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ShareIndia needs a design language. Ranjona Banerji sits in on a discussion to figure out just what should ideally be done
What is the Indian concept of design? Can anyone help us to develop it? Vikas Satwalekar, former director of the National Institute ofDesign, India's foremost
design school, talked of the 'jugalbandi' between design and practicality shown in our folk art.
Do we play out that 'jugalbandi' in other aspects of design? Dodesigners function best with limits?
These and other questions were discussed at the inauguration of the Indian Design Lab, set up in collaboration with the Italian Design Foundation (IDF) and IDA Milano at Mumbai's JJ College of Architecture.
The idea behind IDL India is to "create concrete possibilities to support and encourage the greatest Indian design figures of tomorrow... The lab will be open not only to JJ College students but also to the entire design world in India".
Ratan Batliboi, one of Mumbai's better-known architects, now involved in the Marine Drive beautification project, went straight to the point, "Is this one more of those 'India Shining' projects which will die out? What is our master plan?"
Batliboi talked of Golden Eye, a collaborative effort between India and Italy put together by design impressario Rajeev Sethi, with some success. Or not, since nothing further happened.
The answer came from Italian architect Alberto Cannetta, "The relationship started 25 years ago but India then was not ready for design. Today, industry is looking for collaboration."
Cannetta is an integral part of the project, together with designer Franco Poli and Andrea Oliva, who has worked with students at JJ on a hospitality exhibition in Bangalore and one of the chairs pictured here.
The Indians present were all concerned about the practicality of the design lab. Would it be open to everyone? Would it be too esoteric? How far would the Italian collaborators be willing to go with their help? Young architect Arjun Malik pointed out, very aptly, how India has not been able to exploit its vast and rich heritage to create a modern language of design.
The arts of deconstruction and reconstruction were left to themselves when they should have been thoroughly exhausted.
The question of practicality and design excited the most comment. This is where the manufacturers came in. Design had to be workable. It was of no use if designers let their creativity loose only to imagine items impossible to produce. Mustansir Dalvi of the JJ School of Architecture said architects tended to generalise, but, "I am interested in getting my hands dirty.
We have to learn to live with design in every aspect of our lives." Satwalekar added, "Instead of a rarefied atmosphere, the process ofdesign should be exposed to the generalpublic so they can understand it."
And so the discussion came down to how the Italians can contribute. Oliva looked at the practicality of making prototypes and using the media. Cannetta felt design can become an integral part ofIndian life -- not just for the wealthy or people with good taste. Everyone from the designer to the plumber has to beinvolved.
(Some of the pictures used here are of Italian design products to be exhibited across India and exemplary of thequality and design language discussed.)
That might be the biggest challenge. Here's one more. The JJ School of Art was started in 1857. It is an intriguing and grand series of buildings, indicative of Colonial architecture, set in Mumbai's prized heritage precinct. The first architecture class was held in 1900.
The round table is in a hot room in early spring, with no cross-ventilation and fans so noisy that they were switched off. It was all there:talented designers, rich heritage and
impractical spaces.
This much is clear: there was strong commitment and interest. And hope. Now we have to see an Indian design language develop.
