Lambani woman from Karnataka showcases live demo of embroidery, mirror work
Bengaluru, December 16, 2021: The Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) Bengaluru Regional Chapter inaugurated the design Fest ‘DesignUru 3.0’ amidst much fanfare at the Rangoli Centre, MG Road, Bengaluru.
Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra, an organisation working on the ground level with the local artisans brought a Lambani woman, a tribal artisan in traditional dress. She demonstrated embroidery and mirror work which was the star attraction of the first day of the fest.
Local folk artists of Karnataka performed lively theatrical folk dance – Dollu Kunitha to add a traditional touch to the fest.
The theme of this year’s DesignUru 3.0 is ‘Vocal for Local’. For this, IIID BRC has tied up with four organisations who will be bringing artisans across Karnataka and other parts of India- Vimor, Madhurya Creations, Kadam Haat and Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra. Each of the 4 organisations will be hosting a two- day participatory workshops / demonstrations on each day involving the traditional artisans during the Design festival week. The week-long design festival will also host a crafts bazaar by Naisargik Santhe, supporting the works of artisans.
Speaking at the inauguration, Kavita Sastry, chairperson, IIID Bangalore Regional Chapter said, “The grand design festival will have each day being curated by a renowned Architect firm or an Institute. The key events of the 7 day fest starting from 16th December to 22nd Dec are ‘Save the Artisan Campaign’, ‘Installation made from waste’, ‘provoking a conversation on our urban spaces’, ‘Presenting a Sensory Garden’, ‘Beekeeping and its architecture connect’ and ‘Earthworks’.”
Concerned about Urban space of Bengaluru City she said, “Many a time the design of the urban space is ignored and so is its impact on not only functionality, mobility, usability, aesthetics but also on the mental health of the residents using the spaces. The fact that a badly designed urban space not only restricts mobility but also causes acute stress is at most times not recognised.”
“Noting the importance of good design in an urban space and the need to address it, promote it, IUDI Karnataka Chapter, will be hosting an exhibition on Urban Design that will be open on all the 7 days of the design festival. The exhibition will have 5 verticals, with each vertical focusing on a specific aspect of urban space,” Sastry stressed.
The DesignUru 3.0 was inaugurated by IAS Shalini Rajneesh, Additional Chief Secretary at Planning Department. Speaking at the event, Dr.Shalini Rajneesh, Additional Chief Secretary at Planning Department, said, “Bengaluru is already an IT capital, garden city and now we have rightful claim to be a design capital.”
“Bengaluru has all the qualities and naturally qualifies to be Design capital of India and the Designuru which started in 2016 is step in the direction and could give impetus to the movement for official government recognition and acknowledgement. BIt’s time for Bengaluru to be recognized as Design Capital,” concurs Dr. Prashanth Reddy, Chairman, Real Estate Expert Committee, BCIC , which has signed an MOU with IIID to jointly promote design and create awareness among common people.
Others present at the inauguration were Mr Dinesh Verma, Convenor of Design Uru and Mr Vishwanath, Hon Secy of IIID BRC’
The DesignUru will be on at Rangoli Centre, MG Road till December 22, 2021.
December, 15th and 16th – Lambani women will be in traditional dress and she will be there at the designated artisan demonstration space, demonstrating her embroidery and mirror work
December, 17th and 18th – Tanjore painting, channapatna toys, wood carving and grass mats live demo and exhibition
December, 19th and 20th – Traditional artisan with a small travelling loom to weave and another to do embroidery. Their artisan stalls will be selling weaves and embroidery work.
December, 21st and 22nd – Artisans from West Bengal and Orissa will be weaving mats, baskets from grass and demonstrating both the days. Their artisan stall through the week will sell mats, baskets, bags, trays etc made from different kinds of locally sourced grass such as Golden grass, Sabai grass, Moonj grass, Bamboo grass, Sital Pati, Willow wicker etc.
DESIGNURU 3.0
Day-wise agenda Dec 15th- 22nd
The grand design festival spans over 8 days, 15th to 22nd, with each day being curated by a renowned Architect firm or an Institute.
