexities of social and political forces as well
as economics, biases and taboos so that we cannot predict the outcomes and it
could be a rearing success or an unmitigated disaster, as in global warming
that is a consequence of many of our very thoughtful and so called successful
design actions of the past. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajj5jFKCGbM/UAkrV7DtM7I/AAAAAAAADj4/4bJQwEJUC44/s1600/Mind+Body+Map_Strategies+for+an+Innnovative+India_Lr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajj5jFKCGbM/UAkrV7DtM7I/AAAAAAAADj4/4bJQwEJUC44/s320/Mind+Body+Map_Strategies+for+an+Innnovative+India_Lr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is why such sensibilities are critical for a
designer to hold and cherish and his ability to weigh these variables and
concerns may be the answer for warding off future disasters. The designers
thought processes are not unhindered nor are they uninhibited by his taboos and
biases, we are after all human. This is what I tried to depict in the model of
the mind-body map that I had developed to explain the process of innovation and
design in exploring future possibilities and in addressing known and deeply
held beliefs that may need to be processed before we are able to make a
break-through that would show new and improved way of acting on our world and
to try and improve what and how we do things in our world in the days ahead.
Once we are aware of ourselves and our taboos we may be able to see “What if”
and “What may be” which are fundamental to making new combinations that can be
offered as possible opportunities on the design journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This
model of Mind-Body map shows me that the resource maps that we are able to
generate are inclusive only when we are able to transcend our taboos and
discover resources that may otherwise be invisible to us when seen through the
filters of our biases and socio-cultural taboos. Similarly imagined
opportunities get processed through the design journey to bring back reformed
design offerings that are synthesized and developed in such a way that they
vibe with the context and add value to the social, geographic and historical
situation that is being addressed. Value emerges when the combination of
possibilities are fine tuned to the ultimate particular offering where the
variables are in fine balance and there is a display of great value and an
unfolding of value that is not measured in small quantities but in huge steps
and in some cases quite disproportionate to the inputs that have been deployed.
Cost has no relation to price and material has no relation to value, if the
experience is wonderful that user is charmed and the offering is of immense value.
It is My Grandfather’s chair!! Therefore it is not necessary for a great design
to be a novelty for it to generate value but its particular manifestation may
have the ingredients of immense value and part of that value comes from the
viewer and not necessarily from the object or service that is being offered,
the context matters just as much.<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
In this model I divide the mind space or canvas into three distinct zones, the Experential space, the Taboo space and the Propositional space. The Experintial space has all the collection of past experiences and memories including sensations that are linked to particular memories as an embodied memory and these are very critical for design thinking. These could include surface qualities experienced by touch, taste or smell when a material is handled or strength that is experienced in our guts when we bend a piece of material in the hands while examining its suitability for a particular application while the design task progresses. Designers touch materials all the time and file away insights about many of its qualities and these come memories flooding back when called upon to make a decision about making new choices while the design thought is in progress. The Propositional space is where we file away tentative models and diagrams of patterns that could resolve or partly develop design ideas and these are works in progress and can have many internal ideas generated through the <span style="background-color: white;">proces of "inploration" that I have mentioned above. Conceptual blending is used to create many layers of alternatives and existing concepts and combined with new ones to make an array of alternatives from which informed choices are made. The Taboo space is also important and this is the blind spot of the designer and it influences the resource may since the taboos that the designer carries from childhood or from social and cultural practices may or may not permit them from even seeing available options since they may be a taboo subject in their culture or in their personal experience. Fear, beliefs and dogma all play a role and to overcome these is a huge effort especially if orthodox practices have been deeply ingrained in the designers mind. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The 'flying magic carpet' in the model can be seen as that of the mind being compared to an infinite canvas or supple fabric with each star or dot representing one or a collection of memories in chunks that can be brought together as Shibori or Bhandani workers bring together knots in their fabric to dye a particular colour in the process of pattern making on cloth using the tie-dye process of patterning. While the tye-dye process take time to tie and form patterns the mind takes no time at all, or almost no time and at a heightened state of creative excitement we can do millions of such comparisons in a very brief period of time. Yes, motivation is important and the spirit must contribute to experience and skill. Responsible design is another factor that plays an important role in value formation but that may be the subject of another post. The body and mind are intricately connected and these provide us the embodied experiences that are critical for efective design thought and action.</span><br />
<br />
Design Innovation of India presentation can be downloaded <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ik3ogeuqmec2swv/Strategies%20for%20an%20Innnovative%20India_Lr.pdf" target="_blank">from this link here as a PDF file 2.7 MB</a></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-66277651587009663152012-03-26T21:09:00.016+05:302012-07-03T11:59:04.696+05:30Lessons from NID History: A Lecture at RanikhetI am posting on the blog after a long period of absence and introspection. I was invited by the Torrent Group in Ahmedabad to make a presentation on organisational sustainability based on my reading of major events and key highlights from the NID history of the past 50 years at a conclave for their senior managers at Ranikhet. The text below is the thumbnail outline for my lecture and it sums up my readings from the events that I have listed. The visual presentation titled "Lessons from NID History: Reflections on Institution Building for India" can be downloaded from this link below:<br /><br />Download visual presentation as 12 mb pdf file <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1wuoirb81x3qvo/Lessons%20from%20NID%20History_Flame_ss.pdf" target="_blank">Lessons from NID History: Reflections on Institution Building for India</a><br />Download text of the summary as 80 kb pdf file <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3fwd3h6tfdbrz0/Timeline%20%26%20Lessons%20from%20NID%20History.pdf" target="_blank">Timeline & Lessons from NID History: Key Highlights and Insights</a><br />Download Full Text of Lecture at Ranikhet as a 120 kb pdf file <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/xp5ewce3i5a3nqv/Lessons%20from%20NID%20History_Torrent_Full%20Text.pdf" target="_blank">Full Text_Lessons from NID History</a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3FWKHPQokF8/T3Nkt6Z5twI/AAAAAAAADNI/qO4UQflmzh4/s1600/01_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.42.36%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3FWKHPQokF8/T3Nkt6Z5twI/AAAAAAAADNI/qO4UQflmzh4/s400/01_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.42.36%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725030291252819714" /></a><br /><br /><b>Timeline & Lessons from NID History: Key Highlights and Insights </b><br /><br /><b>M P Ranjan</b><br />Design Thinker and <br />Author of blog – www.DesignForIndia.com<br /><br /><b>Chairman of The Governing Councils at NID</b><br />1. Gautam Sarabhai - Oct 1961 to Feb 1974<br />2. Pupul Jayakar – March 1974 to June 1978<br />3. B G Verghese – July 1978 to June 1981<br />4. Shrenik K Lalbhai – July 1981 to June 1984<br />5. Prof. Yash Pal – July 1984 to June 1990<br />6. H Y Sharada Prasad – July 1991 to July 1994<br />7. Hasmukh Shah – August 1994 to June 2005<br />8. Ajai Dua (IAS) – January 2006 to February 2007<br />9. Salman Haider – March 2007 to January 2012<br />10. Anand Mahindra – January 2012 to date<br /><br /><b>The Inception: 1955 to 1961</b><br />* MOMA exhibit for SSI travels to India<br />* Pupul Jayakar meets Charles Eames<br />* Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru invites Charles and Ray Eames<br />* The India Report by the Eameses<br />* Ford Foundation and Rockfeller Foundation support<br />* Memorandum of Association<br />* Society Registration<br />* Establishment of NID<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G_bTNc5tphU/T3NkV7NI2SI/AAAAAAAADM8/peMHqD5QwQc/s1600/02_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.42.54%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G_bTNc5tphU/T3NkV7NI2SI/AAAAAAAADM8/peMHqD5QwQc/s400/02_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.42.54%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725029879150860578" /></a><br /><br /><b>The Formative Years: 1961 to 1970</b><br />* Gautam Sarabhai and Gira Sarabhai as leaders<br />* Established at Sanskar Kendra<br />* Management structure: Governing Council and Internal Management/ Executive Board<br />* Early Faculty: Dashrath Patel / H Kumar Vyas / P B Bhagawat / R K Bannerjee / W M Date<br />* Establishment of Post Graduate Programmes: Graphic Design / Product Design / Textile Design / Furniture Design and Ceramic Design / Animation / Film Making / Photography / Typography<br />* Establishment of Library and Workshops with Ford Foundation funds<br />* Visiting Faculty: Eminent Designers with Ford Foundation funding<br />* Ford Foundation Project Funding and first round of Faculty Development and international training<br />* Publishing of NID Documentation 1964 to 1969<br />* Learning by Doing – as slogan for project based learning<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BhZHTJbQb8E/T3NkFqHvSmI/AAAAAAAADMw/g-2yNzHY1eg/s1600/03_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.43.27%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BhZHTJbQb8E/T3NkFqHvSmI/AAAAAAAADMw/g-2yNzHY1eg/s400/03_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.43.27%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725029599686904418" /></a><br /><br /><b>The Crisis Years: 1970 to 1980</b><br />* Induction of first Executive Director: Vice Admiral Soman<br />* Falling out with Chairman Governing Council and trial by media.<br />* Launching of Undergraduate Programme – SLPEP<br />* Establishment of internal student consultative processes – Consultative Forum and Discipline Meetings<br />* Structure Culture Document<br />* Internal Management & Executive Board with Prof H Kumar Vyas as Acting Director<br />* Departure of Gautam and Gira Sarabhai<br />* Pupul Jayakar as second Chairman of Governing Council<br />* Wanchoo Committee Report<br />* Thappar Committee Report<br />* Induction of Ashoke Chatterjee as second Executive Director<br />* New Evaluation Systems for NID Faculty and Staff<br />* Labour unrest of workshop staff<br />* Floods of 1973 – Inundation of entire ground floor facilities<br />* Commencement of Institutional Building processes<br />* Design of Systems for internal management<br />* Rotating responsibilities for Faculty and departments<br />* Creation of Faculty Forum and internal processes of consultation<br />* IIMA Faculty as management consultants – Pulin Garg and others in Admissions and evaluation systems<br />* Ravi J Matthai as advisor to Executive Director and Governing Council<br />* UNIDO-ICSID conference on Design for Development – New Ideological perspectives for Design education to look at neglected sectors and new areas of application.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-erGFvGo-A8Q/T4hcWBLD8mI/AAAAAAAADUY/UUuSw5IUCWk/s1600/07_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-13%2Bat%2B10.39.37%2BPM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 203px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-erGFvGo-A8Q/T4hcWBLD8mI/AAAAAAAADUY/UUuSw5IUCWk/s400/07_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-13%2Bat%2B10.39.37%2BPM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730932059170665058" /></a><br /><br /><b>The Culture Building Years: 1980 to 1990</b><br />* Systems building in education and formulation of teaching curriculum and syllabus<br />* Testing of educational processes that were unique to India and elsewhere<br />* No examiniation system of evaluation jury and qualitative assessment of students<br />* Professional Projects taken to classrooms and students work on live projects in the field<br />* Research projects in textiles and industrial design<br />* Social Communication projects in Communication Design<br />* Environmental Design projects for Tourism and Conservation of heritage<br />* Village studies through Special Projects and Extension Training in Crafts<br />* Focus on Quality and Delivery of results as new models for development<br />* Faculty Forum and Open Forum as a platform for planning and collective action<br />* International acclaim for development focus – ICSID Phillips Award<br />* International acclaim for Design Education – Sir Misha Black Award<br />* UNDP Project Funding and second round of Faculty Development and international training<br />* Induction of Vinay Jha as 3rd Executive Director: 1985 to 1989<br />* Ashoke Chatterjee as Faculty Emeritus and Advisor<br />* Decentralising of Administrative processes<br />* Liberalisation of Faculty engagement and work ethic<br />* Project focus and Institution building strengthened by decentralisation<br />* Outreach Programmes set up with Cells in Bangalore, Madras, Delhi and Calcutta<br /><br /><b>The Consolidation Years: 1989 to 2000</b><br />* Induction of Vikas Satwalekar as 4th Executive Director<br />* Consolidation of Education programmes and documentation of outcomes<br />* Young Designers Publications launched and sustained<br />* Diploma Projects of students as a barometer of connect with the National economy<br />* Major Professional Projects continue<br />* Publications Programmes established<br />* Outreach Programmes consolidated<br />* Consulting activities strengthened<br />* Major consolidation in education processes and quality focus<br />* New Curricullum developed and introduced at UG and PG levels<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JNL-27SUSk/T3NjxKR22mI/AAAAAAAADMk/dYol76u3uO8/s1600/04_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.43.54%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JNL-27SUSk/T3NjxKR22mI/AAAAAAAADMk/dYol76u3uO8/s400/04_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.43.54%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725029247542024802" /></a><br /><br /><b>The Rapid Expansion Years 2000 to 2008</b><br />* Dr D O Koshy inducted as 5th Executive Director<br />* Numerous new initiatives launched on a daily basis<br />* New Centres set up in Bangalore and Gandhinagar<br />* New Disciplines launched at Paldi, Gandhinagar and Bangalore campuses<br />* Design projects outsourced and rapidly scaled up<br />* Disconnect from education and projects<br />* Educational processes undermined<br />* Pre-Diploma presentation abandoned<br />* NID in the news on daily basis<br />* CII-NID Design Summit series launched and sustained from 2001<br />* Many International linkages re-established under the MOU format<br />* Student and Faculty Exchange programmes formalised and expanded<br />* Government Funding for new facilities and campuses enhanced<br />* Quality erosion in education a source of concern internally<br />* NID workshops dismantled to make way for digital facilities<br />* National Design Policy launched<br />* Massive Computer infrastructure established with government funding<br />* Speed, Efficiency and Administrative controls centralised<br />* Research Focus as a new slogan to bring culture change<br />* Faculty induction with slant for PhD holders<br />* Student dissent on Gandhinagar and Bangalore campusses<br />* D O Koshy’s term extended in 2005 but suddenly ended in 2008<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k2kPoIbPN5I/T3Njhola_KI/AAAAAAAADMY/WVXByTYe5Jg/s1600/05_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.44.08%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k2kPoIbPN5I/T3Njhola_KI/AAAAAAAADMY/WVXByTYe5Jg/s400/05_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.44.08%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725028980799241378" /></a><br /><br /><b>The Golden Jubillee Years; 2008 to 2012</b><br />* Akhil Succenna appointed as Acting Director.<br />* Status quo in education and institutional processes<br />* Pradyumna Vyas inducted as 6th Executive Director<br />* Consolidation of Education quality and processes announced<br />* Review of curriculum launched by faculty and alumni teams in each discipline<br />* Publication of NID History as a major project for Golden Jubilee<br />* MSME Project launched with massive funding from Government<br />* Faculty consulting scheme launched after much debate<br />* Institutional projects take a back-seat<br />* India Design Council Launched and new programmes for design promotion announced.<br />* Railway Minister allots Rs 10 Crores for a Railway Design Centre at NID campus in March 2012 budget speech.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCKlvXg6RDQ/T3Ni1S5m3BI/AAAAAAAADMM/mcDbhBJAsBI/s1600/06_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.44.19%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCKlvXg6RDQ/T3Ni1S5m3BI/AAAAAAAADMM/mcDbhBJAsBI/s400/06_Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-29%2Bat%2B12.44.19%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725028219064081426" /></a><br /><br /><b>Insights & Lessons from NID History</b><br /><br /><b>A. Nature of Design</b><br />Complexity and Chaos<br />Systems Thinking<br />Wicked Problems<br />Value of Traditional Wisdom<br />Metaphor of Seed – Needs Nurture<br />Metaphor of Fire – Acts as a System<br />Metaphor of Iceberg – Only a part is visible<br /><br /><b>B. Nature of Education</b><br />Motivation and Ideology<br />Feeling & Sensitivity (Empathy)<br />Tolerance to Ambiguity<br /><br /><b>C. Nature of Organisations</b><br />Resilience to Crisis<br />Flexible to Change<br />Systems for Routine Tasks<br /><br /><b>D. Nature of People</b><br />Leadership can Rally people to perform<br />Systems & Values<br />“Power cannot be delegated, it can only be assumed” Ravi J Matthai.<br /><br /><b>E. Nature of Mission</b><br />Clarity of Goals<br />Structure of Opportunity<br />Mapping of Meaning<br /><br /><b>F. Nature of Knowledge</b><br />Deep Respect for Traditional Wisdom<br />Tolerence for Ambiguity<br /><br /><b>Prof M P Ranjan</b> - <a href=''http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.in/">Design for India</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-90829450817424258662011-08-11T21:54:00.005+05:302012-07-27T09:07:33.988+05:30Design for Good Governance: A Call for Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The result of many national plans since Independence is the grave political and social unrest that is facing us in the form of a very angry citizen near the bottom of the pyramid who for the first time can see the lives of the other affluent sections and the growing middle class played out in full colour in daily broadcasts of the television channels and the open access through the internet in an age of heightened communication. Access to communication brings transparency and raises aspirations for dramatic change. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xRaGcINpu7E/TkQD9WobclI/AAAAAAAAC2Y/hZT6FKKeMfI/s1600/Current%2BFuture_Noida_Good%2BGovernance_Lr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639636985956758098" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xRaGcINpu7E/TkQD9WobclI/AAAAAAAAC2Y/hZT6FKKeMfI/s400/Current%2BFuture_Noida_Good%2BGovernance_Lr.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 283px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Charles & Ray Eames had warned us about this impending impact of such disruptive change through extended communication, a change in kind and not in degree they said, in their 1958 India Report based on which the National Institute of Design was set up in 1961. We have not paid heed to this sanguine advice it seems. They had called for the use of design to address the needs and aspirations of a people in the throes of such change but we have perhaps let slip an advantage by not channeling adequate investments to address their dreams and aspirations in close partnership with the people directly. The communication boom and an era of transparency have ensured that the Indian consumers are no longer willing to accept the mediocre which was often provided locally by the makeshift offerings popularly called “Jugaad”, when better value is now available. For example, in many parts of India the poor have shunned incompetent public education systems to place their child in more expensive private schools and in going the extra mile to avail quality where it is on offer, a new phenomenon for both urban and rural India that is communication enabled.<br />
