Pecha Kucha Night, Pune. Vol- 1. A review.

Pecha Kucha Night Pune – Vol 1.

Couple of hours to go before the first Pecha Kucha Night in Pune, and all of us at Sarvasva Designs were going crazy over looping all presentations and checking, rechecking the same. Mukund, my co-Director at Sarvasva was at the venue with Manasi and setting up the screen, checking the sound system and getting the venue ready.

I for one, had not been nervous till the D-day had dawned. We had everything in control, or so I thought, completely focusing only on the presentations, while my team ran around working on the rest of the event details. Of course, later on, my excitement and nervousness combined became a potential time bomb ready to explode.

We had a surprise guest that day, an experienced Pecha Kucha Nighter… all the way from UK – and who had his presentation ready to showcase again. So we thought, why not?! Let’s begin with his presentation as a prelude to the actual Pune PKN. Which is why, Supriya from our office, was on her way to pick up the presentation. All of this, just few hours before 20:20pm, the scheduled time.

When we reached the venue, we were actually pleasantly surprised that people were on time. In India, we joke about the IST (Indian Standard Time), which can differ from a mere 5 minutes to couple of hours from the actual scheduled time. In this case, things were on time. So began our first PKN in Pune.

Our basic round of introduction was short and sweet because Mark and Astrid and the Tokyo team had created a wonderful video on PKN that made my job easier. And what was lovely was the personalized touch. It had “Hello Pune!” all over it, making us very welcomed, and very much part of the large family PKN is.

The prelude of course began with our surprise guest of the evening- Sunand Prasad. A well-known architect and founder of Penoyre & Prasad, UK; Sunand is also the ex-President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and we were glad to have him present because it set precedence for the next 11 presenters, of how to actually speak in 6m.40seconds. His presentation was that of an ingenious concept he had thought of – the recreating and setting up of the now non-existent, but still famous Crystal Palace.

We then officially declared the first volume of Pecha Kucha Night –Pune as begun.

Taking the cue from Sunand, next spoke Shrikant Nivasarkar- one of the most influential architect and designer from India, and also the first Indian to become the President of the IFI (International Federation of Interior Architect / Designers). He talked about the process of creating an ergonomic and eco-friendly chair through his topic, ‘The Story of a Chair’. His in-depth knowledge and also passion for furniture design came across through his brilliant work.

Our third presenter for the evening, and arguably one of the most atypical kinds of personalities we had that evening was Pankaj Sapkal. An industrial designer by profession, Pankaj has great know-how of many things under the sun…one of which he shared with us. His topic being ‘Diet & Creativity’, which had the audience hooked on, amused as well as curious.

Falguni Gokhale, our next presenter, is a well-known graphic designer. But she is an equally good or better painter. And her presentation took us through her journey as a painter, amidst various colours, textures, styles of painting…one better than the other. She didn’t speak, she didn’t have to- her paintings spoke more than enough.

Completely different in nature of topic was that of our next presenter. Suhas Deo, an architect, left the audience spell bound through his presentation on ‘Orchids’. One would never have thought that there could be such a large variety, and growing right here in India. And Suhas’ love for the plant shone through, allowing us all to be absorbed in that magic.

Our first poetry session began with Nidheesh Tyagi, editor of a well-known local newspaper. His timing was accurate- just three seconds before the allotted time limit, Nidheesh finished the last of his poems- which he had dedicated to his daughter.

Another senior journalist, and senior editor of a renowned newspaper, Sunanda Mehta took us along with her on her journey to ‘Greenland’. It was wonderful seeing the beautiful icescapes, the small little witty notes that Sunanda had posted about her trip, and the overall beauty of a country very different from our own.

BEEEEEEEEEEEER BREAK! Which was opposed by many- but we told them that we had to break- we must follow rules! So we had a short ten minute break to allow people to relieve their legs and whatever else, meet up and interact and also check out the venue and drinks (which incidentally was not beer).

But as quickly as they had dispersed, the audience was back on their seats to take some more of Pecha Kucha. Which started off with an interesting presentation on ‘Chinese Gardens’ by Varsha Gavandi, a landscape designer. Details of materials, planning, water bodies and more were introduced during this talk.

The next presentation was a splash of colour, text styles and great Indian music. Sanjeev Joshi, architect and artist, showed his calligraphy and water colour paintings, on the soundtrack of Vande Mataram by A.R.Rahman. It had the crowd going oohing and aahing and asking Sanjeev to take workshops.

Priya Sarukkai Chabria is a poet and novelist, and also was our ninth presenter of the Pune PKN (not including Sunand). She recited few of her poems before putting on a soundtrack of a beautiful poem called ‘Spirit of Water’, which had music playing in the background of the poetry recitation. There was a complete hush in the venue as this track was played, creating a very ethereal and uplifting feeling to the evening.

Our host of the evening was Christopher Charles Benninger, a renowned and extremely respected architect in India. It was his office courtyard that was turned to become the venue of our PKN. We had actually gone to invite him to be one of the presenters, and a talk on venues, or lack of them, with Ram, the Managing Director at CCBA- Christopher’s firm, got us this beautiful space as the very befitting venue for the first PKN in Pune.

