Saurabh Tewari | IIT Delhi (original) (raw)

Books Chapters by Saurabh Tewari

Ergonomics for Design and Innovation, Humanizing Work and Work Environment: Proceedings of HWWE 2021, 2022

Misconceptions, ignorance, and lack of awareness regarding menstruation lead to several issues in... more Misconceptions, ignorance, and lack of awareness regarding menstruation lead to several issues in the urban schools in India, including period shaming. The research enquires into the understanding among the stakeholders: school-going students, parents and teachers about menstruation and its communication issues and offers designs to minimise period shaming. The study analyses the dynamics of mensuration's education, communication and real-life experiences. It employs various design research methods, including in-depth interviews with visual card sorting, semi-structured interviews and focussed group discussions. The research explores the human factors involving school-going children in dealing with culturally challenging issues around mensuration, gender roles and perceptions. It delineates the understanding for design for different stakeholders. It then proposes a multi-point design solution: including counselling sessions, curriculum changes, and an activity kit, ‘Peek-a-boo’, to re-learn puberty and minimise period shaming in the urban schools. It attempts to expand the emerging discussion on Social Ergonomics and Communication Design.

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

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

Research into Design for Communities, 2017

The paper examines the ideas and works of two architectural design practices, Hunnarshala and Lau... more The paper examines the ideas and works of two architectural design practices, Hunnarshala and Laurie Baker that emerged over a period of time in different geographies. The paper argues that their architectural practices reflect consistent Gandhian ethos and highlight discursive elements of a Gandhian framework. The paper employs a reflexive 'making-sense' of actual, lived experience ; reading them as 'texts' using as a lens, the works of thinkers and practitioners in the field of social design, including ideas on grassroots creativity and innovation. As derivation, it advances a unified framework for social design and innovation that transcends distinctions of scale, time, and geography, as a Gandhian framework, where one may contextualize various design and innovation practices within the spectrum.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Uday Athavankar is currently an adjunct professor at the IDC School of Design at the Indian Insti... more Uday Athavankar is currently an adjunct professor at the IDC School of Design at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. After graduating in 1966 from Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy College of Architecture, Mumbai, he spent four years working with architect Kamu Iyer in Bombay.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Sudhakar Nadkarni is a designer and design educator from India. He studied Commercial Art at J. J... more Sudhakar Nadkarni is a designer and design educator from India. He studied Commercial Art at J. J. School of Art at Bombay (Mumbai) where he spent his formative years as a practicing commercial artist. In the sixties, he got an opportunity to study Industrial Design at HfG Ulm, Germany. In his four years of stay at Ulm (1962–1966), he was influenced by his teachers, including Maldonaldo, Gugelot, and Aicher, and their teaching methods based on the scientific and humanistic attitude towards design and users, beyond the then established artistic paradigms. In 1966, he went back to India and joined the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, as a Faculty member. In 1969, in search of better systemic opportunities he moved from the city of Ahmedabad to Bombay. Along with V. N. Adarkar, he founded the Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and headed it for the first eighteen years.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2019

Established in 1969, the IDC School of Design (previously known as the Industrial Design Centre) ... more Established in 1969, the IDC School of Design (previously known as the Industrial Design Centre) at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, was the first design school in any technical education environment in India. It has expanded through the years, from its initial offering of a diploma course to the current variety of multi-level degree courses in design, including doctoral studies.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Landscape urbanism is an emergent discourse adopting landscape as a reference point to observe th... more Landscape urbanism is an emergent discourse adopting landscape as a reference point to observe the city and urban life. It attempts to think beyond the binary manifestation of man-nature and architecture-landscape and employs the unison of ecology, urban planning, and design. Instead of being an end-product, landscape is thus placed at the center of the urban design-thinking process.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Kalaa is a word from the Indian art tradition which is often used as a parallel or as a translati... more Kalaa is a word from the Indian art tradition which is often used as a parallel or as a translation of the word “art.” However, the synonym is just superficial. Indology scholars argue that the translation of the Sanskrit word “kalaa” as “art” does not justify the contextual richness and historical layering of the word. The Indian roots of “to design” and “to delve into the practice of innovation” go back to the ancient texts. Vyas (2000) refers to the origin of kalaa in the ancient Hindu text, Atharvaveda, and its later outcomes such as Sthapatyashastra and Manasaara, where the concept of kalaa was defined and elaborated through various skill-based forms. The Shabdakalpadruma describes kalaa as “That which can be perceived to understand is Kalaa.” Vyas further details kalaa as a human process that includes the stages of perception, cognition, inspiration, acquisition, and its application of a skill-form. The only parallel word that he could find, comprising as many meanings and possibilities, is the Greek word “tekhne,” meaning both art and technology.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