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No international design solutions are available that are ready and off the shelf to address the pressing problems of the Indian people such as affordable healthcare, rural and urban sanitation, dispersed quality education at the primary and secondary levels, agricultural and rural tools, rural housing and mobility and a host of other design opportunities across 230 sectors of our economy that are in crying need of design attention. These will have to be addressed locally and innovation and design will be the way forward but the infrastructure for action is not in place since the existing institutes are barking up the wrong tree it seems. <br />
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There is a new form of design action that is being innovated ad applied which is not to be confused with the form giving activity of traditional industrial design and usability exercises, although it would include elements from the old form of design thought and action. Here we are proposing that the design action take into account the structure of society along with their macro aspirations, their histories and cultural preferences as a starting point and from here build imaginative approaches for products, services and systems that would include the meta-system, the infrastructure, the hardware, the software and the processware to ensure a perfect fit to the circumstances and requirements of the particular situation. This kind of offering is complex and would need a multitude of knowledge and skill sets to be brought to bear with sensitive social and cultural orientation and with a fine tuned economic and technical feasibility. Design for inclusive development is therefore a multi-disciplinary activity that needs to draw a variety of knowledge and skills in an innovative and future oriented setting that is well informed about the legal and the ethical parameters. <br />
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In this form it becomes a powerful political activity since it is propositional in the manner in which it visualizes and presents several realizable alternatives for the stakeholders from which the process of selection and decision can begin in a climate of optimism and participation. It is a democratic activity at the very heart and gives power to the people who are at the location and to those who would be most impacted by its implementation. This shift in design thinking can be better understood through the model that I have proposed that explains the Three Orders of Design – Form, Structure and System – material & functional, aesthetic & socio-economic, environmental and political – all of which need to be addressed in all cases if we are to be assured of its sustainability and relevance to the local context.<br />
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The opportunities that are available in our society today can keep all of us busy and productive for many years to come. Addressing these can be a challenge for both technology as well as art education and create business opportunities for a host of new services and products that are unique to our situation which I will attempt to illustrate with some case examples and metaphors. Further, I also find the peer review system of the research publications as not so perfect for the dissemination of design insights although it does work wonders for science analysis and knowledge creation but it may be extremely defective for design demonstration since the idea of “design opportunity”, a very specific term – a combination of perception and imagination – excludes the viewer or reader from "seeing" the imagination part of the designers statement and therefore it compels the designer to take the idea far down the visualisation and realization path before it can even dawn on others that the idea is truly credible. This means that we may need to create a platform or even a multitude of platforms for design incubation and development that can be accessible to many across numerous areas of application and these kinds of platforms just do not exist in India today,<br />
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How do we create effective autonomous and decentralized action strategies and how do we roll this out across our country? This will be one of the central questions that can change the current impasse in development approaches dealing with poverty and development in many parts of India. The current conviction that we hold is the use of a macro-micro design strategy which has been developed after years of application. Use of design thinking will be at the heart of our strategy to try and achieve these innovative offerings. One particular form of thinking which is abductive thinking which is used by all those who eventually achieve new and path breaking approaches. This involves looking to the future with a search for potential possibilities and alternatives rather than analyzing past approaches to find mistakes to correct. In my view this kind of thinking (abductive) when combined with the action of visualization and building models that externalize the thought into tangible forms are at the base of the building of conviction and motivation that may be needed by communities of decision makers. <br />
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The lecture will explore models for design thinking and share some useful metaphors to help grasp the complex ideas. This kind of thought is not the sole purview of the designer but the combination of this kind abductive thought with the action of visualization is the root of most break through innovations and inventions. The big question for me is how can we place this in the hands of many disciplines across the university and not let it remain in the realms of art and design centres and a few management institutes. Such action is also political in nature since the future focused act of building possibilities challenges current positions and comfort zones.<br />
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Perhaps the myth of design thinking needs to be propagated so that all disciplines try their hands at this adrenalin creating kind of thinking with action and make it a part of their own method, a sort of sprinkling of the design salts into their own sets of tools.<br />
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Download the visual presentation and abstract of my keynote lecture at the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida delivered last week as a pdf file from this link here.<br />
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/yt6na0sq9tdvy3h/Noida_GoodGovernance_Set.zip" target="-blank"> Design for Good Governance </a> pdf file set of show & full text 5.0 mb</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-85251675820514044112011-01-21T14:40:00.007+05:302012-07-27T09:14:50.802+05:30Inclusive Design: Invitation to Davos<b>Inclusive Design for Development in India</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/">Prof M P Ranjan<br />Design Thinker & Independent Academic, Ahmedabad</a><br /><br />I have been invited to speak at Davos on the 28th January 2011 as part of the India - Future of Change initiative's event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. The <a href="http://www.indiafutureofchange.com/davos.htm">event is a panel discussion moderated by Tim Brown and the focus is on Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for development in India.</a> The India - Future of Change has a huge task ahead of them and the various events planned by the team is covered at their website here. I have prepared a background note that explores the contours of the Inclusive Design agenda and makes a call for drastic change in the design establishment in India so that these changes can start playing a constructive role here in India and some of these could be influenced by the happenings at Davos next week. The full text of my submission is quoted below and it is also carried at the <a href="http://www.indiafutureofchange.com/indiastory_DesignInclusiveDevelopment.htm"target="_blank">India - Future of Change website</a> as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TTlStvANNKI/AAAAAAAACmU/oQuuoSfchPs/s1600/Katlamara_Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-01-21%2Bat%2B11.55.10%2BAM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 154px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TTlStvANNKI/AAAAAAAACmU/oQuuoSfchPs/s400/Katlamara_Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-01-21%2Bat%2B11.55.10%2BAM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564569760257881250" /></a><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image: Thumbnail images of bamboo plantations, product development workshops as well as crafts entrepreneur and farmer cooperations, all part of the macro-micro design strategy that we had called the "Seedlings of Wealth" – has now seeded a <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/8l5env8ehlxzfiu/Katlamara%20Chalo%20Book.pdf"target="_blank">new era of development in Katlamara, Tripura using inclusive design as a way forward.</a> (Download pdf 47 mb) Such prototypes and business models are at the heart of inclusive design agenda for India and we need to adopt it and apply it across the length and breadth of India today.</b></p></blockquote><br /><b>Quote:</b><br />"If we do not work on more prototypes which mainfest in action all our collective understanding regarding our relation to living, work and celebration, then design will indeed not do its bit for India. We talk too much, and do less. Or do in areas or in ways that only talk the same language of legacy thinking. No other nation in the world has the opportunity as we do, since our diversity is the trait which helps us survive, and yet design is working to strip that down to a singular or mono-cultures."<br /><b>Poonam Bir Kasturi, Bangalore</b><br /><b>UnQuote</b><br /><br />In 2009 the design community from India was represented by proxy at Davos since the NID team was involved in the design of five posters on sustainability that were used as a backdrop by a high power committee of CEO's from the consumer products industries. I had reported about these posters in <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2009/02/sustainability-design-at-davos-2009.html"target="_blank">previous blog posts here on Design for India blog.</a> However this year the India Future of Change team has decided to distribute these posters as a booklet at their events in Davos and the work done in 2009 will now be available widely at the mainstreet in Davos. I hope that the policy makes will take heed.<br /><br />Another initiative that we did at NID was the mapping and articulation of the diverse and ubiquitous hand crafts skills all across India which we believe to be the foundation for inclusive action and the seeding of the creative economy of the future for India. The outcome of this research effort was the book titled Handmade in India that maps the existing skills and resources of the crafts sector all located in the vibrant meta-clusters across all regions of India as a living resource that is available for creative reinterpretation using design strategy and action in an inclusive and non-exploitative mode. I have written about the <a href="http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/2008/10/handmade-in-india-in-book-stores-before.html"target="_blank">underlying intentions and strategies at previous posts</a> on this blog here below. This can be realized if we are able to make the investments needed in innovation and design that can use this resource to seed the changes on the ground in an inclusive manner. Digital version of the book <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/j3lnkd6bp0rw95b/Handmade%20in%20India_Book.pdf"target="_blank">Handmade in India can be downloaded from this link</a> here as a pdf file 337 mb size.<br /><br /><b>Design for Inclusive Development</b><br /><br /><b>Prof M P Ranjan</b><br />Design Thinker & Independent Academic<br />Ahmedabad<br /><br />Our economists and planners have got used to the idea of measuring progress by the growth and their metrics include industrial production, agricultural production and the growth of money itself in the system along with the notional value of a host of financial instruments and derivatives that reside in the digital space. Politicians have not been told that there could be other ways to measure progress and if they have the theory of economics is very sparse in this area. Design education and innovation in India too has languished in the shade of scientific and technological investments (S&T). The deep-seated belief in the Planning Commission and the Political establishment, both in Government and in the Opposition, is that huge investments in science and technology combined with private entrepreneurship and the profit motive will somehow solve the problems of inclusive growth that is beleaguering the Indian economy. This is a consensus that has played itself out in the IT & software revolution in the Silicon Valley and more money is placed in the S&T kitty but the problems seem to grow, nevertheless. The huge gap between the haves and the have-nots grow by the day and the promises that are held out by the advocates of innovation investments in S&T behold a hot social and political time bomb waiting to explode in all our faces. The other approach is more direct, that of providing direct subsidies through political appeasement that is resorted to by Central and State Governments using pre-poll promises and politically mediated grants and aid that are dished out to the poverty ridden folks through direct action primarily to nurture a vote bank. Unfortunately, here too the delivery system is so porous and corruption so rampant through our society that it permeates the system all the way through the supply chain, leaving a very unsatisfied public that is simmering at the fringes, both urban and rural, all over the country. Our corporate bodies too are no better at addressing these needs with all the disclosures that are coming out in the media on a daily basis these days.<br /><br />The result of all these plans and actions is the grave political and social unrest that is facing us in the form of a very angry citizen near the bottom of the pyramid who can for the first time see the lives of the other affluent sections and the growing middle class played out in full colour in daily broadcasts of the television channels and the open access through the internet in an age of heightened communication. Charles & Ray Eames had warned us about this impending impact of such disruptive change through extended communication, a change in kind and not in degree they said, in their 1958 India Report and we have not paid heed to this sanguine advice. He had called for the use of design to address the needs and aspirations of a people in the throes of such change but we have perhaps let slip an advantage by not channeling adequate investments to address their dreams and aspirations in close partnership with the people directly. Innovation at the grassroots has become a buzzword in management circles and here the case studies that are celebrated fall into the category of Jugaad (creative make-shift) and not of Design (intentional and sensitive configurations) as we would argue that it should be. Jugaad stands for the creative interpretation of severe limitations and shortages to produce a workable contraption or scheme held together by available opportunity, hope and hard work, always at a fraction of the cost that would otherwise have been available, with most of the action lying in the unregulated space of zero taxation and technical specifications, in many cases illegal. So the celebration is in the extreme cost cutting that has been achieved by the poverty ridden creator and service provider and the rest of us stand in mute respect for the heroic achievement, the response of the poor or a clever service provider to an impossible situation, a sheer act of survival. Unfortunately, Jugaad also fosters a Chalta-hai (make-do) attitude that permeates all our offerings from Government services to low cost infrastructure, products and service solutions that are not sustainable for inclusive development, all lacking in refinement and costly in the long run, creating the platform for a low quality sub-culture far from the rich tapestry of traditional wisdom that are at the very foundation of the Indian society that has somehow survived till date. However is this the only way? Is there another way?<br /><br />The communication boom and an era of transparency have ensured that the Indian consumers are no longer willing to accept the mediocre when better value is available. For example, in many parts of India the poor have shunned incompetent public education systems to place their child in expensive private schools and in going the extra mile to avail quality where it is on offer, a new phenomenon for both urban and rural India that is communication enabled. However, the design establishment in the country has languished in the face of great apathy from both Government and industry during an extended period of a highly regulated and centrally managed economy and the absence of any real competition. Design schools like the National Institute of Design have suffered from an absence of both funding and vision in recent years and the National Design Policy of 2007 too has a very limited mandate which does not include the huge opportunities that exist for local investments in innovation and design for inclusive development. It stops short of harping on slogans and on the export and luxury product industries as their area of focus. Further, on the education front while several new NID’s are proposed to be funded by Government there is an absence of any new vision statement as to their focus and purpose as if the model exemplified by NID Ahmedabad could be used as a clone for the creation of these new centres in four geographical regions of India, a missed opportunity to address the change that is taking place in our country. The India Design Council, another outcome of the National Design Policy is harping on “Good Design” as a quality benchmark which is product of Western Industry and their consumer marketing focus that is least suited to evaluate design solutions for inclusive development that is now needed in India.