Christopher was the next presenter, after Priya. And he showed a very crisp film on building a ‘green’ and sustainable architecture, city and life.

Our last presenter or rather presenters, as there were two of them, were young Kathak exponents- Kaveri Agashe and Sheetal Kolwalkar. Kaveri spoke about the nuances of the dance and then they both gave a brilliant performance, marking the end of the night with a big bang.

When I thanked the audience for coming and bid them goodnight, I could sense the imperceptible disappointment of the crowd because the night was over. But overriding that was the buzz of anticipation for the next PKN, as well as the joy of experiencing the first here in Pune as well as the variety of topics.

And finally, that was all we wanted… for everybody to enjoy this first PKN and support us for all the next ones to come- which was evident through the comments left by the guests… Yeh Dil Maange More! (This heart wants more… )

Pune Pecha Kucha Night- vol 1

The Indian Express paper carried a review of the Pune Pecha Kucha Night -vol 1. The first article in the papers today…. the captions are a bit mixed up, and the paper is carrying an apology for the same. Nevertheless, the article carries the essence of the event very well.

Indian Express, October 26,2009

The Pune Mirror too carried a note… here’s the link:

Pune’s first Pecha Kucha Night

Sarvasva Designs welcomes all to attend the first Pecha Kucha Night in Pune. We have a wonderful mix of designers, artists, architects, journalists, environmentalists and more… making this night one full of great insights, inspirations and interactions!

To know more, see the link or write to pknpune@gmail.com; and also see http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/pune/1/

`Pecha Kucha’ or PKN as it is better known as, is a presentation format in which creative work can be easily and informally shown by any individual. The name is derived from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation or ‘chit-chat’. The idea here is to say or show something interesting or our experience in a creative way. PKN is currently held in over 250 cities across the world.

The first Pune PKN brings together architects, artists, designers,entrepreneurs, journalists and more, on a single platform.
DATE : 23rd October 2009, TIME : 08:20 pm to 10.30 pm
VENUE : `India House’,
Christopher Charles Benninger Architects Pvt. Ltd. (CCBA)
53, Sopanbaug Society, Opp.Bharatiya Vidyapeeth School,
Balewadi, Pune 411 045

KINDLY RSVP on pknpune@gmail.com

‘Devised and shared by Klein Dytham Architecture’
‘Organised by Sarvasva Designs, Pune’

Termites In The Woodwork

The government has accused top officers at the COA, India’s apex architectural body, of criminal misconduct. BRIJESH PANDEY tracks the issues as the CBI investigates.

IN A move that could change the face of the study and practice of architecture in India, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has recommended a CBI probe against the president, registrar and four members of the executive committee of the Council of Architecture (COA). The COA is a regulatory body constituted by the Architects Act of 1972, which accredits and licenses educational institutions to teach architecture in India. Moreover, every architect working in India has to be registered with the COA.

In a letter to the CBI dated August 27, 2009 (DO No. C-1301168/2009-Vig) — from the Joint Secretary and Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the MHRD, Sunil Kumar — requested the investigation of six top officials of the COA, namely, the President, Vijay Sohoni, the Registrar, Vinod Kumar and four members of the Executive Committee: KB Mohapatra, Uday C Godkari, IJS Bakhsi and Prakash Deshmukh. In the letter (a copy of which is with TEHELKA) the Joint Secretary alleges that:

• People at the helm of affairs of the COA are misusing the authority of the Council to levy fees that are not authorised by the Architects Act.

• Institutions that refuse to pay the unauthorised fees are being threatened with de-recognition.

• Council memberships and COA executive committee memberships are being manipulated and members are being allowed to continue beyond their terms.

• Prestigious institutions such as the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), NIT Patna, the Lucknow College of Architecture and the Chandigarh College of Architecture are singled out for punishment, while private Institutes such as Chitkara Institute in Punjab and the Piloo Mody College of Architecture in Orissa are given preferential treatment by these individuals despite having inferior facilities and fewer, less qualified faculty.

The letter states bluntly that the preferential treatment of private institutes suggests that bribes have been paid to those named above. Letters written by Anjali Bhawar, vice-chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (GNDU) and Kamal Singh Chahal, head of GNDU’s Department of Architecture to the MHRD seem to corroborate this. Bhawar writes that while an expert committee of the COA had allowed GNDU to admit 40 students to the architecture course, the Executive Committee of the same Council refused to accept the recommendation of its own expert committee. Chahal’s letter reveals that while GNDU had declared 14 faculty members in the prescribed form submitted to the COA, that figure was mysteriously reduced to 10 in the COA’s report. The Joint Secretary states that this was done “perhaps to show private institutes that if the COA wasn’t sparing government institutions, private institutions had better fall in line and cough up money” to avoid de-recognition.

