Where exactly does the realm of a designer begin?
What should we engage with?
As the blue planet orbits around the home sun, life
evolves with it’s myriad complexities.
Design as we practice it, seems a woefully small
ingredient. The more I contemplate, the more
confusing it is to make intelligent sense of the
immense complexity that life is.
What are our future paths?
I try to make some connections here …
In the typical context, design practices are
fairly limited, as too often a client brief is
restricted to an immediate concern of a solution
- a product or service in a defined timeframe.
But when design engages in a truly immersive
way, I believe that the canvas can be multi-
dimensional and solutions can emerge that are
“inventive”.
Social systems can change, the nature of how
we live and work can change, future
technologies can be defined & created in terms
of how communities envision a possible future
...
rather than technologies defining
how we live & work.
There has been a complete transformation of
the cycle of food from “the farm to the table”.
So is there a problem ?
Over time, the point A ( Growing the food ) to
Point B ( Food at the table ) has grown apart
with innumerable processes in between. With
the nature of habitats changing, there is an
increasing reliance on highly processed &
genetically modified foods. These are now
most often produced on large farms using
mechanised processes and a barrage of
chemical stimulants and pest controls. The
land itself has degenerated and increasingly
depends on stronger chemical inputs.
Food is now a matter of “off the shelf”
purchase. Produce that comes from far and
wide along the food super higway. Shelf life
also implies the addition of preservatives,
refrigeration, etc.
We consume unhealthy foods, drive to work
& then go for walks as part of an exercise
regime to keep fit !
Clean, safe potable water should be freely
available as nature intended ...
We should not let that right be taken away.
If we aim for this, there will be no need for
companies to market “clean” bottled water.
But will the lobby let this become reality ?
I think not.
the precious resource
is already one of the most critical resources.
And also one of the most volatile.
An instrument of control.
A weapon weilded by the powerful.
how does design figure here ?
cities
Why do we build structures that are
glitzy showpieces & violate every
sensible life principle ?
We build closed structures that are
heavy on resource usage, keep out the
breeze and light. THEN we invest
enormous resources in lighting and
cooling these!
This means All life on earth.
When we really learn to offer due
respect to our “home” planet, we will
be able to understand our true
equation with life itself. Our goals
will change. Businesses.
Governance. Conflict. War. Peace.
This is not new. All indigenous
communities had this intelligence.
Somewhere in our journey we
seemed to have thrown away this
awareness. Unfortunately Mankind
seems to seek major disasters to
come to terms with this reality.
a fundamental shift in our perspective
from Human Centric
to Life Centric
People plotting against People. Greed. Selfcentred. Hatred
If we can manage this key shift as a race,
we could maybe embark on a very important
transformational journey where all equations
could probably correct themselves.
Human to human & nation to nation relations,
sustainability, resource utilisation, economics,
the nature of future habitats ... the whole slew
of issues.
Indigenious communities recognised this and
embraced this.
Somewhere on the path to so called
"development", we seemed to have lost this
critical connection.
how does design figure here ?
habitat
What could be the alternative development
model of the future .. that could reflect this
fundamental shift to “Life Centric” ?
Can it define how we Live, Learn, Work & Play ?
Perhaps we can look at the future face of human
habitats as a major change agent and context
maker. With a shift to “Life Centric” we can
conceptualise habitats that are organic entities
that coexist with other life forms, where we give
“space” for other life forms to flourish and enrich
the environments that we habitate.
Cleaner air, fresher cleaner food, working
environments that are technology enabled to
make physical travel minimal. Where the creative
human mind can find free expression.
future
habitats
Let’s learn to live life.
Creating harmony instead of
competitive conflict.
Can community models become
the structure for
equitable future societies?
Shelter, food, clothing, education, meaningful
employment, good health, social interaction &
a joy of living .
People shouldn’t have to travel for hours to do
work they don’t really enjoy and have no real
time to live life. What can a community habitat
be, that addresses all these? Our references
have changed. Technologies have effected
radical change in the way things can be done.
Do we really need those monstrous flyovers
and mega concrete structures ? Can we shed
those massive societal Egos which restrict us
from making a qualitative quantum jump in
how we live and work?
communities
How about communities that have access to
technologies that will be enablers in
visualising and implementing how we want to
live and work with limited commuting?
Let’s save that time for fully enjoying what life
can offer. How about fresh produce that need
not be preserved and can reach us from the
not too distant neighbourhood ?
Do we need to travel to far away places to
enjoy a bit of nature because we have
destroyed it in our immediate neighbourhood -
because somehow we equate “development”
with more built space?
the tremendous possibilities of Design
engagement in being a catalyst in defining
common futures.
From the inside out at community levels.
NOT thrusting directions outside-in.
This means the evolution of a new equation ..
of also a raised political awareness .. of a
society than can be aware of constitutional
rights .. of demanding engagement with your
elected representatives .. and therefore where
policies can be in tune with what we as a nation
really need.
Think “Design Thinking” can help change our collective futures ?
You bet we can!
the Political
Should designers have anything to do with
space
Be Citizens first ! Our professions exist within the
society that we function in. We live in an “illusionary”
democracy with no real voice in how the nation is
run. Accountability to the electorate seems to be a
notion that has had a quiet cultivated demise.
The design community is by and large an “aware”
group. How come we are so silent on issues that
are critical in shaping the country?
Remember that “design” will function in a future
that is being shaped by policies in which we
currently have no real say.
If the design community engages in this process,
it can play a pivotal role in changing this. Use
your skills to communicate real issues to the
people. Create forums, groups, discussion
groups. Use the tools that we are good with.
By NOT engaging, we are
doing a disservice to the
future of our nation.
Learning &Teaching
Design
If Design is a change agent, what would be its
greater function ?
How do we define the role of design in a nation
trying to rediscover it’s place in the global
landscape?
How will we take “Design thinking” across the
country? This is an exercise that has been doing
the rounds in design forums.
OUR basic premise needs
course correction.
There are innumerable real life “design” solutions
manifesting all across the country. This is not new.
All communities have found solutions to problems
that have confronted them.
They might not be slick, they might not be for
markets outside. But they are sustainable,
innovative, creative, use locally available materials
and processes. “Institutionalised” design can
perhaps bring in an external viewpoint.
But local knowledge is unique to locations and
could offer the solutions that we are looking for.
The danger has been of the slow death of rich local
knowledge by succumbing to “market” pressures
and the onslaught of corporate “empires” seeking to
tap the mass market at the “bottom of the pyramid”.
This in itself is flawed as this approach looks at
milking the poor. It looks at “equalising” and
bringing in a sameness to everything.
The nation needs to look at enabling
local communities to prosper by tapping
their knowledge and skillsets.
By enabling them to setup their
own initiatives.
Where OWNERSHIP is theirs.
The engagement of design professionals have
to be that of an exchange of knowledge and
skills that is mutually enriching. There is much
to learn from the hinterland.