<br /><br />No international design solutions are available that are ready and off the shelf to address the pressing problems of the Indian people such as affordable healthcare, rural and urban sanitation, dispersed quality education at the primary and secondary levels, agricultural and rural tools, rural housing and mobility and a host of other design opportunities across 230 sectors of our economy that are in crying need of design attention. These will have to be addressed locally and innovation and design will be the way forward but the infrastructure for action is not in place since the existing institutes are barking up the wrong tree it seems. The Eames Report and the National Institute of Design in the early years innovated an unique education programme in design that was addressing these very issues but over the last ten years these advances in design education and research were systematically demolished by literally throwing the baby out with the bathwater in their misguided effort to get university status and in the search for qualification rather than content and relevance. The DIPP, the department in Government that handles the NID budgets and the National Design Policy has proved to be patently incompetent to support the design movement in the country and to move it in directions that it needs to be taken if it to be relevant to the creation of a platform for inclusive development. Perhaps their limited mandate to address the needs of Indian industry has made them myopic to the larger roles that design has to play if it to be relevant to our national agenda. Design is not a mere hand-maiden for industrial development but a much broader strategy that can help transform society and feed into the culture forming processes of a country and a region. The evidence of this incompetence is visible in the poor quality of vision and funding that is provided to the NID when compared to the IITs and IIMs, both of which were set up around the same time in the early 60’s. The National Institutes of Fashion Technology (NIFT) was set up in the late 80’s through the Textile Ministry and they used a special export cess that was accumulated with Government to rapidly fund the establishment and growth of a huge national infrastructure that is now recognised as a university of national importance. Further, NID’s faculty are a poorly remunerated lot when compared to their counterparts in any comparable institute or university in India and this I am sure will ensure that the best will veer away from committing themselves to pressing design education roles that are facing the nation today. Perhaps the correct way out of this messy situation is to move the NID’s to a new ministry that is capable of addressing the multi-facetted roles of design action that are needed in India across all verticals and all ministries. My students once proposed a structure and they called for the creation of the Ministry of Design, perhaps as part of the Prime Ministers Office till it can move to the area of Culture where it could find a niche that is appropriate to address the emerging challenges of quality and relevance to society<br /><br />When I reflect on the various projects done at the NID in the early years from the Electronic Voting Machine to the Jawaja project, through the Chennapatna toy project to numerous textile design projects such as the Dhamadka Block Print project a number of design strategies come to mind. We need to ponder deeply on many of these real world design experiences to cull out lessons that can take us forward to a socially and culturally appropriate application of design action that could bring great value to our population. More recently, our initiatives in Tripura State through the “Katlamara Chalo” project integrates bamboo cultivation with product manufacturing as a means to alleviate rural poverty using local skills, resources and local enthusiasm as the primary resource. We were able to discuss design and develop strategies for the bottom of the pyramid with colleagues at the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, an initiative of the Government of Rajasthan that is now being managed under a public-private partnership and here we built a more generalized sketch model called “Raindrops and Footprints” that explained the process leading to the selection of the village through local intensive research and the building of an understanding of the local context from which a number of design opportunities are identified and modeled before they are taken through a participatory development process which used the local strengths and resources in a sustainable manner. Here design is not just looking at “Good Form” but at the strategies and approaches along the entire supply chain and at each stage value is unfolded. The attempt was to find local solutions suitable for local application using our macro-micro strategy for design action that are informed by serious research and sustained contact with the beneficiaries through hand-holding and educational contact in the field. This integrated strategy has paid off but the investment of time and effort is considerable to prototype and test such a strategy to be rolled out to various locations using available local resources as the platform for sustainable change. For the first time in India we have a rural community using farm based bamboo to drive a local industry towards self reliance and managed growth. Starting with bamboo products and furniture we see the sustained action providing an uninterrupted supply of raw materials and skill sets that can foster the growth of a decentralized, local and self governed economy that could survive and thrive in the emerging era that I call the “Post industrial and Post-mining era”.<br /><br />This is a new form of design action not to be confused with the form giving activity of traditional industrial design, although it would include elements from the old form of design thought and action. Here we are proposing that the design action take into account the structure of society along with their macro aspirations, their histories and cultural preferences as a starting point and from here build imaginative approaches for products, services and systems that would include the meta-system, the infrastructure, the hardware, the software and the processware to ensure a perfect fit to the circumstances and requirements of the particular situation. This kind of offering is complex and would need a multitude of knowledge and skill sets to be brought to bear with sensitive social and cultural orientation and with a fine tuned economic and technical feasibility. Design for inclusive development is therefore a multi-disciplinary activity that needs to draw a variety of knowledge and skills in an innovative and future oriented setting that is well informed about the legal and the ethical parameters. In this form it becomes a powerful political activity since it is propositional in the manner in which it visualizes and realizable alternatives for the stakeholders from which the process of selection and decision can begin. It is a democratic activity at the very heart and gives power to the people who are at the location and to those who would be most impacted by its implementation. This shift in design thinking can be better understood through the model that I have proposed that explains the three orders of design – Form, Structure and System – material & functional, aesthetic & socio-economic, environmental and political – all of which need to be addressed in all cases if we are to be assured of its sustainability and relevance to the local context. Under these terms of reference industry and business must take responsibility for end to end offer of service and not just for the delivery of brands and boxes that contain a “Good Design” product but ensure that they serve the purpose that was promised in the first place.<br /><br />I do believe that design can help here and we may need to make some fundamental changes in our design education approaches and widen the base for action, a shift from a focus on business and industry to the design for public good that is operational at the local community level. These should include the grassroots workers in the design education loop and the content of such education needs to be informed by design insights that are local and rooted in the local reality for which our current crop of textbooks would be found wanting. This will need fresh approaches and enlightened support from the political establishment if these changes are to be forged. I do feel that we need to raise this debate and explore the various roles of design and its potential application that is today ignored by design education and practice alike, including my own school if I may admit here, so that a new sense of commitment is brought into the use of design in areas far outside industry and business. This is one of my mission objectives for setting up the 'Design for India" blog to help create a platform from which I can share my thoughts on the possibilities that I see in my minds eye. I also find the peer review system of the research publications as not so perfect for the dissemination of design insights although it does work wonders for science analysis and knowledge creation but it may be extremely defective for design demonstration since the idea of “design opportunity”, a very specific term – a combination of perception and imagination – excludes the viewer or reader from "seeing" the imagination part of the designers statement and therefore it compels the designer to take the idea far down the visualisation and realization path before it can even dawn on others that the idea is truly credible. This means that we may need to create a platform or even a multitude of platforms for design incubation and development that can be accessible to many across numerous areas of application and these kinds of platforms just do not exist in India today, or if it does, it is dominated by centralized administrative controls that stifle innovation and exploration which is critically needed to make the demonstration. Our policies for faculty research and action need to be liberal and this needs substantial change and autonomy for the ‘Maverick innovator” with good intentions and value systems in place to do their innovative work. Some of us have had to battle hard to achieve even a small degree of autonomy of action and this is not a good climate for addressing these complex problems which surround us here in India in an effective manner. We need new institutions and whole new mind set to address these complex issues at hand.<br /><br />How do we create such autonomous and decentralized action strategies and how do we roll this out across our Universities and Institutes of design action? This will be one of the central questions that can change the current impasse in development approaches dealing with poverty in many parts of India. There are no simple answers but we will need to look deeply at our experiences in the field and build new institutes and strategies that can use the promise of design to find approaches to address these complex needs. The current conviction that we hold is the use of a macro-micro design strategy which has been developed after years of application and we need to do more before we can spread this deep conviction that we hold to others who hold the purse string in our countries where real action is needed today.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/"target="_blank">Prof M P Ranjan<br />Design Thinker & Independent Academic, Ahmedabad</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-7072882122520796752010-12-31T16:52:00.019+05:302011-01-03T17:25:25.344+05:30Film making at NID: A design form or is it art?<blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Alpavirama 2011: NID film festival and conference</b></p></blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br />Alpavirama 2011 is an event that includes a short film competition, a retrospective of select NID films and a seminar on film making and the design space, all conducted under the banner of NID in its 50th year of existence. Prof Arun Gupta a film maker and teacher at NID who coordinates the cinema short film conference and festival at NID asked me to comment on the forthcoming event on my blog so I raise the question – is film making Art or Design? To answer that question you may need to attend the conference and see the offerings from students and professionals who have managed to get their short films included in this forthcoming event at NID, Ahmedabad.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3c5W_sCEI/AAAAAAAACl8/qUlHtE0fqNI/s1600/Chaattalmazha_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010-12-31%2Bat%2B1.05.13%2BPM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3c5W_sCEI/AAAAAAAACl8/qUlHtE0fqNI/s400/Chaattalmazha_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010-12-31%2Bat%2B1.05.13%2BPM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556840393228421186" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b>Image: Stills from “Chaattalmazha” by Ahsam K R, one of the short films that has been shortlisted for screening at Alpavirama 2011 festival and seminar.</b></p></blockquote><br />I have however retired from NID services at the end of last month and will move on to a new role of active engagement with design that matters in India and elsewhere. I have been contemplating a change in my blog posts that can be unfettered by official institutional strictures or censorship and over the past few months I have been travelling from country to country and in these journeys I was fortunate to meet some remarkable design thinkers and activists who could be the subject of some future posts in the new year ahead, a renewed Design for India platform that has now seen over 1,00,000 visitors clocking over 2,50,000 page views from 8000+ cities in its first avatar that started in June 2007. I have been invited to speak at a number of international events in Davos, Milan, Shanghai and Atlanta in the coming year and at events in Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, all exciting and I do look forward to being "retired by NID and from NID" as a Design Thinker and an Independent Academic at large living and working out of Ahmedabad. I had a wonderful farewell party at NID last month and a huge flow of messages on Facebook wishing me well in my retired life, thank you all. Wish you all a very happy and eventful new year ahead.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3dcccyFmI/AAAAAAAACmM/j-SOiYb-78k/s1600/MPR%2BRetirement%2BComp_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010_01x.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 136px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3dcccyFmI/AAAAAAAACmM/j-SOiYb-78k/s400/MPR%2BRetirement%2BComp_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010_01x.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556840995988051554" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3dL4TINjI/AAAAAAAACmE/uwQiPS5MpH0/s1600/MPR%2BRetirement%2BComp_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010_02x.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 137px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TR3dL4TINjI/AAAAAAAACmE/uwQiPS5MpH0/s400/MPR%2BRetirement%2BComp_Screen%2Bshot%2B2010_02x.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556840711405975090" /></a><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image: Stills from the farewell event at NID and the retirement poster from former and current students at NID.</b></p></blockquote><br />Prof Arun Gupta has sent me a detailed mail outlining the festival at NID and the related events that form part of Alpapavirama 2011 from 18 to 20 February 2011. More information will be available at these links below:<br /><b><a href="http://www.nid.edu/alpavirama/index.html">Alpavirama 2011 - South Asian Short & Documantary Film Festival</a></b><br /><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=349167769888#">Alpavirama on Facebook</a></b><br />A little bird tells me that some of our well established graduates from the film, TV and advertising industry such as Sonal Dabral, Anirudh Sen and Shetal Sudhir will be sharing their work in person besides many luminaries from Asia and the world.<br /><br />Prof. Arun Gupta's mail with the details are quoted below:<br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b>I Quote:</b></p></blockquote><br />Introduction<br />In celebrations of cinema short films are generally overlooked, compared to the conventional full length feature films. There is something intrinsically special about short films. Short films are like life itself, with myriad colours and nuances, each transient yet for ever. There are many quirky, intimate, unfinished aspects of human existence which can best be conveyed only in a short film format. Further, since this kind of filmmaking faces less commercial pressures (cheaper to produce, hence financial gain not the only consideration), it is more likely to explore cinematic form and frontlines, allowing marginal and non-mainstream stories to be told.<br /><br />People involved in making short films mostly just stop there; and lot of films thus never reach the audience, their authors neither having the will nor the wherewithal to proceed further. The available exhibition avenues haven’t also caught up with the noticeable increase in the number of short films being made. Further, most such spaces are dominated by older established filmmakers, leaving no platform for the large number of under-30 talents. There is need for a venue and an occasion where these young, enthusiastic and often innovative filmmakers are recognized and celebrated.<br /><br />At the Film & Video Communication department in the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad we have been promoting short filmmaking for over two decades now. Through these years our students and faculty have created numerous short fiction and documentary films, and the artistic quality and social relevance of these films have been recognized the world over. Our alumni occupy important creative positions in the moving image industry, in India and abroad. Thus its time (in the Golden Jubilee year of NID) the Film & Video Communication department of the National Institute of Design plays a more active role in establishing a credible exhibition platform for short films – especially those given life by the under-30.<br /><br />The 21st century is commonly believed to belong to Asia. Within Asia, South Asia plays a very important role. It is at once a point of arrival and departure, a seamless link between the so-called orient and the occident. But the subcontinent’s enormous (and increasingly demonstrated) potential has been needlessly inhibited by fratricidal dissension & strife. South Asian short films are alive to these dilemmas, the filmmakers subtly foregrounding the frustrations, pain and promise of south asian life, in their cine tales, underscoring the basic desire of all human beings for peace and harmony.<br /> <br />COMPETITION -<br />For the Alpavirama 2011 competition section short fiction and documentary films, not-less-than 3 minutes and not-more-than 30 minutes long, will be eligible to participate. The film(s) should have been produced after 1st January, 2009 and should have been directed by a young person (under 30 years, as on 1st January, 2011), who is a citizen of and ordinarily resident in any of the SAARC countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). The subject matter of the film should also broadly deal with South Asia, its people and their lives.<br /><br />Each film selected for the competition will be screened at least once during the festival. The competition Jury would comprise of eminent individuals selected from the fields of cinema, arts, culture and academics, from India/South Asia.<br /> <br />Awards (Golden Commas) will carry a cash component as well as a trophy. All films selected for competition will get a Certificate of Participation.<br /> <br />RETROSPECTIVE -<br />For over twenty years, the students of the department of Film & Video Communication at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad have been making short fiction and documentary films, as part of their regular course structure. Many of these films won national and international recognition in the years they were made, but have subsequently not been seen or heard about. Hence a representative retrospective package of NID Film & Video student films, produced in the last two decades, will be curated and presented in the festival. Alumni whose works feature in the retrospective will be encouraged to be present during the festival, to lead the pre and post-screening dialogue.