THE HEADS of the department of two premier architectural institutes stated on condition of anonymity that the Council uses frequent inspections and the threat of de-recognition to extort and intimidate. On top of that, institutes have been charged exorbitant fees by the COA for inspections and for periodic extensions of recognition. The prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia, for example, was charged a whopping Rs 40,000 for a three-day inspection in 2008. While the law provides for an inspection once in five years (without permitting the COA to charge for them), several premier institutes faced yearly COA inspections, while, for arbitrary reasons, other institutes escaped. After several complaints to the MHRD, Deputy Secretary Harvinder Singh admitted on March 16, 2009 that the COA could not take money for inspections or for the extension of recognition and asked the COA to adhere to the five-year interval between inspections. Significantly, former COA Vice-President Vijay Uppal wrote in October 2005 to the MHRD, objecting against Sohoni’s role in appointing inspectors and approving their reports, but to no avail.

And where did all this money go? Shockingly, according to Prof SM Akhtar, the HoD of Architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia, “There has never been an audit of the funds of the COA.” The Architects Act clearly states that the COA has to go through an annual audit.

Another instance which has had universities and the COA at loggerheads is the National Aptitude Test for Architecture (NATA). The COA declared that from 2007, the NATA would not only be mandatory for all institutes, but exclusive as well. In other words, institutes would be forced to discontinue any other entrance examinations or procedures they had in place and accept candidates who passed the NATA. Significantly, the NATA is a computer-based test, a fact which would have made the manipulation of results extremely easy to commit and difficult to detect. Premier institutes such as the SPA, the JJ College of Arts, Mumbai, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee, Jamia Millia Islamia and Jadavpur University were up in arms at this, claiming that forcing them to use the NATA alone would dilute their high entrance standards. Unfazed, the COA asked the MHRD to de-recognise the SPA and 19 other premier institutes. When TEHELKA spoke to Vijay Sohoni about this, he said, “I had to act only because these so-called premier institutes have an abysmal studentteacher ratio. We look at facts and figures rather than the prestige of the institution.” After a fierce legal battle, the de-recognition of the institutes was lifted and the NATA no longer made an exclusive entrance test.

COA FUNCTIONS

REGULATE THE EDUCATION IN AND PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE
MAINTAIN A LIST OF ACCREDITED ARCHITECTS
ENSURE MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL STANDARD OF ARCHITECTURE
RECOMMEND OFFICIAL RECOGNITION AND DE-RECOGNITION OF ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTES

COA DYSFUNCTION

PRESTIGIOUS INSTITUTES THREATENED WITH DE-RECOGNITION
UNAUTHORISED DEMANDS WORTH CRORES FROM EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES
COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP/TENURE MANIPULATED
ALLEGATIONS OF CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT MADE AGAINST PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

UNAUTHORISED FEES WOULD BE CHARGED BY THE COA FOR INSPECTIONS AND RECOGNITION

For a stickler for rules and someone so seemingly particular about de-recognition, Sohoni is curiously lax when it comes to himself. One of the most damning allegations in Kumar’s letter to the CBI is that while the Vidya Vardhan Institute of Design Environment and Architecture, Goa, of which Sohoni is the president, is shown on the COA’s website as an institute affiliated to the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU has categorically denied any such affiliation. Kumar states bluntly that this amounts to cheating the public. The letter states that since “Sohoni is fleecing the students by collecting fees though the college is not recognised as per the Architects Act, the position of the President of the COA is thus being misused by him with criminal intent.”

However, when confronted with these allegations by TEHELKA, Sohoni denied them all. He rubbished charges of financial irregularity and stated, “I haven’t even received any complaint. The mandate of the COA is to ensure that there should be no compromise on the quality of architectural education, regardless of the name and fame of the institute. We take action only when there is a fall in the mandated student-faculty ratio. If the ministry has received any complaint, they should come to us, but sadly, this was not done.”

Ever since the CBI began its investigation into the case in the first week of September, there is a huge sense of relief among architects and at various schools of architecture. They believe that this investigation will ensure that instead of being focused on placating a rampant COA, they can now concentrate on architecture in India.

Original article here.

* Article first read in Arzan’s blog: http://urbanarchitecture.in/

Spreading good design.

A person’s passion, dedication and greatness can be often seen and need not be spoken for. In fact the respect that is seen for someone is more evident when that person need not shout to be heard, need not speak to be asked, and need not order to get things going.

I have the privilege of knowing few such people. And also having met some great masters who were similar – Geoffrey Bawa and Laurie Baker. And what a coincidence that today’s presentation was done by one such person, who also happened to show work done by Bawa.

In fact, I was invited for two presentations today. One by a person for whom I have tremendous respect, which keeps growing by the day. I’m talking of Shrikant Nivasarkar, who was wonderful enough to invite me to come see his presentation and that of Ambrish Arora’s (the second presenter). I consider myself lucky to be at an event which was closed doors and for select people only.

Over the past few years that I have known Shrikant, I have only learnt and kept learning. One can sit and listen to him for hours, because he makes so much sense, and has such tremendous knowledge on most subjects. Whether it has been at project meetings, Pune Design Foundation events, IIID programs or general interactions, we’ve (and I speak for Mukund too) got great insight into architecture and design through him.