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

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Product semantics is the study of the symbolic qualities of human-made forms in the cognitive and... more Product semantics is the study of the symbolic qualities of human-made forms in the cognitive and social contexts of their use. The fundamental purpose of this theory and method is to treat the form of a designed object as a message and offer possibilities for designers to intervene in the form-making process. Beyond the functional paradigms, the foundation of product semantics lies in several concepts such as making sense of things, emerging meanings, understanding categories, interaction with interfaces and surfaces, affordances and motivating engagements.

Conference Proceedings by Saurabh Tewari

Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design: RSD 11, 2022

This paper illustrates the communication design project, Chawalgatha, that attempts to showcase h... more This paper illustrates the communication design project, Chawalgatha, that attempts to showcase how indigenous knowledge plays a vital role in sustainability. The project encourages people for its significance in protecting, preserving and promoting them to address climate change. The study employs 2

2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, 2021

The new millennium widened the forms and perception of design as ‘Objects, Communications, Spaces... more The new millennium widened the forms and perception of design as ‘Objects, Communications, Spaces, Events, Services, Systems, Environments, Organisations, Futures’ and associated it with ‘the idea of transformation’ (Ranjan, 2015). This expansion of forms and the idea of transformation is pertinent to the urgency displayed in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2015). Be it Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), Sustainable Cities and Communities, or Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG3), the design has a role, agency and ability to critically and constructively address each of the seventeen SDGs poignantly. The author argues that the 'design' needs to be expanded to work in the larger world, with plural world-views, in facilitating the process. The paper elaborates thematic threads, which Design Education (DE) structures and networks can pursue to advance the next paradigm in its pedagogy. This paradigm (or paradigms) will surely be more relatable to the context and localities, and empathetic to the users and the mother earth. Elaborating the threads as critical practice will also allow DE to offer integrated solutions (UNDP, 2019) towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, 2021

As the seminal India Report laid the foundation for the National Institute of Design (2013), a de... more As the seminal India Report laid the foundation for the National Institute of Design (2013), a decade later, inspired by HfG Ulm and shaped by its local conditions (Rane, 2017), the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay emerged as another hub for Industrial Design Education in India. Together they formed the two ideological cradles, where the first formal discourse of Industrial Design in India occurred. Reflecting on the projects, pedagogical models and philosophy from India, including Balaram (2005), Vyas (2010), Ranjan (2015), particularly IDC and NID, the paper here teases out the potential paths to pursue in the current scenario of design education in India and the larger developing world.

Design for Tomorrow—Volume 1, Proceedings of ICoRD 2021, 2021

A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to ... more A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to understand the design strategies by existing brands and the consumers' perception about the same. The objective of the study was to know if all the additional values of a product of such kind are effectively communicated through their packaging. This study utilises Product Semantics as a tool to analyse the packaging design at two broad parameters of the conceptual framework; Packaging Semantics and Branding Semantics; encompassing a range of factors like form, shape, material and texture of the packaging and the use of typeface, colour and graphics on it. Multiple user surveys and reviews conclude that there is an evident gap in the effective communication of the values of sustainable products with the existing design strategies. New strategies were then devised to design packaging for the three different types of products to overcome the shortcomings in the existing strategies.