<br /> <br />SPECIAL PACKAGE -<br />The fast pace of China’s growth in recent years have left several old international hegemonies panting behind. Hong Kong, as China’s emblematic entranceway, is a city undergoing intricate and provocative change, with its medley of communism and capitalism, vertical and horizontal, expatriate and local, Cantonese and Mandarin. It would thus be very interesting to find out how the young Hong Kong filmmakers, living amidst these complex shifts, record & interpret life around them.<br /><br />At Alpavirama 2011 there will be a Special Package of selected contemporary documentary and short fiction films from Hong Kong. Efforts would be made to invite some of the young filmmakers from Hong Kong, whose works feature in the package.<br /> <br />SEMINAR (Creative Seconds? - Ads, Promos and PSAs)<br />Many established filmmakers started their careers making under-a-minute films. This is where they polished their craft and learnt the ropes of the business. Some moved on, to longer duration formats. Some occasionally returned, for quick money or to revisit the aesthetic and communication challenges of the very short film.<br /> <br />NID Film & Video alumni have consistently made a name for themselves in the world of advertising films and television channel promotionals. It’s natural therefore for Alpavirama 2011 to ask the question – are these under-a-minute ads, promos and psa’s as imaginative an activity as a longer duration film – and what are the specific features which make these seconds so special ?<br /> <br />Alpavirama 2011 will have a half-day seminar on this topic, with experts presenting their views and subsequently taking part in a group interface with the audience.<br /> <br />Selected Films for Alpavirama 2011 COMPETITION<br />(1) Avargalluka / Dir: Alfred Prakash (Tamil-LV Prasad Chennai-India) <br />(2) Bedtime Story / Dir: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram (English-FTII Pune-India) <br />(3) Chal Meri Luna / Dir: Hardik Mehta (Hindi-Gujarat-India) (http://vimeo.com/11262381)<br />(4) Dhuruva Natchathiram / Dir: Alfred Prakash (Tamil-LV Prasad Chennai-India) <br />(5) Eidiyaan / Dir: Aman Kaleem & Mohd Irfan Dar (Kashmiri-Jamia Delhi-India) <br />(6) Innocence, Medium: Water Colour / Dir: Al-Haseeb Nomanee (English-Dhaka-Bangladesh) (http://vimeo.com/11313427)<br />(7) Jhat Pat Ghich Pich / Dir: Varun Halder (Hindi-Children's Filmmaking Workshop Delhi-India) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL8vnHAAtHA) <br />(8) Kal / Dir: S Manjunathan (Tamil-LV Prasad Chennai-India) <br />(9) Kalu / Dir: Naveed Anjum (Punjabi-NCA Lahore-Pakistan) <br />(10) Khel Khel Mein / Dir: Radha Kain (Hindi-Children's Filmmaking Workshop Delhi-India) <br />(11) Kusum / Dir: Shumona Banerjee (Bengali,English-SRFTI Kolkata-India) (http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/3899/Kusum---The-Flower-Bud)<br />(12) Mera Ghar / Dir: Abhay Kumar (XIC Mumbai-India) <br />(13) Not Born Heroes / Dir: Vishesh Mankal (Hindi-Marwah Studio Delhi-India) <br />(14) Paci / Dir: J D Imaya Varman (Tamil-Vadalur Tamilnadu-India) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_hwyTXaCGQ)<br />(15) Poka / Dir: Ishanee Sarkar (Bengali-NID Ahmedabad-India) <br />(16) Pushpendra Pandey, Extra / Dir: Ankit Mehrotra (Hindi-TV Direction FTII Pune-India) (http://vimeo.com/10058792)<br />(17) Shyam Raat Seher / Dir: Arunima Sharma (Hindi,English-FTII Pune-India) <br />(18) Sound of Time / Dir: Pema Tshering (Thimphu-Bhutan) <br />(19) Samudra Ke Bare Mein / Dir: Malhar Salil (Hindi-NID Ahmedabad-India) <br />(20) Idhuvam Love Story Dhanga / Dir: G Bharani (Tamil-LV Prasad Chennai-India)<br />(21) Titli Udi / Dir: Payal Kapadia (Hindi-Sophia Polytechnic Mumbai-India) (http://vimeo.com/9151026)<br />(22) Trapped / Dir: Swapnil Ashok Kumawat & Prasad Bhardwaja (Hindi-Pune-India)<br /> <br />Documentary<br />(23) The Boxing Ladies / Dir: Anusha Nandakumar (Hindi-SRFTI Kolkata-India) <br />(24) Burning Paradise / Dir: Nisar Ahmed (Urdu,Pashto-NCA Lahore-Pakistan) <br />(25) Cinema Making Peace? / Dir: Nisar Ahmed (Urdu-NCA Lahore-Pakistan) <br />(26) <a href="http://vimeo.com/11762097">I Woke Up One Morning And Found Myself Famous</a> / Dir: Sumit Purohit (Hindi,English-BFA Baroda-India) (http://vimeo.com/11762097)<br />(27) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEQCm-MexAA">In Search Of My Home</a> / Dir: Sushmit Ghosh & Rintu Thomas (Hindi,Burmese,English-Jamia Delhi-India) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEQCm-MexAA)<br />(28) Missing Vultures / Dir: Muhammad Ali Ijaz (Urdu,Punjabi-NCA Lahore-Pakistan) <br />(29) My Armenian Neighbourhood / Dir: Samimitra Das (English-SRFTI Kolkata-India) <br />(30) <a href="http://vimeo.com/16215242">The End Of Flight</a> / Dir: Tariq Thekaekara (English-Srishti Bangalore-India) (http://vimeo.com/16215242)<br />(31) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7exvXDreU">Sawaal</a> / Dir: Dawood Tareen (Urdu,English-NCA Lahore-Pakistan) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7exvXDreU)<br /> <br />Selected Films for Alpavirama 2011 RETROSPECTIVE<br />01) TOTANAMA (1991 / Fiction / Workshop with students conducted/directed by Chandita Mukherjee) <br />02) RAILWAY CLERK (1993 / Fiction / Student Director: Sherna Dastur / Faculty Guide: Binita Desai) <br />03) I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC (1997 / Documentary / Student Director: Shalini Ghosh / Faculty Guide: Akhil Succena) <br />04) LISTENING TO SHADOWS (1998 / Documentary / Student Director: Kaushik Sarkar / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta) <br />05) STARRING ANJU SRIVASTAVA (2003 / Fiction / Workshop with students conducted/directed by Aniruddha Sen)<br />06) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trvt5HlgbZ8">SAWAN KI GHATA</a> (2005 / Fiction / Student Director: Pryas Gupta / Faculty Guide: SB Saksena) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trvt5HlgbZ8)<br />07) BANNUBHAI SEHNAIWALA (2005 / Documentary / Student Director: Adityan M / Faculty Guide: SB Saksena) <br />08) <a href="http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/3702/One-Show-Less">ONE SHOW LESS</a> (2005 / Documentary / Student Director: Nayantara Kotiyan / Faculty Guide: Milindo Taid) (http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/3702/One-Show-Less)<br />09) IS MODH PAR KUCH NAHI HOTA (2005 / Fiction / Student Director: Hitesh Kewalya / Faculty Guide:Arun Gupta) <br />10) WORDS IN STONE (2005 / Documentary / Student Director: Akhila Krishnan / Faculty Guide: Vinayan Kodoth) <br />11) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN5oMpfvT34">PRAKASH TRAVELLING CINEMA</a> (2006 / Documentary / Student Director: Megha Lakhani / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN5oMpfvT34)<br />12) <a href="http://vimeo.com/2376992">SARAAI</a> (2008 / Documentary / Student Director: Prachi Mokashi / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta) (http://vimeo.com/2376992)<br />13) <a href="http://vimeo.com/11516664">TRAN EKA TRAN</a> (2008 / Documentary / Student Director: Aastha Gohil / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta) (http://vimeo.com/11516664)<br />14) <a href="http://vimeo.com/5505853">PURNA VIRAMA</a> (2008 / Documentary / Student Director: Ujjwal Utkarsh / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta) (http://vimeo.com/5505853)<br />15) <a href="http://vimeo.com/8570638">THE FURNISHED ROOM</a> (2008 / Fiction / Student Director: Priyanka Chabra / Faculty Guide: Amit Dutta) (http://vimeo.com/8570638)<br />16) <a href="http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2007/Chaattalmazha">CHAATTALMAZHA</a> (2009 / Fiction / Student Director: Ahsam KR / Faculty Guide: Arun Gupta )(http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2007/Chaattalmazha)<br /> <br />Alpavirama 2011 SPECIAL PACKAGE from Hong Kong<br />From: Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts<br />(1) Merry X'mas (Dir: Au Man Kit) <br />(2) The Story of Ah Poon (Dir: Tsim Ho Tat) <br />(3) A Day in a Life (Dir: Kwok Zune) <br />(4) The Monk (Dir: Chan Siu Hei) <br />(5) Homecoming (Dir: Kwok Zune) <br />(6) A Ferry Tale (Dir: Kwan Man Hin) <br />(7) Genesis (Dir: Cheung Timothy)<br /> <br />From: City University of Hong Kong<br />(8) This Pair (Dir: Wong Yee Mei)<br />(9) X’Mas Tree (Dir: Sin Tsz Man, Jun)<br /> <br />From: Hong Kong Baptist University<br />(10) Sophia’s Promise (Dir: Zhang Duanyang)<br /> <br />Arun Gupta<br />Senior Faculty, Film & Video<br />Festival Director, Alpavirama 2011<br />National Institute of Design<br />Paldi, Ahmedabad - 380007, India<br /><br />email: guptarun(at)nid.edu<br />Ph: +91-79-26623692<br />Fax: +91-79-26621167<br />- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b>UnQuote</b></p></blockquote><br />Yes, some forms of film making are indeed art, expressive in intent and form, exploring life and nature as only an artist can do with the artistic licence provided by society. However, the other forms are at the very heart of design and design thinking and in this form it is perhaps the most potent form of design action since it can be driven by intentions and act on society in ways that bring sweeping change through behavior change and support social action that is impossible with the mere design of material artefacts. The medium is the purveyor of the message and much more if it is wielded by a trained and sensitive design thinker and a political activist. Today in the age of transparency of Wiki-leaks and the RTI act in India along with easy access to MP3 recorders and MP4 and HDTV cameras in all digital devices and in mobile phones it is an invitation to the citizens at large to join the communication design action to foster change for the good and in the process shake up the establishments that are proving to be corrupt in many ways. Come and see for yourself.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/">Prof M P Ranjan</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-68747463814223993732010-08-17T21:52:00.013+05:302010-09-11T16:24:23.634+05:30HfG Ulm and Basic Design: Conference at Kolkata: 28 September 2010<p style="color:red"> <b>LOOK Back – LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Basic Design for India</b></p><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof. M P Ranjan</a><br /><b>New: Revised Poster and Registration Form</b><br /><a href="https://files.me.com/ranjanmp/ski418">Download Conference Poster</a><br /><a href="https://files.me.com/ranjanmp/of765o">Download Conference Registration Form</a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TGq6aN5VhMI/AAAAAAAACkw/brdUsfxpQns/s1600/ulm_logo_05_02_10+kolkata+05_cr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TGq6aN5VhMI/AAAAAAAACkw/brdUsfxpQns/s400/ulm_logo_05_02_10+kolkata+05_cr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506418453983364290" /></a> <b>Image: Revised Logo for HfG Ulm Conference on Basic Design at Kolkata</b><br /> <b>Conference Title:</b><br /><p style="color:red"> <b>LOOK Back – LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Basic Design for India</b></p><br />Last date for registration: September 20, 2010 (Participation limited to 100 participants only - please register early) Conference on 28 September 2010 at Kolkata<br /><b>Download Conference Information and Registration form</b><br /><a href="https://files.me.com/ranjanmp/5iuku9">Download Conference Programme and Detailed Schedule: 1.1 mb pdf file</a><br /><a href="https://files.me.com/ranjanmp/as7jcf">Download Conference Registration Form; 157 kb pdf file</a><br /><a href="https://files.me.com/ranjanmp/vsvkbf">Download Conference Poster, Programme and Speaker profile A3 size 265 kb two page pdf file</a><br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Venue & Schedule: </b></p><br />Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR)<br />9A, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata - 700 071 <br />behind Tata Centre , Chowringhee Road<br /><br />28 September, 2010 : Full-day Conference-cum-Workshop on Basic Design Education: 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Organisers:</b></p><br />National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad – in collaboration with <br />Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata <br />HfG-Archive Ulm & IfA (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany) Stuttgart <br />Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR)<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Background:</b></p><br />After the successful one day event at Bengaluru in March 2010, this is the second in the series of conferences based on the spirit of the HfG Ulm pedagogy for design education and its impact on India. The HfG Ulm, which started as a continuation of the Bauhaus experiments in design education under one of its former students – Max Bill, soon veered from a foundation in art to a science and society focus under the leadership of Tomas Maldonado. The HfG Ulm faculty, all eminent teachers and thought leaders in their field, experimented with design education like never before and documented the results of teaching in a series of 21 journals published between 1958 and 1968. These ten years of intense research and theory building and sharing has had a lasting impact on the world of design education and the availability of these journals being one of the major factors for this durable influence. Selected papers from these volumes located in the NID Library were reproduced for a conference on design education in 1989 by Prof Kirti Trivedi at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Powai and these have been a further source of inspiration for Indian design teachers over the years. These journals are now available as part of the conference kit in a DVD compilation that can inform and inspire design teachers interested in the subject.<br /><br />The HfG Ulm impacted the world of design through its direct professional action with industry, memorably with Braun and its successful range of products that hit the market in 1955 and continued with other product successes that can be called the Ulm style of meticulous detailing and clean functional form. Hans Gugelot was among the lead drivers along this track. Other teachers such as Otl Aicher influenced major corporations such as Herman Miller and Lufthansa with significant contributions in graphic design. The closing down of the HfG Ulm in 1968 saw the scattering of its faculty and students across the world, each steeped in the Ulm ideology of public good with design theory and action, resulting in significant action on the ground in the form of new design education in Latin America by Gui Bonsiepe, in India by Sudhakar Nadkarni and H Kumar Vyas and in Japan by Kohei Suguira and Sutaro Mukai, besides the numerous other influences in Europe and the USA that continue to this day. <br /><br />The Ulmer Museum/HfG-Archiv has brought together the various threads of the Ulm school in a unique exhibition called ulm: method and design / ulm: school of design 1953-1968 with archival objects, classroom assignments and multimedia exhibits never before seen in India. The exhibition is presented in India by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, in collaboration with IfA (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany) Stuttgart and offers us the opportunity to both “LOOK Back - LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Basic Design Education for India”, a title that aptly sums up the objective behind the intensive one-day conference/workshop on September 28, 2010 at Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR), as well as to draw inspiration from the path-breaking work at Ulm and reflect on the path forward here in India. An impressive catalogue published by Hatje Cantz (ISBN 3-7757-9142-6) provides rich background research content on the school and the exhibition. Basic Design is the term used by HfG Ulm to describe the preparatory courses and abstract assignments developed to foster core capabilities in design action and design thinking while nurturing the sensibilities and abilities of a designer.<br /><br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Participants:</b></p><br />Design teachers and teachers from other institutes interested in design pedagogy, including design research, design management and technology & design professionals interested in design education. <br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Registration Fee: </b></p><br />Individual designers and faculty : Rs. 2000/= each<br />Team of 5 faculty per school from India : Rs 5000/= per team<br /><br />Exhibition Venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR)- opens September 25, 2010<br /><br />Conference Venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR)– September 28, 2010<br />Abanindranath Tagore Gallery and Conference rooms, 9A, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata - 700 071, West Bengal, India.<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Organising Institutions</b></p><br />National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad – Prof. Pradyumna Vyas, Director<br />Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata – Dr. Reimar Volker, Director<br />HfG-Archive Ulm & IfA (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany) Stuttgart <br />Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR)<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Keynote Speakers:</b></p><br />Daniela Baumann, Research scholar, HfG-Archive Ulm, Germany<br />Prof. Kirti Trivedi, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Powai<br /><br />Prof Sudhakar Nadkarni, Dean, Business Design, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Conference Chair: </b></p><br />Prof M P Ranjan, NID, Ahmedabad<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Co-Chair: </b></p><br />Prof Suchitra Sheth, CEPT University, Ahmedabad<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Registration:</b></p><br />Registration fees are payable by Demand Draft drawn in favour of “National Institute of Design” payable at Ahmedabad. <br />Registration Form duly filled with Demand Draft attached shall be delivered to National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380 007 <br /><br />Last date for registration: September 20, 2010<br />(Participation limited to 100 participants only - please register early)<br /><br />Address for communication and registration<br /><br />1st contact: National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad<br /><b>Avinash Bhandari</b><br />Conference Coordinator<br />Outreach Programmes<br />National Institute of Design, <br />Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007<br />Tel: (off) 91 79 26623692<br />Fax: 91 79 26621167 / 26605240<br />conference email: outreach@nid.edu<br />www.nid.edu<br /><br />2nd contact: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata<br /><b>Sharmistha Sarker</b><br />Programme Officer<br />033 2486 6398<br />Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan<br />8, Ballygunge Circular Road<br />(Pramathesh Barua Sarani)<br />Kolkata - 700 019 India<br />Tel: +91-33-2486 6398<br />Fax: +91-33-2486 5188<br />email: sarker@kolkata.goethe.org<br /> <p style="color:red"> <b>Detailed Programme: </b></p><br />The one-day conference at Kolkata follows the opening of the touring exhibition ulm: method and design/ulm: school of design 1953-1968 September 28, 2010. Participants at the conference are encouraged to visit to exhibition before the event which is adjacent to the venue.<br /><br />September 25, 2010 onwards (Exhibition venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR), Kolkata)<br /><br />Exhibition: (optional for participants) Inauguration of the exhibition at the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR), Kolkata organised by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata.<br /><br />September 28, 2010 (Conference venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Kolkata (ICCR), Kolkata)<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>LOOK Back & LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Basic Design Education for India</b></p><br /><br />9.30 am to 10.00 am Registration and informal get together. Seating for the Plenary Sessions in Abanindranath Tagore Gallery and the Reflection Session in conference rooms. Seating plan to be mixed across design schools with seats and Break-Away groups assigned at the registration. This will facilitate the workshop sessions and encourage participation by all members.<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Conference Session One: LOOK Back: Hfg Ulm and Basic Design for India</b></p><br /><br />10.00 am to 10.30 am : Opening remarks by organizers – Introduction to Purpose and mission of the conference.<br /><br />10.30 am to 11.00 am Keynote 1: Daniela Baumann, Research scholar, HfG-Archiv Ulm, Germany – Focus on the pedagogy of HfG Ulm and its spread of key messages to other centres over the past 50 years.<br /><br />11.00 am to 11.30 am Keynote 2: Prof. Kirti Trivedi, Industrial Design Centre, IIT , Powai – The Pedagogy of Basic Design at HfG Ulm– its growth and development in Asia after Ulm.<br /><br />11.30 am to 12.30 noon Panel Discussion 1: Moderated by Prof Suchitra Sheth, CEPT University: Multi Institutional experience of Basic Design and pedagogy propositions from experiences in design education. panel discussions by five invited speakers from Indian design schools to reflect on various threads of influences across design subjects. Session will map the contours of Basic Design and Foundation programmes at leading schools in India today.<br /><br />12.30 pm to 1.30 pm Lunch Break (lunch served at venue)<br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Conference Session Two: LOOK Forward: Future of Basic Design Education</b></p><br /> 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm: Break Away Sessions – World Café Format <br />Group 1: Senses: Sensitising Perception<br />Group 2: Knowledge: Broad World View<br />Group 3: Ethics: Attitudes and Values<br />Group 4: Culture: Understanding Context and Field Contact<br />Group 5: Skills: Actions and Abilities – Competency and Confidence <br /><p style="color:red"> <b>Conference Session Three: LOOK Forward: Reflections on Design Education</b></p><br />3.40 pm to 5.30 pm Presentations by Break Away Groups. The lessons from the debates and the key take-aways are summarised from all groups by one representative from each group. <br />(10 minutes including discussions from the floor)<br /><br />5.00 to 5.30 pm Reflective Keynote Panel, commentaries by eminent design teachers moderated by Prof M P Ranjan, NID with Prof Sudhakar Nadkarni and keynote speakers. Building a checklist of action points and sharing these with the forum. Towards a policy for action by Indian design education.<br /><br />6.00 pm to 8.00 pm Guided tour of the HfG Ulm Exhibition (optional for participants)<br />~<div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-39005588284656633382010-06-30T21:05:00.009+05:302010-07-06T09:25:27.635+05:30Unsung Heros of NID: An interview with a carpenter<b>NID History from the grassroots: Nathalal Vavadia speaks about his journey at NID</b><br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br /><br />NID is approaching its 50th year since its inception in 1961 and there are many official events and activities that are being planned to celebrate the arrival of the landmark year. Here on this blog we have started an unofficial but sustained effort to try and look at all kinds of people who had contributed to the making of this great institute at Ahmedabad and from these glimpses we hope to shape a more complete view of the making of NID. Nathalal Vavadia who retired today speaks about his experiences and we will try and bring many more such interviews in the days ahead.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TCtn_tOSIcI/AAAAAAAACko/IdPNLLvs7Ac/s1600/Nathalal+Vavadia_comp_cr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 205px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/TCtn_tOSIcI/AAAAAAAACko/IdPNLLvs7Ac/s400/Nathalal+Vavadia_comp_cr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488594915050004930" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image01: Nathalal Vavadia in various moods during a brief interview today, the 30th June 2010, the day he retires from NID after serving as a carpenter in the wood workshop for 40 years.</b></p></blockquote><br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12976811&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12976811&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/12976811">Nathalal Vavadia: Carpenter at NID remembers the good times</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ranjanmp">Ranjan MP</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image02: Video interview with Nathalal Vavadia. Duration 12 minutes.</b></p></blockquote><br />Nathalal Vavadia joined NID in 1970 as a carpenter in the wood workshop. He contributed to the NID building work as well as in producing the furniture designed by George Nakashima which was produced in batches at NID through the 70's to the 90's.<br /><br />He remembers the people at the workshop and the intense work culture at NID during his tenure at NID. He retires from service today, 30 June 2010 and in an interview here he shares some of his experiences and insights on the history of NID as a centre of excellence. The interview is in Hindi but it provides a glimpse of what NID was in the 70's and 80's and provides some insights into the work culture of the institute in those days.<br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-33330479507032730182010-05-24T01:49:00.017+05:302012-08-29T17:11:05.329+05:30Activity Theory: Keynote at a conference at the Aalto University<blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Keynote Presentation at FISCAR 2010 at Aalto University, Helsinki</b></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a></b></p></blockquote><br /><b>Raindrops & Footprints: Reflections on Design enabled development models for India.</b><br /><b>Prof M P Ranjan</b><br />National Institute of Design<br />Ahmedabad, India<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S_8q7r42rqI/AAAAAAAACkg/m_KQFGfL5uc/s1600/Blog_Pic_Raindrops+and+Footprints_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 202px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S_8q7r42rqI/AAAAAAAACkg/m_KQFGfL5uc/s400/Blog_Pic_Raindrops+and+Footprints_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476142876787650210" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image 01: Screen shots of the visual presentation used to support the keynote lecture at the FISCAR 2010 conference in Helsinki.</b></p></blockquote><br />Abstract of paper prepared for a keynote presentation at the Nordic Conference on Activity Theory and the Fourth Finnish Conference on Cultural and Activity Research “Perspectives on social creativity, designing and activity” to be held at Helsinki from 23 to 25 May 2010<br /><br />The author has been a design teacher at the National Institute of Design from the early 1970’s and has been involved in the teaching of design theory as well as conducting design research in the areas of industrial design for development with numerous experiences in the small scale and craft based production situations in India. Much of his professional and educational initiatives are focused on using traditional craft skills that are an abundant ability in India as a development resource that could address severe problems of poverty and unemployment in vast areas of rural India. Each design project experience conducted over the years offered new insights into the complex problems that were being faced by professionals trying to intervene in the sectors of need in India and these insights were translated into visual models that were used to inform students as well as future initiatives in these sectors.<br /><br />The subject of this conference gives us the opportunity to reflect on these series of insights and to map out the contours of the theory of design based crafts interventions that emerged from the National Institute of Design over the past 50 years of exploration and design action in the field. The author’s personal background of having been born into a family of a craftsman carpenter who later built his business enterprise in the manufacture of wooden toys and furniture for children provides an extended backdrop for this investigation and reflection into the models for development that emerged and were tested through repeated interventions in the field. These refined and partly validated models are offered here with historical and personal references to the numerous projects that helped shape the insights and the specific models of development that have gone to create the “Macro – Micro Strategy for Development” that has been used to build a sustainable village based enterprise that is currently in progress as a test case in the bamboo based enterprises in the State of Tripura in Northeastern India. Each project experience brought in specific insights that are expanded and detailed to give a framework for the theory that has informed our actions over the years.<br /><br />Learning from the field has been a much repeated mantra at the NID and its education slogan has always been “learning by doing” which in turn meant that those of us who lived and worked at the Institute were privy to hundreds, if not thousands of individual projects, all of which brought back fresh insights that we hope these reflections will reveal at least in part. There is an underlying theory that emerged and it will the attempt of this paper to try and articulate some of the contours of this theory by using the models that have emerged over the years and those that were used in the classes through which generations of NID students have been trained.<br /><br />The paper will be supported by specific case studies to summarise the progressive findings from the field based experiences and the intermediate and cumulative strategies that were adopted for the numerous field based interventions carried out by the author and his colleagues at NID in the area of design for development. The paper will be accompanied by a visual presentation that would provide visual evidence of the context as well as the design offerings and alongside this will be the theory and the models and strategy diagrams that emerged as an outcome of these investigations, specifically those that were used to advocate future action in the field.<br /><br />Download <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/9kb0l7lq9f0frce/Helsinki_Keynote2010_Final.pdf" target="_blank">Full Text of presentation here as a pdf file 248 kb size</a><br /><br />Download <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/5g7mnncblidhafd/Raindrops%20%26%20Footprints_Helsinki_Lres.pdf" target="_blank">Visual presentation as a pdf file 8.3 mb size</a><br /><br />Download <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/twphhc6gg8rb17m/MPR%20Helsinki%202010_VoiceWS330136.mp3" target="_blank">Voice file of the keynote lecture as an mp3 file 45 MB size</a><br /><br /><b> <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a></b><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-49236272310408931042010-05-24T01:02:00.004+05:302013-04-04T12:08:24.517+05:30Activity Theory: Keynote at a conference at the Aalto University<br /><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Keynote Presentation at FISCAR 2010 at Aalto University, Helsinki</b></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> <a href+"http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a></b></p></blockquote><br /><br /><b>Raindrops & Footprints: Reflections on Design enabled development models for India.</b><br /><br /><b>Prof M P Ranjan</b><br />National Institute of Design<br />Ahmedabad, India<br /><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image 01: Screen shots of the visual presentation used to support the keynote lecture at the FISCAR 2010 conference in Helsinki.</b></p></blockquote><br />Abstract of paper prepared for a keynote presentation at the Nordic Conference on Activity Theory and the Fourth Finnish Conference on Cultural and Activity Research “Perspectives on social creativity, designing and activity” to be held at Helsinki from 23 to 25 May 2010<br /><br />The author has been a design teacher at the National Institute of Design from the early 1970’s and has been involved in the teaching of design theory as well as conducting design research in the areas of industrial design for development with numerous experiences in the small scale and craft based production situations in India. Much of his professional and educational initiatives are focused on using traditional craft skills that are an abundant ability in India as a development resource that could address severe problems of poverty and unemployment in vast areas of rural India. Each design project experience conducted over the years offered new insights into the complex problems that were being faced by professionals trying to intervene in the sectors of need in India and these insights were translated into visual models that were used to inform students as well as future initiatives in these sectors.<br /><br />The subject of this conference gives us the opportunity to reflect on these series of insights and to map out the contours of the theory of design based crafts interventions that emerged from the National Institute of Design over the past 50 years of exploration and design action in the field. The author’s personal background of having been born into a family of a craftsman carpenter who later built his business enterprise in the manufacture of wooden toys and furniture for children provides an extended backdrop for this investigation and reflection into the models for development that emerged and were tested through repeated interventions in the field. These refined and partly validated models are offered here with historical and personal references to the numerous projects that helped shape the insights and the specific models of development that have gone to create the “Macro – Micro Strategy for Development” that has been used to build a sustainable village based enterprise that is currently in progress as a test case in the bamboo based enterprises in the State of Tripura in Northeastern India. Each project experience brought in specific insights that are expanded and detailed to give a framework for the theory that has informed our actions over the years.<br /><br />Learning from the field has been a much repeated mantra at the NID and its education slogan has always been “learning by doing” which in turn meant that those of us who lived and worked at the Institute were privy to hundreds, if not thousands of individual projects, all of which brought back fresh insights that we hope these reflections will reveal at least in part. There is an underlying theory that emerged and it will the attempt of this paper to try and articulate some of the contours of this theory by using the models that have emerged over the years and those that were used in the classes through which generations of NID students have been trained.<br /><br />The paper will be supported by specific case studies to summarise the progressive findings from the field based experiences and the intermediate and cumulative strategies that were adopted for the numerous field based interventions carried out by the author and his colleagues at NID in the area of design for development. The paper will be accompanied by a visual presentation that would provide visual evidence of the context as well as the design offerings and alongside this will be the theory and the models and strategy diagrams that emerged as an outcome of these investigations, specifically those that were used to advocate future action in the field.<br /><br />Download <a href+''http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/iyg75m">Full Text of presentation here as a pdf file 248 kb size</a><br /><br />Download <a href+"http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/maabs3">Visual presentation as a pdf file 8.3 mb size</a><br /><br />Download <a href+''http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/xvsoma.mp3">Voice file of the keynote lecture as an mp3 file 45 MB size</a><br /><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> <a href+"http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a></b></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-70534915897142391432010-04-14T17:03:00.012+05:302010-04-15T21:22:34.897+05:30Look Back Look Forward: The Bengaluru event<blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Look Back Look Forward: HfG Ulm and design education in India, a brief report on the one day event at the Taj West End in Bengaluru on 6th March 2010.</b></p></blockquote> <br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br /><b>The one day conference at Bengaluru will be remembered for a long time by the participants, all teachers and design professionals interested in design education coming from several leading design schools in India. So much passion was released in the 24 round table discussions, only a small fraction of which can be captured here in the links and resources that we have been able to collect and create. Two workshop sessions, each of two hours duration across the twelve round tables each with eight participants and some observers kept all of us deeply involved on the subject of design education for India. This meeting will have an impact on the shape of design education in India since tere is the promise of a follow up meeting later in the year and with the sharing of the Ulm Journal as a digital resource as part of the conference kit the schools in India have for the first time access to the rich reflections that the Ulm masters had assembled in the 21 issues that were published between 1955 and 1968 when the HfG Ulm was finally closed down.</b><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WquPJP7KI/AAAAAAAACkY/X5Q7zycLiII/s1600/01_Hfg+Ulm+event_Thumb_01_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WquPJP7KI/AAAAAAAACkY/X5Q7zycLiII/s400/01_Hfg+Ulm+event_Thumb_01_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459957834572623010" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image01: Thumbnail images of the HfG Ulm Exhibit at Chitra Kala Parishath and the registration session at Taj West End on the next day.</b></p></blockquote><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8Wqi9Q7liI/AAAAAAAACkQ/Kj7GUHWN-A4/s1600/02_Hfg+Ulm+event_Thumbs02_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 198px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8Wqi9Q7liI/AAAAAAAACkQ/Kj7GUHWN-A4/s400/02_Hfg+Ulm+event_Thumbs02_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459957640794445346" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image02: Thumbnail images of the conference participants during breaks as well as at the round tables during the keynote sessions.</b></p></blockquote><br />We now invite all the participants to join us in our analysis of the event and the proceedings for which we shall make available and share below the links to all the lectures and presentations made during the day as well as a host of other resources that can aid the proposed analysis of the discussions and events of the day. The first set of links are for the eight voice files arranged in the order in which the events happened at the conference. The opening session had Dr Evelyn Hust of the Goethe Institute, Bengaluru make her opening remarks with Prof M P Ranjan making remarks on behalf of Director NID who could not attend and then on to introduce the format of the conference, keynotes and workshop sessions, as planned. The morning session that followed had three events – the first keynote lecture by Marcela Quijano, Curator, HfG Ulm Archive, and the second keynote by Prof Sudha Nadkarni, Dean, Welingkar Institute of Management where he shared his experience as a full time student at HfG Ulm in the early 60’s. (for voice recordings see the links below). Marcela Quijano gave us an overview of the pedagogy of the Ulm masters and the historical setting in which the design education experiments were conducted at the HfG Ulm.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WqXdJqNPI/AAAAAAAACkI/XvpJmEFiMCI/s1600/03_Table+01+to+12+HfG+Ulm+Masters_s.