At heart, he’s a furniture designer. And a very good one at that. But he’s more renowned as the first Indian to be the President of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) and Executive Board Member of International Design Alliance (IDA); also the Immediate Past President of the IIID, India.

In many ways, he’s an idealist. But someone also who is ready to be in a system, understand it well and then try to change it if need be in his own soft spoken way. For a long time, he has been propogating that all design disciplines must come together on one platform, and not be so disconnected as they are here in India. And I believe in some parts of the world too. In fact, he has been the strongest propogator of good design, and one that is complete in all ways. One that comes from the core of the person, and as a responsible response to people’s need. And I very strongly believe that Shrikant is one such person who has actually understood design in its true form. And who is also ready to share it with whoever is ready to listen.

He talked today of reworking and thinking long term for the education system in India. But what he presented also applies to designers and design firms. He spoke of humanising spaces, and in this ’space’ means the context or environment, rather than the physical space itself.

His respect for the field was evident, when he kept emphasising on how the profession we are in is a never ending journey of service to people. He quotes, ” Our profession is a service. We should never forget that. And that’s when our focus changes…we can never be careful enough in understanding the needs of people. And it is through design that one expresses this service- to people and to society. Development of society depends on our value-based approach to work.”

As he rightly pointed, “New materials and technology will always impact our profession. And this will further complicate the different kinds of design disciplines around. What we do is a responsible service to society, and we (architects/interior designers/product designers) are but one part of the entire canvas; there are other fields also working at the same time. And we should never forget that.”

I’ll briefly touch upon what he spoke today.
1. Understanding of total space: Understanding of inter dependency and inter connectivity of different disciplines in spaceto emotion
2. Relationships of Space to Life: Understanding the relationships of physical & emotional space of various kinds of people in various situations.
3. Hands on Experience: Developing knowledge of materials, technology and skills.
4. Lack of observation skills: Need to align exercises with active participation. Developing the ability to observe, in order to develop the ability to analyse.
5. Have a ‘Research Attitude’ : need to encourage working on multiple options to design solutions.
6. Values : Appropriateness of exercises and assignments.
7. Communication skills: Methods of making detailed drawings. Also understanding differences of scales of various design disciplines.
8. Management: Need to understand value of man hours spent on project and the management.
9. Methods: Process driven working methodology. Rational and Intuitive.
10. Action needed: Understanding of context, resources, technology and responsible design.
11. Context of education: Need to envision big and long term.
12. Content & Methodology: Larger understanding of a creative profession. And project evaluation. Catering to pyschological and emotional needs.

Again going back to what I had mentioned earlier – the spreading of good design. It is so important to be able to share your knowledge and understanding of certain ideas, values, systems and even fields in order to spread the word in the correct method. And in order to promote the growth of good design, values, people and society.
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And since I did mention I was fortunate to see two good presentations, let me also talk about Ambrish Arora; whose work I have followed through the years.

He presented about 12 projects of his… each very different from the other, except for the underlying commitment to think beyond the brief and to be totally dedicated to the project and its context. And if this meant persistently bulldozing clients to see reason, or spending one’s own money to make prototypes and experiment; then hey, that is part and parcel of the work. And it was a brilliant showcase of work.

I liked a line in his presentation. It read, “… designing a space offers the opportunities to build in layers.” And for many of us doing everything in a space and not being able to tell someone what it is that we ‘exactly do’; because they might think we do not ‘have focus’, this is a great line to use. Like I always tell people who ask me, “We provide solutions through design- and these solutions differ according to context and space.” We live in a world that is going back to where design started of, being holistic; when each architect was also a designer, an engineer and an artist. Where the potential to design is tremendous and varied. So why be stuck with a label?!

Anyway, back to Ambrish. Like Shrikant, Ambrish’s passion for his work and field shines on his face. And the fact that in each of his project he’s tried to come out with wonderful, innovative solutions through use of limited and local materials and technology is what sets his work apart. It’s a classic case of conserving the old by using it, and also changing or developing it to suit modern contexts, bringing out a new defined vocabulary. It’s not about being modern for the sake of it. But being able to understand the context, the material, the technique, the need of that particular project, client’s brief and being able to balance them all with our own design sensibility and knowledge.

What was most important, in both presentations, was the understanding and acceptance of who they really are. And also to be able to be afraid, make mistakes and rise above them. It is this honesty that showed through their work and made these two presentations so worth watching.

PS:
When Ambrish’s presentation ended, most people were spellbound and astounded. And began asking questions and commenting. That’s when I was surprised. Because the kind of questions or comments that came forth were from architects and designers alright, but who also, it seemed, had not stepped out on a site for years. For most of them, what was shown was something they had either never seen or never considered as a design option.

And then came the sad realisation that we expect our young generation to know and use new technologies, practices and methodologies, and also to grow to become responsible designers… but we fail in the very basics of teaching them because we are not learning/ empowering ourselves first. We cannot teach them wrongly and then condemn them when they go wrong, because the fault lies with us to begin with.

Brands- the rise and fall.