The paper showcase embedded dimensions of sustainability in Architect Laurie Baker’s philosophy a... more The paper showcase embedded dimensions of sustainability in Architect Laurie Baker’s philosophy and practice of architecture through looking into his words and works. Sustainability, taken as a holistic concept here, is elaborated on ecological, economic, human, cultural and historical dimensions. Each of these dimensions has been supported through a Baker’s quote with supporting work illustration. The background covers the post-independence dilemmas of choosing between revivalism and modernism. It then moves to the changing landscape of sustainability in architecture’s practice and academia. Later through case demonstration, it suggest that the need of searching a relevant sustainable model for our own contextual needs of architecture can be met through Baker’s philosophy.

Back to the Future. The Future in the Past, 2018

In the last six decades in India, like many developing nations, Design has repositioned and elabo... more In the last six decades in India, like many developing nations, Design has repositioned and elaborated in/ by various visions. The research studies these changing positions of/on Design in the events, declarations and policies at different Design schools of postcolonial India. A mix of primary and secondary study looks into the timeframe from India’s independence in 1947 to the present and reflect on the nature and making of these positions and visions. Through the people and documents of/about events, declarations, charters, documents, working papers, and formal proposals, it analyses and presents the visions of Design as foundational, developmental, postmodern, neo-liberal and retrospective visions.

In the larger developing world context, the idea of ‘care’ is most visible in Gandhi’s ideas. Tho... more In the larger developing world context, the idea of ‘care’ is most visible in Gandhi’s ideas. Though Gandhi was not a designer in established notions, as an excellent communicator and critical political activist, his sense of ‘care’ was reflected in most of his thoughts and actions. He famously argued for the idea of ‘Sarvodaya’ or ‘Well-Being of All'; a thought deeply influenced by the work of John Ruskin. This action can be seen as an act of care for fellow human beings and their human rights. From Indian political history, when Gandhi dreamt of India’s future, the ‘care’ for various factors remained central in his vision. Be it caring for the human labor or towards reclaiming the environment, or cultural values to the village structures

Though most heard music from India is from the Bollywood, the paper is about the indigenous Rock ... more Though most heard music from India is from the Bollywood, the paper is about the indigenous Rock music in India. This genre of music has seen a tremendous growth and exposure with the dawn of new millennium and its new media. Its representation through its album art has also seen an evolution as its music. Indian Independent Rock has been experimenting with western music and attempting to fuse it with Indian ragas added with (at times) local issues. Like the music, the representation also tried to be away from the mainstream. The research will attempt to understand the nature of contemporary Indian Rock Bands through their Visual Identity and Representations. The process involves here a series of analysis and interpretations including, looking at the Cover and seeing its Form and Structure, Texture and Type. It will further attempt interpreting its meaning, predicting the music and its nature and a synchronization analysis.

The paper explores how in different phases of architecture in India the process of coalescence wa... more The paper explores how in different phases of architecture in India the process of coalescence was integral to the form making. Also, how this logic of coalescence transformed itself to provide new meanings to the design decisions in the making of architecture in India. The attempt here is to not just explore the physical traces and manifestations of knowledge and technology as architecture but also instigating ideas like belief systems and ideology that facilitated the transformation of architecture in India.

With a focus on different phases in the objectives of the research is to understand:
a. Coalescence in different eras in the architecture of India
b. The process of coalescence making
c. Role of ideology (political), if any, in coalescence making

To understand this nature of Indian Architecture, a phase wise paradigm defining ideology is taken to illustrate architecture and coalescence making further. With a supposition that ideology is the predecessor of architecture, a timeline review from the evolution of religions to the current lifestyle from India has been taken here from the rise of Buddhism to the post-liberalization mutations that the society is witnessing.

The paper is primarily a secondary study which is based on scholarly studies in architecture of India. The examples, architectural buildings, taken in the studies do not represent a consistent ‘type’ of buildings and are generally elitist in nature. Otherwise, they are era/region defining examples.