Dec 15: Lambani women will be in traditional dress and she will be there at the designated artisan demonstration space, demonstrating her embroidery and mirror work
Dec 16 is curated by Mistry Architects, the theme of the day being Design and Ecology. The packed day’s events will host interactive workshops, film screening, artist performance, memory mapping and interactive installations.
Dec 17 is curated by IUDI Karnataka Chapter, the theme being Urban Design. IUDI will be hosting an exhibition that will be open on all the 7 days of the design festival.
Dec 18 is curated by Architecture Paradigm, the theme being Sustainable Architecture. The heavily packed day schedule will have a presentation in the morning by an environmentalist and structural consultant followed by workshops.
Dec 19 is curated by INTACH, the theme focusing on History and Preservation. The highlight of the day is the evening presentation by Master Architect Anupama Kundu.
Dec 20 is curated by CnT Architects, the theme being Design and Communication—The voice of Criticism.
The day’s events, besides the workshops, multiple literary discussions during the course of the day, will see the premiering of the film on Architects Kaanade and end with an interesting panel discussion in the evening, titled, ‘Subjecting my work to criticism’.
Dec 21 is curated by BNA Architects, the theme focusing on Interior Design.
10am: 12 pm
Starting off with a first session aimed at students and young professionals. We have students who will display their studio works. We have workshops and a field trip. Presenters will cover topics from travel, photography, art and lighting. A panel discussion following that will address:
Where does the creative engagement begin? Who nurtures young minds? Ever pondered about how lessons in life and design can come to you from the most unexpected of places?
12:00 pm- 2pm
Field trip to the famous erstwhile opera theatre. The idea is to discuss conservation of the city’s heritage and iconic structure. Through innovation and skilful thought building, such as these can be repurposed to fit today’s usage and rigour.
Hear from the principle designer about his take on turning the opera theatre into an award winning Samsung electronics store.
2:00 pm- 6:00 pm
“Discover gems in their journey through design. Understand how sustainable practises go into making of cutting edge interiors. Be wowed by local and traditional crafts that transform spaces.”
Watch speakers present their take on topics ranging from architecture, interiors, fashion and advertising.
Hear the panel breakdown their creative process and establish a common thread that binds various creative disciplines.
6:00 pm -8:00 pm
A fitting finale to a high energy day. Hear new sounds and tempo from some amazing young musicians.
Dec 22 is curated by GNA Architects, the theme centred around Design and Craft.
The day will begin a workshop from 10 am to 1pm involving architecture students to commemorate the 50th Foundation Day of IIID. The workshop, ‘Fifty Woven Frames’ designed and curated by Prof. Muralidhar Reddy, CMRU School of Design will have timber frames sourced from discarded doors and windows woven together by the participating students and general public.
The evening from 6 pm onwards will host Pecha Kucha, followed by a presentation by Jaya Jaitely and address by IIID President Elect Architect TanujaKanvinde.
The day will also see the grand finale culminating in the much awaited panel discussion at 5pm in the eveninginvolving the 4 organisations working at ground level with artisans across the country. The panel discussion will veer around the ‘Save the Artisan’ campaign launched by IIID BRCas part of Designuru 3.0.
As part of this campaign, a Signature Collection Series in collaboration with the 4 participating organisations will be announced along with a firm commitment by the gathered designers and members to assign 25 per cent of their project cost of interiors to support traditional artisans and their works.
Running through the week
Four organisations working at ground level with artisans, Vimor, Madhurya Creations, Kadam Haat, Sandurwill be participating in the design festival through the 7 days. Each of the 4 organisations will be hosting a two day participatory workshops/demonstrations involving the traditional artisans during the Design festival week. The week long design festival will also host a crafts bazaar by NaisargikSanthe, supporting the works of artisans.
The design festival will have three, week-long exhibitions; one is an exhibition hosted by IUDI on urban design. Second is an exhibition of sketches by Master Architect Sanjay Mohe. The third is the exhibition of a competition hosted by IGBC.
The design festival will also have an installation made from waste, which will serve as an area to host workshops, interactions, presentations. The installation made from waste is erected by ASSOCHAM GEM Karnataka Chapter.