I teach at two architecture colleges in Pune and Mumbai- subjects being Design and Architecture Journalism, the latter being a course set up by me about 6 years back, and I think as of now I am still the only one teaching this subject in the country. Anyway, this post is not about what I teach, but what we discussed in class.

As my discussion was on, the guy from the canteen came up with a cup of tea for me. And while going out, this young lad of about 15 or so was talking to the peon about his cell phone. And he said, “Main ab to chaar hazaar ka Nokia phone lene waala hoon!” (I am going to buy a Nokia phone worth Rs.4000). And I immediately told my students, “Now this is a brand. The fact that even a non-literate young boy knows not only the product but the name of the company so well.”

And our discussion went to brands. We talked about Nokia vs Sony, Motorola, LG, Samsung etc; especially how Nokia has even managed to do so well against the Apple iphone. One of the reasons, as we discussed, could be that Nokia is very smart looking, and comes in affordable ranges too. Then again, a Nokia phone is very user friendly. Ask me, I tried a LG and seen Mukund try a Motorola…but no matter how good those cell phones look, a Nokia is the one I went back to. So is it function? “Form follows function” – a great principle in architecture, and one that Nokia actually includes in their design thinking. But its also, ‘Great service backing great form and function’ that sets Nokia apart. What matters is also what happens after one buys the cell phone. To top it off, it’s also how a Nokia phone makes one feel… ‘innovative, smart, sexy, connected…’ – everything that boy of 15 would like to be at his age.

So brands are all about how they make you feel. And also about being popular. And I got Bisleri and Xerox as two examples being given by my students. And I almost said ‘Yes,of course!’. Almost.

The reason for that, as I explained to the class too, was the fact that these two companies set out as the first of their kind and hence were really popular. And they got so well known, that the brand got diluted. Today, in India, if you say Bisleri, they’ll give you any packaged water- be it a Kinley, Oxyrich, Himalayan, Kingfisher…or even a Bisleri, the original name of the brand. Well,Bisleri did want to stand for packaged water, but today what they have got is not brand Bisleri, but being relegated to just ‘packaged water’. Similarly with Xerox. If one has to buy a ‘Xerox’ machine in India, one does not look at the original brand, but ‘a’ xerox machine which can be from Canon or any other company.

As we talked further, we realised that what we consider brands are so because of the consumer/client loyalty. But with the fast changing pace of life, a ‘brand’ today has a shelf life of hardly few months or years; as compared to what they used to be.

For example, a Godrej steel cupboard was something that was used for many years, probably generations too. Our parents used it, still do, and nothing can shake their belief in feeling the security that the Godrej cupboard can give. Not even other well-designed, customised, modern cupboards from other companies.

But in these new times, nothing can last more than few years. We change our phones, houses, clothes, shoes, watches, accessories, appliances, furniture and more with a snap of a finger. We are attached but don’t really love ‘our brands’. No longer are we so ‘brand conscious’ that we commit ourselves to any particular brand. If what we want is not available with brand A, we can and do opt for brands B, C, D…

Of course, we know our brands well. But keep hopping from one onto the next in the race of being better, stronger and smarter. All that matters is having/owning a branded item, not the brand itself anymore.

If you look around, there is very little commitment given to a particular brand. The minute another product comes that is fancier, richer and gives us that edge over another person, we immediately tend to pick that product up. It’s a world that is more and more becoming materialistic without actually caring for it either. This is something that holds true in all sectors and not just consumer appliances. Look at Fashion, furniture, sports…and more- they all are facing the same comatose point where they can hook a customer, but need not necessarily manage keeping him to themselves.

So, is this the era of the fall of brands? Are we going to see the popularity of branded items vs. brands themselves? Sometimes, in the race of being the biggest, largest and most popular, we tend to forget on being the best. Which is why there is a big difference on being famous, and being a brand. And maybe somewhere down the line some companies have managed balancing them all. Which is why a Nokia is popular, but has managed to retain its identity. Ditto an Apple Mac. No matter how many other computers come into the market.

Which comes down to a basic question. What is a ‘brand’ in today’s context? Is it something that is popular? Or unique? Or has the largest sales turnover? Or one that keeps changing with times to bring out something new? Or is it one that manages to touch hearts and connect?

It’s quite interesting to note that if we actually apply the above questions to our own design firms, then we can also understand and re-establish what makes or does not make our firms a brand.

An afterword.
The discussion then went on to architecture in India, and we were looking at architects who are popular, well-known/famous, great personality etc but yet cannot be called as ‘Brands’ of Modern Indian Architecture. But what we did conclude was that they were all brand ambassadors. Just like all of us could be- for the cities we build and design in. And it is the power of architecture to affect and effect that makes it such a great tool to brand-build a city or a nation. But like good old Spiderman’s uncle quoted, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And maybe being a brand in today’s context is that: being responsible.

- Darpana.

Food and Design…a great combination.