Ergonomics for Design and Innovation, Humanizing Work and Work Environment: Proceedings of HWWE 2021, 2022

Research into Design for Communities, 2017

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2019

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design: RSD 11, 2022

2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, 2021

Design for Tomorrow—Volume 1, Proceedings of ICoRD 2021, 2021

Back to the Future. The Future in the Past, 2018

The paper talks about the neo-urbanism in the post-millennial cities of India. It argues that in ... more The paper talks about the neo-urbanism in the post-millennial cities of India. It argues that in order to understand Urban Dynamics of the year 2032, it is important to understand the citizens’ or users’ behaviour and position in the context of post-millenial cities of India. The attempt is to observe the phenomenon of Deterritorialization in the Indian cities by defining the residents in the city based on Apaadurai’s analysis points of ethnicity, financial capacity, purchasing power, media exposure and mobility in the city. It looks into the space-time matrix to define user categories, to identify features of this Neo-urbamism which was always there, but could only be interpreted with time. The case here taken is the city of Gurgaon and a focus is on possible interfaces, which will bring together its users in order to make this bouquet into a liveable city

Design Issues, Jan 2019

Preamble In the fall of 1991 the Munich Design Charter was published in Design Issues. This chart... more Preamble In the fall of 1991 the Munich Design Charter was published in Design Issues. This charter was written as a design-led "call to arms" on the future nations and boundaries of Europe. The signatories of the Munich Design Charter saw the problem of Europe, at that time, as fundamentally a problem of form that should draw on the creativity and expertise of design. Likewise, the Does Design Care…? workshop held at Imagination , Lancaster University in the autumn of 2017 brought together a multidisciplinary group of people from 16 nations across 5 continents, who, at a critical moment in design discourse saw a problem with the future of Care. The Lancaster Care Charter has been written in response to the vital question "Does Design Care…?" and via a series of conversations, stimulated by a range of presentations that explored a range of provocations , insights, and more questions, provides answers for the contemporary context of Care. With nation and boundary now erased by the flow of Capital the Charter aims to address the complex and urgent challenges for Care as both the future possible and the responsibility of design. The Lancaster Care Charter presents a collective vision and sets out new pragmatic encounters for the design of Care and the care of Design.

Design Issues, 2019

As an outcome of the seminar "Does Design Care...?" held in Lancaster, UK in 2017, the participan... more As an outcome of the seminar "Does Design Care...?" held in Lancaster, UK in 2017, the participants produced and signed this article. The article aims at defining the concept of Care in relation to Design and the way researchers and practitioners should include it in their work.

Indian Architect and Builder, Aug 2007

The following text can be seen in the context of Indian Cities, where parallel societies flourish... more The following text can be seen in the context of Indian Cities, where parallel societies flourish themselves independently. One of the examples of these transformations in our vicinity is the presence of two worlds, the formal and the informal. They are considered dichotomous and mutually independent by the policy and law-makers. But in reality, they are part of one function. The interdependence can not be neglected while thinking and imagining a city.

Under the similar process of observation; the city of Gurgaon has seen unprecedented growth in the last five years. This millennium city consisted of Multi National Companies and Operations, to whom and through which the millennium image was propagated. But, the whole story looks superficial when it is investigated or just experienced by the user.

The Design Journal, 2018

Design history conferences often echo with the laments of leaving out the 'peripheral' and postco... more Design history conferences often echo with the laments of leaving out the 'peripheral' and postcolonial accounts. There have been attempts to ‘bridge the gaps’ in the last two decades first through the initiation of the International Conferences on Design History and Studies (ICDHS) and later in the year 2013 through the Design History Society’s first annual meet outside Europe at The National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India. Scholars have taken these opportunities to challenge the hegemony of the ‘centre’ by presenting the accounts from larger geographies of design on broader facets like craft, communication and architecture. However, comprehensive accounts of institutional history around design in postcolonial India have only been few. The recent ‘50-years retrospective’ by National Institute of Design Ahmedabad’s is one such monograph. So, here comes a version which voices another school of design from postcolonial India, Industrial Design Centre at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IDC), now approaching its fiftieth year of existence.