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WqXdJqNPI/AAAAAAAACkI/XvpJmEFiMCI/s400/03_Table+01+to+12+HfG+Ulm+Masters_s.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459957443195450610" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image 03: Thumbnails of the Table Cards, each with one HfG Ulm Master as listed: 01: Max Bill, 02: Otl Aicher, 03: Inge Aicher-Scholl, 04: Tomas Maldonado, 05: Hans Gugelot, 06: Walter Zeischegg, 07: Herbert Ohl, 08: Gui Bonsiepe, 09: Herbert Lindinger, 10: Horst Rittel, 11: William S. Huff, 12: Konrad Wachsmann.</b></p></blockquote><br />These two keynote presentations of the morning set the tone for Looking Back at the legacy of Ulmer Model in terms of their design pedagogy and this was followed by the first Workshop session – Look Back – that lasted two hours, at the end of which each of the twelve tables made brief presentations on their findings about the salient aspects of HfG Ulm pedagogy. Each table was named after one of twelve selected Ulm teachers in the order listed below:<br /><br />Table 10 : Horst Rittel<br />Table 09 : Herbert Lindinger<br />Table 04 : Tomas Maldonado<br />Table 03 : Inge Aicher-Scholl<br />Table 02 : Otl Aicher<br />Table 05 : Hans Gugelot<br />Table 08 : Gui Bonsiepe<br />Table 11 : William S. Huff<br />Table 12 : Konrad Wachsmann<br />Table 07 : Herbert Ohl<br />Table 06 : Walter Zeischegg<br />Table 01 : Max Bill<br /><br />Each table had a set of provocation cards that carried quotes from the Ulm masters while these cards were also shown on the large projection screen as an automated slide show. Each quotation raised one issue that would be critical for the Ulm pedagogy and these provided the point of departure for the table discussions that were carried on in real earnest by all the participants. Each table also had table think sheets on which the participants were asked to make their doodles and notes as the discussions and devbates progressed at each table. These “Table Think Sheets” were collected at the end of the session and these too are made available here at the link below.<br /><br />List of 8 voice files and resources for download<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/r351p4.mov">01_Opening Session_MPR Hust.mov – 12 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/up1d4q.mov">02_Keynote_Marcelo Quijano.mov – 27 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/mg4yol.mov">03_Keynote_Sudha Nadkarni.mov – 35 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/38sg2y.mov">04_Intro to_Look Back WS.mov – 9 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/o6mk3u.mov">05_Round Table_Look Back.mov – 47 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/x809q0.mov">06_Keynote_Kumar Vyas.mov – 54 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/zuqcyz.mov">07_Keynote_Wolfang Jonas.mov – 61 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/v0v5qg.mov">08_Round Table_Look Fward.mov – 49 mb</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WqIwDxLWI/AAAAAAAACkA/Y1vahEaEW14/s1600/04_Ulm+DVD+Interface_Mstr_s.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S8WqIwDxLWI/AAAAAAAACkA/Y1vahEaEW14/s400/04_Ulm+DVD+Interface_Mstr_s.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459957190572977506" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image 04: Navigation screens from the Look Back Look Forward conference resource interactive DVD. These nine screens are from the root level pdf file and each item or image on the pages takes one to the respective file or page. The Index page is level zero, while the other pages are numbered from 1 to 8.</b></p></blockquote><br />The conference resource DVD is packed with design education resources from HfG Ulm as well as from NID, Ahmedabad. Page two provides links to the numbered Journals from the HfG Ulm from 1 to 21 issue of the Journal, all scanned and made available as digital pdf files thanks to the kind permission from Prof Gui Bonsiepe who edited these volumes at Ulm. These Journals were published from 1955 till the last issue in 1968 when the school closed down under dramatic circumstances. These were available in India only in the NID library and for the first time these are made available to Indian design educators and researchers to understand the Ulm school’s unique pedagogy since these hold a rich resource of reflections from the Ulm teachers. Volume 3 was missing from the set all these years and we now have a copy thanks to the Ulm Archive Curator, Marcela Qujano, who gave us a copy for the Library which is now made available here as a digital pdf file at the link below, and this completes the set.<br /><br />Download the “Look Back Look Forward” conference resource interactive DVD here:<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/1grn1o">Look Back_Look Forward_DVD.zip – 968 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/3qxmpd">Ulm 3.pdf – 3.2 mb</a> (This issue was not included in the DVD since it did not exist in the NID Library and a copy was given to us by Marcelq Quijano when she arrived in Bengaluru for the conferfence.)<br /><br />Page zero, or the opening page, is the Index with hyper-links to the other eight pages. Page two contains links to selected documents from the NID history and includes the Eames India Report of 1958, The MOMA catalogue of 1957 of classic design from USA and Europe whose prototypes are in the NID archives, NID Documentation 1964-69, The Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979, Design & Environment (1982), select faculty papers (1991) and the Proceedings of the DETM Conference (2005) and so on. Page four contains 16 papers and presentation files that record the progress of the Design Concepts and Concerns Course at NID where design thinking and design theory have been introduced to NID students from 1988 till date, evolving over the years to give NID education its distinctive identity. Page three has reports prepared by NID for the setting up of three sector specific institutes for design education in India. Other pages contain all the artworks for the conference graphics and table resources as well as the photographs from the Ulm Archive exhibit when it opened at the NID Gallery.<br /><br />The visual slide shows or text resources for the keynote presentation are available for download here below and these can be viewed along with the voice files of the proceedings located above.<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/9x2rb4">Keynote 01: India_Look back_Marcela Quijano.pdf – 5 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/x846ks">Keynote 02: NID Banglore Keynote at Ulm conference_Nadkarni.pdf – 36 mb</a><br /><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/xxju5e">Keynote 03: Learning at NID- Then and Now, H Kumar Vyas (final).pdf – 1 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/i78tke">Keynote 04: Wolfgang Jonas_Ulm Conference_Keynote.pdf – 14 mb</a><br /><br />Pictures of Bangalore event – Folders in .zip format each containing many selected pictiures in jpg format are available here for download (see list below)<br />Picture sets of Bangalore event in jpeg format<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/1ir2q8">01_Ulm_Blore_PreConference.zip – 98 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/sc0vfv">02_Ulm_Blore_LookBack.zip – 79 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/vdztn5">03_Ulm_LookForward01.zip – 75 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/l93o9i">04_Ulm_Look Forward02 2.zip – 74 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/e3tz2r">05_Ulm_PostConference.zip – 11 mb</a><br /><br />Picture albums of the sets in pdf format can be downloaded from these links here:<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/fluypg">01_Ulm_Blore_PreConference.pdf – 9 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/zyqwuu">02_Ulm_Blore_LookBack_h3.pdf – 6 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/utggqg">03_Ulm_LookForward01_h3.pdf – 6 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/7joa5j">04_Ulm_Look Forward02_h3.pdf – 7 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/uz45rx">05_Ulm_PostConference_h3.pdf – 2 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/y7w2bv">Chakradar mid Blore Pics_h2.pdf – 6 mb</a><br /><br />Conference kit resources in pdf format.<br />While the conference resource DVD that was distributed to all the participants contains the digital art works version of the table materials we provide separate links here for some of these resources so that they may be used directly if needed.<br /><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/xpg27y">01_Conference Table_Ulm Masters.pdf : 58.9 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/hnp9bf">02a_look back cards_prn.pdf : 3.2 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/mtu5d9">02b_look forward cards_prn.pdf : 2.4 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/fo64um">02c_Model card Front_oranisation vs. free + political structure.pdf_4.pdf : 5 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/yw2x1u">05_Ulm Biography Bookmarks.pdf : 1.9 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/zb966p">06_keynote speaker bio+Workshops_s.pdf : 20.5 mb</a><br /><br />Other HfG Ulm Conference Resources<br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/50p6t0">Conference Participant List_xx.pdf – 3 mb</a><br /><a href="http://files.me.com/ranjanmp/h4z9ze">Table_Think Sheets_175page.pdf – 11 mb</a><br /><br />Participants will now have access to all the resources that they may use to make their own analysis of the one day event at Bengaluru and from these we do hope that Indian design teachers will take back a lesson from the Ulm masters, that of documentation of their teaching resources and of their class outcomes in a contemporaneous manner in the days ahead. This alone will ensure that Indian design education retains a quality benchmark that can be shared and discussed as we refine our teaching methods and find value that is unique to our context, environment and culture. If teachers from our Indian design schools start publishing their work and through this an active dialogue is set in place we would have succeeded in our mission of sensitizing our teachers to the need for such documentation in managing and manintaining a high quality of education in our schools across India. I hope that we did succeed and that the future will show us the positive results of these tall intentions.<br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-6780077791344132502010-02-06T11:06:00.007+05:302010-02-08T07:22:50.324+05:30LOOK Back – LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Design Education in India<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S2z83-mopLI/AAAAAAAAChM/FcjvPCeOHto/s1600-h/HfG+Ulm+2010_Logo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/S2z83-mopLI/AAAAAAAAChM/FcjvPCeOHto/s400/HfG+Ulm+2010_Logo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434996888957396146" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image01: Conference Logo using a basic design assignment as an image for the conference - Design: Rupesh Vyas </b></p></blockquote><br /><b>Conference Title:</b><br /><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b>LOOK Back – LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Design Education in India</b></p></blockquote><br /><b>Venue & Schedule: </b><br />Hotel Taj West End, Race Cource Road, Bangalore 560 001, India<br />March 6, 2010 : Full-day Conference-cum-Workshop on Design Education: 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.<br /><br /><b>Last date for registration: February 26, 2010</b><br /><br /><b>Organisers:</b><br />National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad and Bangalore <br />in collaboration with <br />Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (GI/MMB) Bangalore, <br />HfG-Archive Ulm & IfA (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany) Stuttgart <br /><br /><b>Background:</b><br />The HfG Ulm, which started as a continuation of the Bauhaus experiments in design education under one of its former students – Max Bill, soon veered from a foundation in art to a science and society focus under the leadership of Tomas Maldonado. The HfG Ulm faculty, all eminent teachers and thought leaders in their field, experimented with design education like never before and documented the results of teaching in a series of 21 journals published between 1958 and 1968. These ten years of intense research and theory building and sharing has had a lasting impact on the world of design education and the availability of these journals being one of the major factors for this durable influence. Selected papers from these volumes located in the NID Library were reproduced for a conference on design education in 1989 by Prof Kirti Trivedi at Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Powai and these have been a further source of inspiration for Indian design teachers over the years.<br /><br />The school impacted the world of design through its direct professional action with industry, memorably with Braun and its successful range of products that hit the market in 1955 and continued with other product successes that can be called the Ulm style of meticulous detailing and clean functional form. Hans Gugelot was among the lead drivers along this track. Other teachers such as Otl Aicher influenced major corporations such as Herman Miller and Lufthansa with significant contributions in graphic design.<br /><br />The closing down of the HfG Ulm in 1968 saw the scattering of its faculty and students across the world, each steeped in the Ulm ideology of public good with design theory and action, resulting in significant action on the ground in the form of new design education in Latin America by Gui Bonsiepe, in India by Sudhakar Nadkarni and H Kumar Vyas and in Japan by Kohei Suguira, besides the numerous other influences in Europe and the USA that continue to this day. <br /><br />The Ulmer Museum/HfG-Archiv has brought together the various threads of the Ulm school in a unique exhibition called ulm: method and design/ulm: school of design 1953-1968 with archival objects, classroom assignments and multimedia exhibits never before seen in India. The exhibition is presented in India by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, in collaboration with IfA (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany) Stuttgart and offers the opportunity to both “LOOK Back - LOOK Forward: HfG Ulm and Design Education in India”, a title that aptly sums up the objective behind the intensive one-day conference/workshop on March 6, 2010 at Hotel Taj West End in Bangalore, India, as well as to draw inspiration from the path-breaking work at Ulm and reflect on the path forward here in India. An impressive catalogue published by Hatje Cantz (ISBN 3-7757-9142-6) provides rich background research content on the school and the exhibition. <br /><br /><b>Participants:</b><br />Design teachers and teachers from other institutes interested in design pedagogy, including design research, design management and technology & design professionals interested in design education. Limited places available for design student observers sponsored by each participating school.<br /><br /><b>Registration Fee: </b><br />Individual designers and faculty : Rs. 2000/=<br />Team of 5 faculty per school from India : Rs 5000/=<br />Design student observer : Rs. 500/= (limited seats)<br />International Participant : USD 100 or Rs. 5000/= <br /><br /><b>Exhibition Venue:</b> Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore - opens March 5, 2010<br /><b>Conference Venue:</b> Hotel Taj West End, Bangalore – March 6, 2010<br /><br /><b>Organising Institutions</b><br />Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore<br />Dr. Evelin Hust, Director<br />National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad & Bangalore<br />Prof. Pradyumna Vyas, Director<br /><br /><b>Keynote Speakers:</b><br />Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Jonas, Professor for "system design" at the School of Art and Design, University of Kassel, Germany<br />Ms. Marcela Quijano, Curator, HfG-Archiv Ulm, Germany<br />Prof Sudhakar Nadkarni, Dean, Business Design, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai<br />Prof H Kumar Vyas, Distinguished Professor, CEPT University, Ahmedabad<br /><br /><b>Conference Chair:</b> <br />Prof M P Ranjan, NID, Ahmedabad<br /><b>Co-Chair: </b><br />Prof Suchitra Sheth, CEPT University, Ahmedabad<br /><br /><b>Registration:</b><br />Registration fees are payable by Cash or Demand Draft drawn in favour of “National Institute of Design” payable at Bangalore. <br />Payment with Registration Form duly filled to be delivered to NID R & D Campus, Bangalore or at the Goethe- Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore.<br /><br /><b>Last date for registration without late fees: </b> February 26, 2010<br />Late fee payable after closing date: additional 50 % of registration fees above. <br />(Limited participation so please register early)<br /><br /><b>Address for communication and registration:</b><br /><br />1st contact: <b>National Institute of Design, Bangalore</b><br /><br />Shashikala Satyamoorthy, <br />Conference Coordinator<br />National Institute of Design, R & D Campus, <br />#12 HMT Link Road, Off Tumkur Road<br />Bangalore 560 022<br />Tel: +91-080-23478939 (D) / 23373006<br />Fax: +91 80 23373086<br />conference email: hfgulm2010@nid.edu<br />www.nid.edu<br /><br />2nd contact: <b>Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore</b><br /><br />Maureen Gonsalves<br />Programme Coordinator<br />Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan<br />716 CMH Road, Indiranagar 1st Stage<br />Bangalore 560 038<br />Ph: +91 80 2520 5305/06/07/08-203<br />Fax: +91 80 2520 5309<br />arts@bangalore.goethe.org<br />www.goethe.de/bangalore<br /><br /><br />see detailed programme and download Registration Form from this link here below:<br /> <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/.cv/ranjanmp/Sites/.Public/Programme%2BRegistration_HfG%20Ulm%202010_Bangalore.pdf-zip.zip">Download Detailed Conference Programme and Registration Form in pdf 400kb</a><br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-390353998993233885.post-64483798989187342292009-12-22T22:36:00.010+05:302009-12-22T22:55:14.260+05:30New Design School at Kerala: State level action in India<b>KSID Conference Proceedings: A ringside view<br />9 & 10 November 2009: Kovalam, Kerala</b><br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><br /><br /><i>Brief summary of the proceedings of the Kerala State Institute of Design (KSID) Vision meeting at Kovalam on 9th and 10th November 2009. Followed by recommendations and action points.</i><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzEANRMr0MI/AAAAAAAACfw/ymTcwnfJaHQ/s1600-h/01_Day+zero_Sun+Sand+and+Beach_Picture+11_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzEANRMr0MI/AAAAAAAACfw/ymTcwnfJaHQ/s400/01_Day+zero_Sun+Sand+and+Beach_Picture+11_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418112054658322626" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image01: Day Zero: Sun, Sand and Beach at Kovalam</b></p></blockquote><br />The conference that was held at the Kristu Jayanti Jubilee Memorial Animation Centre at Kovalam and the conference were set in motion by the Executive Director of KSID, Shri P T Girish who welcomed the delegates and experts to the Vision of KSID conference and invited Prof. Prabhat Patnaik, Vice Chairman, Kerala State Planning Board to deliver the presidential Address and Shri P K Gurudasan, Hon’ble Minister for Labour and Excise, State Government of Kerala to Inaugurate the event. Shri P T Girish made a presentation on the KSID and Shri Jogi Panghal was requested to deliver the Vote of Thanks.<br /><br />The two day programme on 9th and 10th November 2009 was set in motion (programme schedule Appendix 1) Over 50 participants and experts attended the meet over two days (List of participants Appendix 2)<br /><br />Day 1:<br />Inaugural Session: 10.00 to 11.00 am <br />Prof Prabhat Patnaik in his Presidential Address called for an action programme to bring innovation to Kerala and India. He commented that innovation was conspicuous by its absence and this needed to change fast. However he recalled that traditional crafts have demonstrated this capability over centuries but feudal and patriarchal attitudes run deep in Kerala and there was scope for a Central University to bring change. Here KSID is a powerful and ambitious idea that would need to bring design expertise and invoke creative change in the society at large in Kerala.