An advertising agency has come up with a nice campaign to promote international food and the Sydney International Food Festival: flags made from food typical of each country….I’ve posted the flag of India…see more pics in the link below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/6231304/An-advertising-agency-has-come-up-with-a-campaign-to-promote-a-forthcoming-food-festival.html

some new gadgets in India

1. The Citi ‘Tap and Pay’ Card

- Was seeing a program on TV and saw this come up- a credit card that can be paid by simply tapping your mobile phone at the checkout point. Currently launched only in Bengaluru (Bangalore) two months ago, one needs a Citibank credit card, a Nokia phone and Vodafone number.

How does Citi Tap and Pay work?*
Citi Tap and Pay works on a cutting-edge new technology called NFC: Near Field Communication. NFC is a wireless communication technology that works on mobile phones, it allows data transfer between 2 NFC enabled devices, and even allows financial transactions like payments. Citi Tap and Pay complies with the latest security standards. The wallet on your phone is secured by a 4-digit password – so only you can use it to make payments. Unlike conventional Credit Card transactions, where you hand over your Card to a person at a retail counter, with Citi Tap and Pay you hold on to your Credit Card at all times, as it has been transferred to your mobile phone.
(This info was taken from the Citibank site)

And although I found this very exciting, it remains to be seen as to how secure this mode of payment will be. Because, while they were showing a live example on tv, I managed getting a glimpse of his 4-digit number. So imagine if someone sees you tapping your 4-digit code, and manages stealing the phone, they not only have a good phone in hand, but a credit card too! And one that is easy to use.

2. HTC Android powered cell phone

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HTC has announced the launch of the Android-powered HTC Hero in India, right now for Airtel users only. The HTC Hero is equipped with an anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance and a longer lasting, clearer display. The white HTC Hero includes an industry-first, Teflon coating, resulting in an improved, durable white surface. The HTC Hero comes equipped with access to the Android Market, where users can search and download applications to personalize and customize the phone.With a 3.2-inch HVGA display, the HTC Hero boasts a broad variety of hardware features including a GPS, gravity-sensor, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a 5 mega-pixel autofocus camera and expandable MicroSD memory.
The phone will cost Rs 34,600 in Maharashtra and Rs 31,990 in the rest of India.

3. Transcend PF700 digital photo frame

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Storage and multimedia products maker Transcend has launched a new full-featured digital photo frame, the PF700. Apart from its display features, the PF700 can also function as a video player, an MP3 player, an attractive desktop clock, or an electronic calendar with important-date scheduling and reminders. This 7-inch photo frame features a 16:9 aspect ratio screen with a display resolution of 480 x 234 pixels. It measures 205 143 29mm and has a 0.5W speaker. The frame works with most mainstream SD/SDHC/ MMC/MS memory cards as well as USB Flash Drives.

When connected with a storage device, the frame automatically searches for JPEG images. Users can choose to view photos one at a time, in customizable slideshows, or in a convenient tiled thumbnail view.
Cost : Approx. Rs.6,000/- (Source Techtree.com)

4.

And of course my fave, the SONY Walkman for almost Rs.5000/- only!

Copy C’ad’?

I had just been to a design conference recently where there was a lot of good work being shown by designers from the partner country, the Netherlands. And some showed a films of their projects. Few, into the graphic and communication design field, showcased ads they had helped create…
One such ad was that for a leather jacket company. The idea was to show that leather a sexy piece of clothing as well as tough. Well, here it is…

This ad was made about 3 years ago I think…

And now, look at a new ad- freshly made in India. This hit the screen just few days ago, for a deo… ’simply inspired’?!

Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!

Since we moved to Pune, we’ve installed a permanent Ganpati idol at home, and every year I make a small idol that we pray to and submerge (in a bucket outside the door). Being environment conscious, our Ganpati idols have always been ‘green’ and made of clay, wheat flour,etc. This year, we have consciously decided to use all the ‘raddi’ (old newspapers) and make a recyled Ganpati.

The only thing used in this Ganpati, apart from the newspapers and a little bit of water, is glue to stick the various parts. We have made many of these to give out to our guests who come home for the darshan.

Design in ‘Spare Time’???

Saw this poster and many of these actually, in the streets and bylanes of Pune. Makes me wonder if Design is now relegated to a ‘housewife’s hobby’ that one can learn and do during their spare time?!

(c) Darpana Athale, 2008.

DESIGN RESPONSE TO TERROR.

Design Response to Terror PDF08:
System Design and Strategy Formulation – Session 1

A very recent initiative of the PDF, in lieu with the terrorist attacks on Mumbai on 26th November 2008.

Mukund Athale of Sarvasva Designs made a presentation and introduced a new project that we are working on, which can help tack people’s movements.

Aims

During this workshop participants will seek to answer the following questions:

• What are the problems we identify in the current scenario?
• How can design contribute to create meaningful intervention in such a situation?
• What formats can be explored?
• What are the design solutions we intend to seek?

Format of Workshop

10 – 12 pm : ‘My response to terror as a designer’- a 3-5 minute presentation by members (preferably 10 slides or less)

12 – 1 pm: Identification of problems and design intervention areas

1 – 1:45 pm : Lunch

1:45 – 3 pm : Participants will form groups and work out action plan for design response/ project scoping

3 – 4 pm : A concise action plan with milestones/ expected outcome

Initiated on December 4th, 2008 at Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune.