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

Indian Society has been a cultural space where different layers of ideologies co-exist. Theoretic... more Indian Society has been a cultural space where different layers of ideologies co-exist. Theoretically and constitutionally, it pretends to be equal and secular. At the ground level, it seems to be partial and castist through its prevalent Manuwadi philosophy which differentiate people on the hereditarily basis of their caste (jobs as origin). At the same time, it is multifaceted and optimist through its new ‘educated’ youth’s ideologies. The 2007 was the year of ‘change’ for a specific set of people in the largest state of India, Uttar Pradesh. This was the year when a Dalit, traditionally untouchables and people from lower castes, became the Chief Minister of this state with a clear majority.

Lucknow, the capital of the most populated state of India, Uttar Pradesh, has seen only two partons who have so drastically redefined the architectural character of the city. First was the Nawab Asaf-ud-Daullah who employed the citizens of Awadh (Uttar Pradesh) to create a mass scale public architecture. Second, recently, has been Mayawati, the first elected Dalit Chief Minister of the state, who employed architecture to redefine the meaning of public space for its citizens. The architecture propagates the ideology of Dalit caste pride in a ‘never so bold’ tone.
During her first definite 5 year term from 2007, Mayawati decided to concrete the Monument dedicated to Dalit Struggle in the history of India. The monument actually started from one of her first short terms, as the head of the power in the state in 1997. Including the Lord Buddha, she chose Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, who wrote the constitution of India, as Principal Dalit icon to be propagated through this building complex as bronze statues. Around Ambedkar, other Dalit leaders like social reformist Jyotiba Phule were also projected to create a space of respect for Dalit Struggle and bringing in a new sense of Dalit Pride within the people in the state and the rest of the country. Later, she installed statues of her mentor Manyavar Kanshiram’s statues or idols to create a sense of ‘Idol’ism, which is prevalent in the traditional Hindu lifestyle and practices. Moreover, she has created her own Stalinist statues in the public parks (Dalit memorials) to mark herself as the revivalist or messiah of Dalits in India.
The core philosophy of Dalit reforms and creating a caste pride borrowed ideas from Lord Buddha, his life and Buddhism as a way of life. Interestingly, the manifestation of these ideas as public spaces in Lucknow in the form of Dalit memorial looks paradoxical to the root ideology of simplicity and materialistic surrender.
The paper aims to investigate, how Mayawati explores the power of permanence of architecture to create a mark in Indian time and space. It will map and analyze the emergence of this Dalit Space as a Physical, through a Symbolic Architectural Manifestation of Ambedkar Dalit Inspiration Monument at Lucknow, and as Ideological Identity in India and its politics.

Note: Self-Design and Self-Published This book is about the most relevant Architect worked in... more Note: Self-Design and Self-Published

This book is about the most relevant Architect worked in India, Laurie Baker.Born in Birmingham, England. Educated
at King Edwards Grammar School & The Birmingham School of Architecture, he came to India as the Chief Architect of the
Mission to Lepers. From there on, he served mankind.
Source: http://wwww.lauriebaker.net
Original Photographs: Bruno Vellut

गांधी प्रसंग, 2019

मौजूदा विकास-विमर्श के बरक्स भी अपने खास संदर्भ और देश-काल के अनुरूप ऐसे कुछ प्रमाण हैं जो सतत वि... more मौजूदा विकास-विमर्श के बरक्स भी अपने खास संदर्भ और देश-काल के अनुरूप ऐसे कुछ प्रमाण हैं जो सतत विकास की ज्ञान प्रणालियों को बचाए रखने में सक्षम रहे हैं। यह शोध आलेख एक ऐसे ही प्रकरण पर केन्द्रित है और जिसकी नीचे केस स्टडी के बतौर चर्चा की गई है। यह प्रसंग विकास के अगले प्रतिमान में गांधीवादी सिद्धांतों को दर्शाने और मुख्यधारा में आगे बढ़ाने की क्षमता रखता है।