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_-zSO7MI/AAAAAAAACfo/wXBf71d-GEQ/s1600-h/02_Day+one_Opening+session_Picture+12_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_-zSO7MI/AAAAAAAACfo/wXBf71d-GEQ/s400/02_Day+one_Opening+session_Picture+12_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418111806110362818" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image02: Day one: Opening Session</b></p></blockquote><br />Shri P K Gurudasan, Hon’ble Minister for Labour and Excise, State Government of Kerala inaugurated the conference by lighting a lamp and invited the delegates and participants to join him to light the lamp.<br /><br />Shri P K Gurudasan called for a focus on the crafts of Kerala as a point of departure. The need to address matters of quality raw material and products alike and to address the impact of globalization and competition with strategies for marketing and articulation of modern trends were items at the top of the agenda. He stated that the role of KSID would be to coordinate design action in many sectors and to provide supports through new design initiatives as well as promotion and publications. New initiatives to train and educate the crafts sector functionaries asa starting point. He recalled his visit to NID and his meeting there with NID Director Shri Pradyumna Vyas as well as NID Faculty members form a number of disciplines including Prof M P Ranjan and Prof Aditi Ranjan and stated that this visit had helped change the concept of KSID and which brings our focuss to the concept of the Vision conference that is being held here in Kovalam. He mentioned that the Director of KSID was a product of NID and this would help in shaping the Institute as we go forward. He stressed on the need for building an appropriate institutional infrastructure quickly so that the next level of funding could be mobilized in the near future. He welcomed and thanked all the experts and participants for giving their time for attending the Vision conference at Kovalam.<br /><br />Shri Jogi Panghal delivered the Vote of tthanks.<br /><br />Inaugural Session: 11.30 to 12.00<br />Shri P T Girish delivered the Directors address (Directors presentation Appendix 3) and outlined the concept of the KSID and listed the action taken so far towards setting up the institute in Kerala. He shared a picture of the renovated building that was being used to house the institute and outlined the events such as registration of the society under the Travancore and Cochin Literary Scientific Societies Act of 1955, followed by the setting up of the Governing Body, Expert Committees and Academic Committee that could develop the action plans for the institute and steer it in the right direction. Shri P T Girish informed the meeting that 4 acres of land had been acquired for the institute and a call for architects had been launched formally. He called on the meeting to articulate a clear brief for the architects for the design of the building and mentioned that four architect s had sent in their expression of interest to take up the task. He reported that there were efforts to make the institute live and active through the conduct of training programmes for artisans and through new product development and that two students from the IICD Jaipur were already on the list of sponsored candidates involved on project based activities of the institute. He mentioned that KISD facilities and infrastructure still needed to be developed but in the meantime a number of activities will be rolled out..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_schlUeI/AAAAAAAACfg/oHvL8aQBxLM/s1600-h/03_Day+one_Session+one_Picture+13_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_schlUeI/AAAAAAAACfg/oHvL8aQBxLM/s400/03_Day+one_Session+one_Picture+13_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418111490763084258" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image03: Day one: Session one</b></p></blockquote><br />The following Sessions were structured as a series of panel presentations and each speaker had a prepared submission to make (attached Appendix 4 – papers by experts)<br /><br />Session 1: Vision: Design Education & Action for Kerala<br />Moderator: Prof Ajaykumar, Principal Fine Arts College, Trivandrum<br />Rapporteur: Shri Jogi Panghal<br /><br />Panelists: <br />Shri Ashoke Chatterjee, Former Director, NID, Ahmedabad<br />Prof. S Balaram, Dean, DJ Academy of Design, Coimbatore<br />Dr. Deepak John Matthew, NID, Ahmedabad<br />Prof. Yunus Khimani, Dean, UG Programmes, IICD, Jaipur<br />Ms. Sumita Ghose, Managing Director, Rangsutra, (Fab-India – SRC)<br /><br />Shri Ashoke Chatterjee kicked of the session by recalling the talk with other experts the night before the conference which had established that the KSID would be a work in progress for quite some time ahead. A clear structure and mission would have to wait till Kerala’s real needs are assessed and articulated by the activities of the Institute. He asked for clarity about the role of KSID and expressed the ned for a discussion as to whether the KSID would be an institute for the crafts development or an institute for design education and action. He suggested that Keralas needs may extend to include the travel and hospitality sectors which has been a major user of design services for over 40 years now in India as well as in Kerala. He recalled his visit to Kerala 40 years ago to help set up the first beach resort at Kovalam. He cautioned about the need for deep deliberations to get the objectives right and in particular about the need for a good brief for the architect of the new campus and its facilities.<br /><br />In the discussions that followed Shri Jogi Panghal agreed that a good brief was a critical need but he also said that we would need to be sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the community in Kerala and what they would want from a new institution. He proposed that the instutute should adopt policies that are open, inclusive and transparent for all its activities and programmes. Prof M P Ranjan stressed that the architect must be told that the building must have a great degree of flexibility and like the NID building it too should be open to change as and when required.<br /><br />Prof. S Balaram, who spoke next called for design education that could foster thinking that was different. Freedom and autonomy with a physical space that is conducive for design work are a critical resource that should be created. He stressed that heart of design lay in innovation and called for a balance between skill instruction and thinking, both lateral and analytical thinking would need to be used. The ambit of design could extend from procduct, messages, spaces and services all the way to experiences as well. He quoted the example of Vishala in Ahmedabad that focused on the experience of a meal in a rural setting and stated that Kerala too may find applications for such a kind of thinking in the travel and hospitality sector that is a major business in the State. He spelt out threee priority areas for KSID in the days ahead.<br />1. Survey and documentation of the resources of Kerala to build a strengths map thaty could indicate the areas of priority for the KSID.<br />2. Focus on getting the right kind of students at the KSID since many of Kerala’s students tend to go outside the State for their education needs today. Awareness building would need to be done since local awareness of design wsa still very low in Kerala.<br />3. Getting good teachers is always a great challenge. This needs to be addressed both with policy as well as with some strategies that are practical.<br /><br />Prof M P Ranjan asked for clarity on how he proposed to address the third issue. Prof Balaram replied that the awareness building would need to address both parents as well as the students directly. In the search for good design teaching talent the KSID may start by having a larger proportion of their teachers as visiting faculty with a long term commitment. While this is difficult it is practical and can be sustained and the other schools are all experimenting with this format quite successfully. Prof Sangita Shroff warned that the KSID must look for a complement of full time faculty as well to handle the variety of tasks that a growing institute would need to handle in order to build a good work culture and a healthy academic and administrative balance. Full time faculty are needed to maintain a level of intellectual and emotional balance on the campus with multi-level activities of education, administration and development projects. Prof Balaram agreed with a need for a balance. Shri Jogi Pangaal stressed that good design teachers were hard to get if not impossible for a new institute. He therefore stressed that the policy of using visiting faculty on liberal terms may need to be adopted. He proposed a new kind of architecture for the involvement of visiting faculty as a continuing contact person for the students with an implied use of web as a channel for maintaining this contact.<br /><br />Dr Deepak John Matthew used a case study of a photography activity and expanded on the type of planning and development that would be needed to make the KSID work and deliver the tasks and objectives that are being set out today. He expanded on the NID model and listed all the stages of planning and curriculum development that would be needed as well as the range of equipment and the activities and projects that may be needed to build a department with excellence. He stressed on the need for photography both as a tool for documentation as well as a service department for the rest of the institute and that this would need to be set up at an early date and be maintained at a high level of quality. He suggested that the curriculum could include theory, skill and project based courses. He proposed the need for interdisciplinary classes as well as a Foundation programme for new entrants. He suggested faculty exchange programmes as a way for maintaining faculty quality and contact with new ideas and developments. For students he proposed that by waiving fees or offering stipends that KSID would attract students who would otherwise not be able to afford a good education in spite of having great talent.<br /><br />Shri Vinod Krishnan asked if Deepak was asking for a clone of NID to be set up in Kerala or would the emphasis be on design for the tourism sector. Prof Ajay Kumar stated that creating capacity in the State for photography could be one of the objectives of KSID.<br /><br />Prof Yunus Khimani, recalled the history of the IICD that was set up in Jaipur by the Government of Rajasthan with the assistance of NID. The mission of the IICD was to create design techno managers who could create a bridge between designers and markets as well as focus on design, market development and technology development for the crafts sector as a whole. He spoke about the structure of IICD and the processes that it had adopted to improve and develop its education programmes in UG and PG levels with the setting up of an expert Academic Council and a local Board of Studies that could work in cooperation with the faculty of the school. The hallmark of the school was hands on training and the making of prototypes for all new design projects which provides the students with a good feel of the material, technique as well as market possibilities through field contact for gathering insights that inform the design work. Field exposure is particularly stressed and in 3 years of education the student is expected to spend almost one year in the field at a number of occasions. Drawing is another ability that is stressed in the education process at the IICD.<br /><br />Ms Sumita Ghose who spoke next commented that the KSID had an advantage of being in the Labour Ministry and therefore had the possibility of looking at the task ahead in a bottom up manner rather than a top down manner of policy to the field. She recalled her experience of setting up an NGO for the development of people in Rajasthan and how they came to crafts as a means for generating livlihood with the introcduction of embroidery and other textile crafts that the people already had a capacity for in their present setting. As a trained economist she realized the need for good organization in the crafts sector and in managing the lives and needs of rural people. She stressed that good organization was needed in the crafts sector and the need to shift the policy initiatives form charity orientation to empowerment approaches which could be the focus of the KSID. Design development work alone was not enough since this tended to end up in a number of prototypes but this needs to be translated into a business flow for the benefits to reach the people for whom it is intended. She explained that Rangsutra had started with a call for design and marketing with good organization in a cooperative format. This gave the base for a producer company with a Head+ Heart for survival of the craftspeople. KSID too may need to look at producer groups and stalkeholders with a balanced social and economic agenda. Perhaps the research could look at organization design for empowered craftspersons in the days ahead.<br /><br />Prof Ajay Kumar summarized the morning session and a good deal of discussion followed. He said that there was no traditional craft left in Kerala due to costs and market pressures. People have moved on to more lucrative occupations. Kerala is fast changing from traditions and many NGO organizations were active in the field but we may need to research as to how well these NGO’s have changed the condition of the craftsmen. He stressed that the KSID should be a design school and not just be focused on crafts alone. This is truly what Kerala needs today. Shri K B Jinan intervened and stressed that Kerala artisans too had their needs. <br /><br />Prof Sangita Shroff opined that the KSID should first undertake the task of understanding Kerala today. She stressed that the use of image in the task of developing a shared understanding of Kerala was important. Getting images from the field and placing these in contextual structures can reveal many latent needs and design opportunities that could be addressed by the KSID in the days ahead. She called for a documentation of Kerala with a “soul”, a process that could tell us a lot about the condition of the State and its needs and aspirations. This could be done with film makers and photographers being coordinated to build a map of Kerala resources and needs, a “Map with Pictures”. This could be linked with Social Enterprises and groups of professionals who could think strategy and seed entrepreneurship in the State. Shri Jogi Panghal suggested that KSID could interact with artisans in new ways and bring Kerala into its domain. Prof. Sudhakar Reddy suggested that the emphasis could also be on the making of new craftsmen entrepreneurs if traditional ones do not exist. Prakash Murthy felt that the need was to instill pride in the craftsmen for their skills and traditions through some appropriate strategies. Prof Ajay Kumar recalled that in our national history the Schools of Art abandoned crafts to upgrade their own fields of study. Ms Sumita Ghose reminded that in India as in Kerala the areas of agriculture and crafts are the two biggest providers of employment in the country. Shri Ashoke Chatterjee opined that there was a lot of confusion in the development sectors and in some Government policy statements the crafts sector was being described as the sunset sectors!! He ebven suggesxted that some economists suggest that 80 % of India is moving to urban centres but this would be a real disaster. Shri Jogi Panghal suggested that we must take a fresh look at crafts in Kerala and at the new wage levels as a challenge and an opportunity for imaginative design action. The daily wah=ge in Bastar is Rs 45/= per day while a Kerala craftsman would expect upwards of Rs 300 to Rs 500 per day for a similar level of work. Development has wiped out crafts in some areas while it has retained them in places due to poverty levels and a desperate need to work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_ffFaCCI/AAAAAAAACfY/MQHuzQc8vbs/s1600-h/04_Day+one_Session+two_Picture+14_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_ffFaCCI/AAAAAAAACfY/MQHuzQc8vbs/s400/04_Day+one_Session+two_Picture+14_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418111268111910946" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image04: Day one: Session two</b></p></blockquote><br />Session 2: Vision: Design Education & Action for Kerala<br />Moderator: Prof Ajaykumar, Principal Fine Arts College, Trivandrum<br />Rapporteur: Shri Jogi Panghal<br /><br />Panelists: <br />Prof M P Ranjan, NID, Ahmedabad<br />Prof Sudhakar Reddy, AU, Visakapatnam<br />Shri Jogi Panghal. Designer<br />Prof. Sangita Shroff, Director, IICD, Jaipur<br />Shri. K B Jinan, Designer<br /><br />Prof M P Ranjan made a visual presentation to support his arguments that were stated in his written paper (paper and visual presentation Appendix 5). He used models to explain some salient aspects of design and design thinking. He explained why the true value of design was difficult to perceive and appreciate since much of the offering was invisible or intangible.. He proposed that value perceptions and the appreciation of intangible design offerings was not possible to appreciate unless these are explained in detail or are articulated by the design team as part of their presentation and claim. He used twenty case studies to show how design can be used at many levels of action all the way from material and form, through structure and performance and upto meaning and culture. These stages he characterized as the First, Second and Third Orders of Design that have been elaborated in earlier papers and presentations. He called for the use of design in Kerala as a vehicle for development and strategy across many sectors of the economy and the role of KSID would be to make the process of bringing design into everyday use effective and wide spread particularly in areas of public good. He showed models developed by his students with the use of images and metaphors in his class called Design Concepts and Concerns where they had developed a variety of institutes that could meet the needs of India’s varied geographic regions through the use of design and design thinking. He suggested that KSID too should adopt these methods and develop shared perspectives with stakeholders and then go about implementing these in the institutional frameworks that would be both effective as well as relevant. He proposed that KSID start by building an inventory of design needs of Kerala and set about addressing these through education, awareness building and extension activities. KSID could help by bringing books on design to Kerala through translating some selected ones into Malayalam so that the ideas could b made available at the grassroots level in the State.<br /><br />Prof. Sudhakar Reddy spoke philosophically about the role of crafts in the evolution of the human race. He spoke of traditional knowledge being a base for peace and harmony and that the act of making with our hands is a fundamental human need that would include the handicrafts as well as the fine arts, both which are rooted in our senses as well as in a whole range of attributes determined by function, aesthetics, surface explorations, utility and sensitivity to our surroundings etc. Making, is a basic instinct and it is this making that also makes us human. Thus articles are intended for humanizing society by making these accessible to all those who may need it for a variety of purposes. Traditional articles have a deep structure and meaning, just as colour is used with a specific purpose so is form and other attributes. Gandhiji used non-violence as a method. The control of natural resources was undertaken as a search for power. Peace can be seen as an economic and stable condition but it can also be seen as attitudes of individuals in search of meaning. Peace could be a goal and the making of paper can be a fine activity that could be recommended as well. With roots in traditions we could see it as an activity that is modern and being carried out in the pursuit of sustainable action in the face of present day global challenges. We can bring about an awareness of value transmission through the use of design. This would require high motivation. However, he expressed doubt if this could indeed be achieved and he ended with a wonderful quote about water.