Architect Darpana Athale’s ‘Pune Walks’ programme will introduce Puneites and tourists to the magnificent heritage of the citySar

India Design Festival

The Pune Design Festival became a larger platform called the ‘India Design Festival’  this year.

Apart from giving a presentation and help in organising, Sarvasva also had come up with an installation called ‘chaos theory’, for the overall theme of ‘Environment and Design’, wherein we collected discarded bottles and paper every day at the Festival to show how much waste the designers themselves generate, in a matter of a week.

We also got the ‘Polar Bear’ down from Mumbai. Our friend and artist Hetal Shukla, and the creator of this car, was here too.

And some of the highlights for us was the participation on the panel discussion on design, with  CNBC (to be broadcasted soon), the very interesting talk by Prasoon Pandey, the various new friends we made and the great learning experience.

‘White is the new green’ innovations.

Courtesy TrendHunter.com

100 'White Is The New Green' Innovations (CLUSTER)

(TREND HUNTER) White is pure, nature is pure, nature is green, hence white is green… It sounds like a logic argument gone wrong; or maybe not.
Artists and inventors around the world are embracing the purity of the color… [More]





History in the making for Indian Design

Dear All,

Last evening, 30th May ‘09 saw a group of designers getting together to initiate and form the first national body of designers of India. It was just a preliminary meeting, but one that will consequently set the precedence for any action that will be taken in this regard.

This initiative has been taken by the Pune Design Foundation (PDF) and the Association of Indian Design Industry (AIDI).

We had Shrikant Nivasarkar, President IFI, who joined in as friend and advisor.

Will keep you all updated as we progress.
Warm regards,
Darpana.

DNA Pune_ interview. 3rd June 2009

Twitter on…

Mukund and I just joined Twitter recently, and simply love the format. It’s so easy to connect to everybody and be updated on not just people, but even happenings, events, companies and more. With just a line, you are in touch with someone, somewhere.

I think ‘making connections’ is the key to everything in the future.

At Sarvasva, we believe in this future and have therefore taken up many initiatives towards it. The very talked about ‘Pecha Kucha’ is one such event. Just yesterday, the Indian Express newspaper carried an article on the same and our initiative of getting it to Pune. http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2009/07/02/INDEX.SHTML

‘Design Intersect’ is another such event. Aimed to be a ‘people to design’ connect, the idea is to throw open design to public through various installations, exhibitions and A/V presentations. This is not to preach or lecture about design, but just to let it be stimulated into the senses. A lot of people in India are not aware of what ‘Design’ is, or how it can affect our everyday lives. And very few designers even bother to push it beyond the realm of the office and client space. But design has been and is about social impact. And if we cannot think to make that connection with the public realm, we are missing out on the key element to design.

Connecting alumni from college is another interesting exercise we have got into. Our college, the Academy of Architecture, is 52 years old and we never had an alumni reunion, leave aside an alumni association. Thanks to great connectors like Facebook and Orkut, we were able to get in touch with 300+ ex-students of the college and organised a grand reunion party for all batches. The power of connection, Jai ho!

Coming back to Twitter. If you just read through the many tweets, especially of responses to a particular tweet, it’s crazy how much information is within your reach and also how you suddenly get updated and are also in the global scene of things, all within minutes. Its as if the future is unfolding around you, and you are a part of that important moment.

You can reach me on http://twitter.com/DarpanaSarvasva to know more on what Sarvasva is upto.

Cheers,
Darpana.

Smart Ads

For the past few days I have been looking at the Idea ‘Walk when you talk’ ad and have been suitably impressed. At first, I was not really impressed with it, but then when Mukund pointed out a small detail, which is actually very big, I realised what this ad can do.

Apart from connecting on an emotional level, wherein the customer is made to think about his/her health and so walk, it also goes to say ‘walk the talk’. But the biggest USP of this ad is not what it gives to the customers, but what it gives to the client. If one actually realises and observes, one tends to talk more when we walk. So more talk time results in more money for the company! What an idea, Sir ji!

There is another ad that has rightly caught on the undercurrent of moods and emotions of the working class of this country. The Cadbury’s ad of “pehli taarik”. It encourages people to have a sweet (in this case, chocolate) because it is the first of the month. Yes, all of us look forward to this day, because we get our salaries. And what better way to celebrate this moment of having some cash in hand during this recession period, than a nice ’sweet’. In India, it is tradition that we give/take sweets on every small/big joyous occasion, and this ad has managed catching that emotion really well.

Smart Ads are not just those that are effective and unique enough to catch your eye and make you take notice of them. They go beyond the idea of selling a brand to actually make the customer buy the product.

- Darpana.

RIP Anant Raje.

I met Anant Raje many years ago- I was writing an article on his works and had gone to Ahmedabad to meet him. Not sure what I was expecting, but I did not expect to see this nice, warm old man walking towards me. Very humble and down-to-earth, with a twinkle in his eyes. Sort of a Santa Claus, I thought. And so unlike a stalwart in his field.