In pre-independent India, modernism was seen as a pragmatic tool to abolish then prominent ill sy... more In pre-independent India, modernism was seen as a pragmatic tool to abolish then prominent ill systems of cast, gender, region and religion by the British and the scholars. During the struggle for independence, Gandhi and Tagore advocated this thought as a tool of social change. Tagore moved away from the traditional oriental ideas to experiment Modern education at Shantiniketan in India like Bauhaus was doing in Europe [Chaudhuri, 2000]. Gandhi, on the other hand, interpreted ideas from the source texts of Hinduism and suggested working at both, philosophical and physical levels. Post independence, the movement departed from Gandhi’s interpretation of developing innate modernism to Nehru’s vision of Global Modernism which was very much visible in the practice of public architecture [Lang, 2000 and Mehrotra, 2011].
The case of post-liberal architecture, Mehrotra (2011) has documented, classified and articulated the period of 1990-2010 as a period of great progress and emerging identities. Similarly in the other associated fields of design too, the liberalisation during the late early nineties brought a new design culture in India where modernism became its impetus. This modernism first diversified, often measely interpreted and finally could not settle for a one form. Like, various multiples co-exist in the design culture of vivacious India; during this process, newer identities were created with the modernism too having different forms. Out of these, three major forms of Indian alternative modernism of the post-liberal era (1990-2010) have been elaborated in the paper as: Globalised, Indigenous and Critical.
The paper will illustrate that how these three major forms can be realised in the design culture of India, through the case studies of everyday products, music, and food design culture. The study will look into the post-liberal scenario of India, where it suddenly got exposed to multiple geographical and technological cultures.

Objectives - How this course can act as a bridge to further Architecture and Design study which ... more Objectives
- How this course can act as a bridge to further Architecture and Design study which involves design thinking towards space making?
- To conduct not just a course but an experience
- To make learners visualise the elements of design as a narrative
- Not just focus on skills and knowledge but also on most the pragmatic aspect its application
- To ignite an aptitude of interaction, criticism and reflection
- A constructive approach towards creation and form making
- To introduce them towards the ‘design thinking’

Course Contents
- Principles of design and elements of design.
- Functionality of space and sequential function.
- Exploration of patterns with 2 D compositions.
- Exploration of form through 3 D compositions.
- Study of Anthropometrics

Methodology
- Exercises to increase perception and sensitivity of the students about space.
- Short exercises in design and layout of personal space, rooms etc.
- A ‘levels’ based learning is facilitated, where there is a journey from one dimension of space to thinking in volumes and time.
- A learner can experience and understand the design thinking process towards form and space making.

Through an investigation into post-colonial Design History of India, the paper explores the holis... more Through an investigation into post-colonial Design History of India, the paper explores the holistic design principles driven by Socio-Environmental Visions from the Indian Subcontinent. It begins with discussions from Gandhi’s spectacle, where Social, Environmental and Humanitarian domains overlap to form a utopia, which is self-governed. It will discuss Gandhi’s “India of My Dreams” in the context of Design. Some of the key points the paper will elaborate are:
- Food Design
- Textile Design
- Product Design
- Architecture
- Urban Design

The Story of a Chair: Transformations in the Design Culture of India, 2016

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the transformations in Design Culture in India along... more The objective of this paper is to illustrate the transformations in Design Culture in India along with and after the economic liberalization of the year 1991. From Textiles to Films, Graphic Design to Food Design, Fashion to Architecture, the post-liberal transformations are evident in the design culture of India. This poster attempts an overview on the practices of Furniture Design, specifically through ‘chairs’, which is the protagonist in this study and one of the most ubiquitous examples of modern piece of furniture design. It lies in a unique interface of space, object and its relationship with user. For the scope of this poster, the theme of modernity in chair design in India and how it negotiates with the fields of design culture (in the production and distribution domain) is taken as the narrative.