<br /><br />Shri Jogi Panghal, spoke about his long experience in three broad streams that would be of relevance to the topic at hand. Firstly he spoke about his experience in the Practice of Design with a special focus on the tribal areas of India. Secondly he spoke about his experience in Design Education across a number of schools in India and overseas and lastly he spoke about his body of work in Design Research which was unique and through which he was able to trace the evolution of design thought for producing value through the creation of form, function and utility. He spoke of the need for collaborative work through the encouragement of team work. He spoke of the development of Green Strategies and the exploration of life cycle studies for sustainability and to loo at applications of fair trade in our dealings with crafts community. He proposed the need for ethnographic studies to be taken up by KSID and called for the expansion of its reach to areas such as experience design vs object design, He spoke of the approach of co-creation as opposed to the designer labels and championed the idea of services as a means of dematerializing design action. In his visual presentation he spelt out a check list of actionable items for KSID and established another checklist of points that showed the context in which the KSID would need to operate ( visual presentation Appendix 6). His agenda for KSID included the following points:<br />1. identify – research and document Kerala resources and sensibilities<br />2. design practice – create new knowledge through positive action on design opportunities<br />3. education – integrated study of design, management and entrepreneurship<br />4. outreach and training - possibilities to be explored<br />5. network - with other schools and universities and collaborate to create value<br />6. produce - much new knowledge, publish and share freely<br /><br />KSID vision could focus on research, education, collaboration, practice and advocacy.<br /><br />Prof Sangita Shroff, spoke briefly about the areas of focus that KSID could look at in the initial years of its establishment. She commented on the opening remarks by Prof Prabhat Pathak and stated that the KSID should move from the rooted feudal structures towards a secular school for design and action on Kerala. She listed the various statistics about Kerala and drew the attention to the special qualities that needed to be kept in focus. It was a small state with high level of educational achievement and a stable population. The wellness industry, the entertainment industry and the sports achievements all suggest that Kerala could build products to enhance the achievements that it already has in these sectors. She also proposed that students could be offered an earn while you learn scheme to encourage entry from the disadvantaged sections of the society. However the whole premise would be based on the first task of mapping Kerala and its resources in a visual format that can be shared to build the action programmes that would follow.<br /><br />Shri K B Jinnan, decried the sterile form of education that was being offered by main stream design schools that was based on the Bauhaus model of design foundation. He claimed that this affected the natural aesthetic sensibilities of the regional student and gave them homogenized aesthetic that was neither suitable nor appropriate for local action and local cultural development. He proposed that the KSID should be primarily be seen as a crafts development school and not as a generic design school for Kerala.<br /><br />Shri Jayagopal, showed his architecture projects to the conference at the invitation of the Director, KSID. He has carried out a number of works in the tradition of the great architect and his guru, the late Shri Laurie Baker. He showed examples of many projects done using crafts and local traditional building systems and he presentation was followed by a brief discussion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_RhwEDmI/AAAAAAAACfQ/ZjSb-aJ3AeM/s1600-h/05_Day+two_Session+three_Picture+15_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_RhwEDmI/AAAAAAAACfQ/ZjSb-aJ3AeM/s400/05_Day+two_Session+three_Picture+15_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418111028309528162" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image05: Day two: Session three</b></p></blockquote><br />Day 2<br />Session 3: Vision: Kerala Aspirations<br />Moderator: Shri Ashoke Chatterjee<br />Rapporteur: Shri Jogi panghal<br /><br />Panelists<br />Shri Prakash Murthy<br />Dr Sunny George<br />Prof. Vinod Krishnan<br /><br />Shri Prakash Murthy offered a checklist of actions that the KSID could take forward on an urgent basis. He stressed that the pride of the craftsmen was an issue that had to be addressed since many development initiatives have eroded that pride and it needs to be re-instilled in the social fabric of Kerala so that the youth would take up fresh initiatives in the crafts sector with design as a driver.<br /><br />Prof. Vinod Krishnan raised the issue once again as to whether the KSID should focus on Crafts or on Design as its primary activity. He suggested that the Kerala Planning Board may need to take a call on this matter and issue a clarification so that the further planning could move forward in a determined manner. He proposed that the KSID could be partnered with a leading institute of repute that could help incubate its activities in the early stages of development. He stressed that there is a need for need assessment in Kerala and he endorsed the views expressed earlier for a need survey in Kerala today. He reiterated that KSID could start with a mapping of the various design opportunities that exist and based on this concretize a plan for a design school in Kerala.<br /><br />Shri Ashoke Chatterjee commented from the Chair that that design could be carried out with crafts in focus and that incubation was a good idea. He called for a vision with an action plan and he called attention to the break between the building and architecture trade and the crafts and called for a renewal of these links through a planned programme of action by the KSID.<br /><br />Shri T M Cyriac made a visual presentation of the hotel buildings that he had designed for a local developer. He said that the hospitality industry needed good quality furniture and services that were not currently available in Kerala or for that matter in India today. He showed the work that he had outsourced from producers in Bali, Indonesia and these covered stone, glass, wood and metal components and systems that had been executed to specifications produced in his office as well as based on drawings by local artists and master craftsmen. He explained that Bali had perfected the art of giving design and production services at a reasonable cost and at good quality using a very reliable supply etnic that made his work easy. He said that Bail offered a number of ready solutions that could be customized for local appiications with ease. He specifically commented that it was easy to get a new design prototyped and fabricated through the Bali producers. This is the impact of globalization.<br /><br />In the discussions that followed many issues of globalization and cultural expression were discussed. Shri Jogi Panghal mentioned that Shri Singhal in Jaipur offered similar services to international architects using the Rajasthan crafts skills and contacts. Shri Ashoke Chatterjee added that he had seen a traditional expression done in the Carribean that was sourced from Bali. The discussion touched upon globalization, business excellence, competition and the role of crafts in the future and how KSID could take a cue for all that was happening around us today. Prof Sangita Shroff mentioned that crafts sensibilities need to be introduced from the school level itself and offered the example of the Krishmnamurthy Foundation schools that took this training and exposure very seriously for their students. Those who get such and exposure go on in life to many different occupations but they are all sensitive to art and culture and this majkes a huge difference to their professional lives and brings quality to all their activities. Shri Ashoke Chatterjee suggested that the infrastructure of the ITI’s could be a source for new opportunities for such high quality business training of artisans. He proposed the use of tools to reduce drudgery and offered a few examples of their successful use in some major projects involving stone, stained glass and other materials. Prof Sudhakar Reddy suggested that functional and utility crafts could be an area of focus. Shri Ashoke Chatterjee warned that excessive dependence on exports may harm the crafts due to rapid change in their demand structure and suggested that local markets as an alternative that could be developed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_ACDslUI/AAAAAAAACfI/c72kcS5VGJI/s1600-h/06_Day+two_Session+four_Picture+17_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD_ACDslUI/AAAAAAAACfI/c72kcS5VGJI/s400/06_Day+two_Session+four_Picture+17_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418110727744165186" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image06: Day two: Session four</b></p></blockquote><br />Prof Vinod Krishnan came forward and gave a summary of the proceedings in Malayalam for the benefit of the participants from the local NGO sector.<br /><br />Shri Ashoke Chatterjee summarized the comments and proposals from the preceding three sessions in a list of 32 specific suggestions and comments and he called for these points to be taken forward in the group workshop sessions that would follow after the groups reassembled. The groups were divided into two teams, one to look at the Administrative and Infrastructure issues that had to be addressed and the other group would look at Programmes and Activities that the KSID could take up with the immediate funds available with it and at its disposal. He listed a number of action points that had come up in all the discussions that had taken place so far.<br /><br />1. KSID needs a full time Registrar to assist the Director.<br />2. KSID needs full time Programme officers to manage and handle startup projects as well as field work type projects.<br />3. KSID Director needs a full time Office assistant.<br />4. KSID needs a full time Librarian to be able to start the acquisition of book resources in a sustained manner.<br />5. A one page brief to be developed by the working group to be given to the KSID architects and a procedure that could be implemented urgently.<br />6. Location of the budgets needed and the development of suitable heads and subheads that could be assigned to specific tasks on a priority basis.<br />7. Delegation of powers for the use of these budgets by the Director and by other functionaries based on and approved action plan.<br />8. Documentation of all programmes carried out by the KSID so far needs to be done and these should be packaged so that they can have an impact with users and the State Government and other stakeholders who need to know.<br />9.Need for marketing expertise at KSID was felt and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute could help in this matter.<br />10. Mapping Kerala with the use of rich visual mapping techniques is an urgent need.<br />11. Photography skills could be rapidly developed and shared through the medium of short courses and workshops that are aimed at specific groups.<br />12. New opportunities could be explored with obvious partners such as the ITI’s, the Weavers Service Centres and look at the needs of sunrise sectors such as the Wellness Industry and the Hospitality sector, Health sector and Sports sector with a focus on National thrust areas.<br />13. A detailed Action Plan for the immediate period and an extended plan for the first two years.<br />14. Vision and Mission explained: Vision is a picture of tomorrow : Mission is the roadmap of how to reach that goal.<br />15. KSID has not shown any real progress since May 2009 meeting and that is not acceptable. State Government need to do more.<br />16. Commenting on Prof Prabhat Patnaik’s opening address he suggested that KSID should discuss the empowerment of people and the feudal make up of the Kerala. From this base develop a clear brief for the programmes and activities of the KSID.<br />17. Crafts could be a starting point for KSID activities.<br />18. Called for a clear articulation of “what does Kerala want?” and “What does Kerala need?’ based on the call made by Prof M P Ranjan in his approach paper.<br />19. Recalled that Shri Jogi Pangal had raised the same questions and had suggested field surveys as a way to answer some of these.<br />20. Asks for recommendations for the specific crafts that could be taken forward by KSID.<br />21. Asks for an active contribution from the KSID Board for directions forward from this event.<br />22. Stressed to get activities started even if the building and campus may take some more time.<br />23. Need top explore the suggestions of having an MOU with NID and IICD at an early stage.<br />24. Explore the relationship between designers and craftspersons and build strong linkages in the discussions ahead.<br />25. Need to develop mutual respect between designers and craftsmen.<br />26. Quality – What is it? The need for clear benchmarks for KSID to follow.<br />27. Bibliographies of all crafts documentations done by NID, IICD and NIFT could be collected by the KSID as a starting point for their own research initiatives.<br />28. List of key books for KSID own resource centre may be developed and the suggested ones immediately were tha Handmade in India, Bamboo & Cane Crafts, Stone Crafts of India etc.<br />29. Invite KSID and Crafts Council of India to conduct an economic survey of the Kerala crafts sector.<br />30. Recalled suggestion by Shri Jogi Panghal that vision and mission of KSID must be value based and called for the development of a list of values that could guide the further proceedings.<br />31. The question of wheteher KSID will be a Design School may be deferred for the future discussion while direct action plans are drawn up today.<br />32. Sugggested the formation of two breakout groups that could discuss these issues in depth and prepare recommendations for the KSID management to take up later.<br /><br />In the discussions that followed Shri Jogi Panghal stressed that the visual mapping project may be taken up as a priority area. Prof M P Ranjan called for a multi disciplinary approach and said that besides designers the use of anthropologists and ethnographers may also be considered but work must be in a design mode of finding new opportunities rather than just collecting facts.<br /><br />Prof M P Ranjan stressed the need for spreading design knowledge specifically in Kerala by the use of the local language in both schools as well as at the college levels as an activity for the KSID to take up that would bring it visibility for its intellectual contributions and a better understanding of the complex subject that is much needed in India today. Kerala and KSID could take leadership by producing some popular design books that explain the subject in the local language as a co-branded product or an KSID imprint in cooperation with the publishers as well ast the authors of the selected works. He specifically recommended two books listed below for consideration.<br />1. Design and Environment by Prof Kumar Vyas, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad 2009<br />2. Design: A very Short Introduction, by Prof John Heskett, Oxford University Press – India Edition, New Delhi, 2007<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD93S4wYpI/AAAAAAAACfA/48DmFVzYJFg/s1600-h/07_Say+two_Session+five_Picture+18_ss.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M7A7Q8OD7G4/SzD93S4wYpI/AAAAAAAACfA/48DmFVzYJFg/s400/07_Say+two_Session+five_Picture+18_ss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418109478131229330" /></a><blockquote><p style="color:red"><b> Image07: Day two: Session five</b></p></blockquote><br />Working Groups Formed<br />1. Administrative and Infrastructure needs of KSID<br />2. Programmes and Activities for KSID<br /><br />Working groups assembled in two parts of the conference room and over two sessions worked our=t a checklist of recommendations that were captured on chart paper diagrams and these were presented to the plenary session in the presence of Prof Prabhat Patnaik. Base on these discussions the following recommendations emerged.<br /><br />1. Administrative and Infrastructure needs of KSID<br /> – to be detailed out and listed here by Shri P T Girish based on the notes from Prof T Y Vinod Krishnan (pictures of chart paper attached)<br /><br />2. Programmes and Activities for KSID<br />– to be detailed out and listed here by Shri P T Girish based on presentation by Prof M P Ranjan and Shri Jogi Panghal (Pictures of chart paper used in presentation attached)<br /><br />Concluding Session<br />Prof Pratap Patnaik summed up the conference presentations and complimented the delegates for the huge effort that had been put in over the two days at Kovalam. He agreed that the Infrastructure plans and activity plans for the KSID would need to be informed by flexibility in thinking and both the space and faculty planning had scope for innovation. He agreed that flexibility was important for a design institute and that all design institutes must be open to new ideas. He agreed that the KSID had started out as an Institute for design and the crafts sector could well be one of its major areas of focus in the early years. The intentions of the KSID have been articulated in the MOA based on which it was registered but the Government of Kerala had an open mind and the experts could shape the institute as we moved forward. However he suggested that we should not loose sight of design as a driver for the activities at the KSID.<br /><br />He opined that KSID may face many hurdles and being in the Government sector may bring in its own constraints but this he felt should not burden the KSID and sometimes the struggle is within ourselves in articulating clearly where we would like to go from here. Frozen structures can only damage the long term viability of any entity and many great institutes tend to loose their vitality after sometime. He urged that the KSID would work in ways to keep this vitality alive for a long time to come and this needs vision and a clarity of mission. He recalled that in the West there are many institutes of excellence that have kept amazing us repeatedly over long periods of time, some over 100 or more years. History of its establishment may have set up some constraints for the KSID but while finance may take some time to respond he did not feel that there were any major constraints that would impede the development of an institute such as the KSID. He felt that there was a need to continue the dialogue with experts as had been done over the past two days and while the Geography in Kerala may be a bit of a constraint with limits set by the hills and the seas the mind need not be limited by these geographic limitations. He suggested that both the Governing Body and an Executive Body or Council could be considered if found necessary for operational reasons and thanked the members for their contributions at the conference and workshop sessions at Kovalam over the past two days.<br /><br />The above post was drafted based on my notes at the two day conference at Kovalam on 9th and 10th November 2009.<br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp/Menu22.html">Prof M P Ranjan</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Prof. M P Ranjan is a design educator from India's National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.</div>Prof. M P Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087205148848576540noreply@blogger.com10