He took me around the campus and gave me a personal tour of the IIM building, and explained the structure to philosophy of the architecture- it was an astounding lecture. One I can still visualise. Which is why whenever I have gone to IIM after that (once with Bimal Patel), I somehow always land up seeing the place with Anant Raje in it.

As time passed, and I could not keep up with the correspondence as I had earlier done, unfortunately Anant Raje became just a memory and a name in my list of works. And as I left the magazine and started my own firm, there was no interaction at all. Which is why I did not hear of his passing away till two days ago.

As I am sitting down writing this post, with the rain falling outside my window, I can see his smiling face. And its one that brings a lot of sunshine amidst the grey memories.

Dear Prof. Anant Raje, RIP.

- Darpana.

Redesigning Indian Transport

I slipped forward along with the seat, when the car braked. Then I adjusted myself, pushed the seat back in place and sat into an upright position, until the brakes were pressed again. By the end of the journey, I had a vague sense of my backbone and lower back becoming a single unit. The pain that followed left me with no sense of either in place.

Dislodged seats are not the only problem. Broken handles, lumpy seats, smelly interiors, rickety-almost-touching the floor- floor base, jammed windows, and of course not to forget, the faulty, incorrect meters. Mumbai’s taxis are slowly getting from bad to worse. Come rains, the problem just gets worse.

The past few days I have been reading a lot about Mumbai’s taxi problem… pre-paid vs private cabs, state of the yellow and blacks and so on. And since I have been travelling very frequently in most of the cabs- private(Meru, one of the better private taxi services, popular in Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore) / cool cabs/ yellow-blacks, I find myself a inadvertent participant in this talk. And here are my two-bits.

Over the past few weeks, I have found that for me taking a late night ride is safer in a Meru. And also since the whole set up is digitalised, and on GPRS, tracking a cab is easier. As is coming out with a relatively correct meter. It is also very comfortable what with all Meru cabs being a Renault Logan. But it is too expensive a ride. And too much by standards of a regular citizen travelling from one end of this linearly built city to another. So the options for me are buses, ricks, trains juxtaposed with a ride in the yellow-black cab when needed, which is more often because I like to look presentable in a meeting and all other times, and a cab is the only option that allows me that, saving me from the grime and pollution of the traffic and people. The train, a close second.

I have often found it very surprising that no one till date has tried to model the typical Fiat taxi we have. Give a designer a chance to remodel any transport vehicle, and the rick wins hands down, followed by the bus. Of course, now the cabs come in all forms and makes of cars, but it would be nice for our crucial much needed vehicles to be of some standard.

We don’t really think of changing or remodelling how this city’s transport vehicles should look like or function for this country or city in particular. Vis-a-vis, the transport system. We get rejects from the international markets and happily make them the ‘newly designed’ train or bus, but never stop to pause and see if these really suit us.

None of the public transport is ‘cushioned’ against bumpy potholed roads, water filled tracks, splashes of puddles or scorching heat or even a huge population explosion within it. And the drivers of these vehicles have it even worse, yet manage really well to do a great job.

Of course the transport system is another debatable topic totally, unfortunately marred further due to the dirty politics and ignorant politicians as well as unconcerned citizens who only complain when things go wrong at their end.

But this post today is talking about design. And redesigning our transport to suit us, instead of the other way round. What if we can have well-designed public vehicles that do not cost a bomb to ride on, and which can be a solution to also ease traffic congestion. Coupled with better roads, they will be every city’s ideal dream infrastructure come true. Any takers?

- Darpana.

AEC Online Expo

Dear All,

It is 12.10 am, Aug 1st now and I am in Mumbai for the official launch of the first ever digitalised, online experience expo: The AEC Online Expo .
This is a quantum leap in India’s design world to have a ‘E’xperience that is virtual- a platform to inform and inspire the AEC Industry about how Technology Virtually creates the Real in its Realm!

Check http:www.aecworldexpo.com
Cheers!
Darpana.

A new resurgence of the internet.

At the beginning of the month I had talked about the first ever online exposition in the world- the AEC World Expo, brought out by the leading Indian architecture and design magazine- IA&B. I happened to be one of the fortunate ones to not only have been invited for the launch party of this unique site (no,not just virtually), but also to have participated in one of their technical seminars, again online. See www.aecworldexpo.com to know more.

Few days ago, I was also invited to be part of the INDEX Awards 2009; which is being ‘telecast’ in the virtual world- a first of its kind event. Today, on 28th August 2009, the INDEX Awards will be telecast from Copenhagen, 8pm onwards. And one can view the same on http://www.designtoimprovelife.dk/index.php

So an architecture and design expo with workshops, seminars, talks and more; and also a design award…both the first-of-their kind products and both online. Also both happen to be design related. Which just goes to show design does make a difference and leads the world into innovation.

And when I thought that was all, today’s local paper talked about India’s first ever web serial. Now web serials have been on since the nineties, but this is the first time that India has jumped on the bandwagon.

Creativity does make a difference. And design does matter. More than people estimate. Now, sit back and enjoy the experience, virtually!

Darpana.

Chatty Tales

Chatty Tales

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