Design Journal, Sep 3, 2018

Smart innovation, systems and technologies, 2021

Moving beyond the models of passive learning through secondary sources, the design aims at employ... more Moving beyond the models of passive learning through secondary sources, the design aims at employing an interpreted form of indigenous design tradition to engage children in various creative art and craft activities. In this case, the Gond paintings of Madhya Pradesh and its visual forms are explored to create an activity kit. The methodology in designing the learning tool involved a series of steps to conceptualise, develop and synthesise a designed product. The dots and lines activity book and the Gond art learning kit inspire kids to pursue creative art and craft activities at an early age.

Smart innovation, systems and technologies, 2017

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

Smart innovation, systems and technologies, 2021

Visual media is an essential medium of political communication which is used by various stakehold... more Visual media is an essential medium of political communication which is used by various stakeholders in democracies. However, most people engaging in political discourse are not professionally trained in design and are unable to communicate their messages effectively through visual media. The process of designing visual political communication (VPC) can be made more effective by incorporating domain-specific design principles in the design process. These design principles are identified by an examination of existing research on perception and cognition of VPC and analysis of its useful examples. An application, PowerPost, is proposed based on the basis of this analysis.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016

Design and Culture, Jan 2, 2018

Smart innovation, systems and technologies, 2021

A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to ... more A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to understand the design strategies by existing brands and the consumers’ perception about the same. The objective of the study was to know if all the additional values of a product of such kind are effectively communicated through their packaging. This study utilises product semantics as a tool to analyse the packaging design at two broad parameters of the conceptual framework; packaging semantics and branding semantics; encompassing a range of factors like form, shape, material and texture of the packaging and the use of typeface, colour and graphics on it. Multiple user surveys and reviews conclude that there is an evident gap in the effective communication of the values of sustainable products with the existing design strategies. New strategies were then devised to design packaging for the three different types of products to overcome the shortcomings in the existing strategies.

Smart innovation, systems and technologies, 2017

Design for Tomorrow—Volume 1, 2021

A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to ... more A study of packaging for three different types of sustainable domestic products was conducted to understand the design strategies by existing brands and the consumers’ perception about the same. The objective of the study was to know if all the additional values of a product of such kind are effectively communicated through their packaging. This study utilises product semantics as a tool to analyse the packaging design at two broad parameters of the conceptual framework; packaging semantics and branding semantics; encompassing a range of factors like form, shape, material and texture of the packaging and the use of typeface, colour and graphics on it. Multiple user surveys and reviews conclude that there is an evident gap in the effective communication of the values of sustainable products with the existing design strategies. New strategies were then devised to design packaging for the three different types of products to overcome the shortcomings in the existing strategies.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design

Lecture notes in networks and systems, 2022

Back to the future. The future in the past : ICDHS 10th+1 Barcelona 2018: conference proceedings book, 2018, ISBN 9788491681717, págs. 637-649, 2018

Design for Tomorrow—Volume 1, 2021

The research aims to experimentally evolve visual design fundamentals by borrowing literary princ... more The research aims to experimentally evolve visual design fundamentals by borrowing literary principles from Hindi Vyakaran (Hindi grammar system). Alankars, which are literary devices in Hindi Vyakaran, are used to enrich literary compositions through the playfulness of structure and enhanced meaning. This study methodologically explores Alankars in the context of visual design. The pragmatics of the research employs Madhubani folk-art tradition from the region of Mithila in India. Compositions using visual elements and styles of traditional Madhubani folkart attempt to understand the structures and meanings of Shabd Alankar and Artha Alankar in the research. The study highlights the potential of indigenous knowledge systems to offer a methodological lens for visual design research.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design, 2016