Key events
Save the Artisan Campaign
IIID BRC, in tune with the initiative launched by IIID at the all India level, has taken up the cause of traditional artisans and their disappearing skill sets. Many of our fine arts, crafts, weaves have almost disappeared, with very few artisans still working in their respective field of expertise. Unless something significant and consistent is done to revive these disappearing skills, engage the artisans with a sustained market for their products and offer training to emerging young artisans, IIID noted that many of our traditional arts and crafts would exist only on records.
Hence an urgent need was recognised to revive, preserve and take forward many of our traditional arts and crafts and save our artisans from perishing in the years to come. Resonating with this, IIID BRC decided to launch the “Save the Artisan” campaign with the explicit purpose of identifying our dying arts and crafts and fast disappearing artisan clan. The campaign launched as part of the Designuru 3.0, looks to connect with organisations working at the grass root level with artisans and find ways to provide them with a continuous market.
In keeping with this objective, IIID BRC reached out to member architects and interior designers to commit 25 per cent of their project costs in interiors to sourcing products of traditional artisans. Since a continuous market is key to ensure a sustained source of livelihood for the artisans, IIID BRC also decided to go one step further to collaborate with the four organisations participating in the Design festival. These four organisations have been working at ground level with the artisans to revive our traditional arts and crafts. This proposed collaboration seeks to launch a Signature Collection Series which will comprise of designs offered by member architects and designers for the arts and crafts promoted by these four organisations.
IIID BRC proposes to connect in the coming months with other such organisations too and collaborate so that the ‘Save the Artisan’ campaign truly makes a tangible difference. Each of the four participating organisations will also be hosting a two day workshop during the Design Week to showcase and enable public participation in the making of our arts and crafts. A crafts bazaar hosted by NaisargikSanthe is also part of this ‘Save the Artisan’ campaign, to bring the artisans’ products to the general public during the Design festival.
Installation made from waste
The Design festival will also host an installation made from waste wood. The installation put up by ASSOCHAM GEM Karnataka Chapter will serve as the premises for workshops conducted for students of architecture as well as presentations and discussions. The installation will also serve as a space for architecture students to display their works, designs, thoughts as well as their own dimensions to it with different types of waste.
Provoking a conversation on our urban spaces
Many a time the design of the urban space is ignored and so is its impact on not only functionality, mobility, usability, aesthetics but also on the mental health of the residents using the spaces. The fact that a badly designed urban space not only restricts mobility but also causes acute stress is at most times not recognised.
Noting the importance of good design in an urban space and the need to address it, promote it, IUDI Karnataka Chapter, will be hosting an exhibition on Urban Design that will be open on all the 7 days of the design festival. The exhibition will have 5 verticals, with each vertical focusing on a specific aspect of urban space.
The first vertical will be on the designs in public spaces such as lakefront, streets where the project has been executed or is in the process of execution. The second vertical would be on those private, yet public spaces which permit usage without having to participate such as a mall space where the spaces in and around it can be experienced without having to indulge in shopping.
The third vertical involves the spaces with a unique identity that are specifically identified and recognised in a locality as a public space such as a Darshini. The fourth vertical involves spaces already done, sparking a dialogue on what could have been done to offer a more appropriate design. The fifth vertical features an installation artist on giving a narrative of a space to come up with the installation.
The five verticals aim to spark a conversation, to discuss, analyse, come up with new ideas, address challenges and offer possible solutions in our urban spaces.
Presenting a Sensory Garden
When it comes to landscape, the primary thing sought is beauty in the lay of the land. The type of flora chosen is mostly one that is easy to maintain as well as picturesque to the eye. What is unfortunately not noted is whether the plant species chosen is of native variety, conducive to the location, what is the level of water consumption, to mention a few. It is also not recognised that a landscape can be equally attractive when opting to have a productive flora in the form of fruit, vegetables, herbs, as well as a variety of medicinal plants.
Speaking on the creation of such a Sensory Landscape is Agricultural Scientist and Landscape Architect Dr Prabhakar Rao during his lengthy presentation. Dr Rao’s presentation will cover a range of herbs and medicinal plants that can be opted for ground cover, shrubs, as creepers in a landscape, where the aesthetics is intact while a sensory garden is created. The presentation by Dr Rao is hosted by ASSOCHAM GEM Karnataka Chapter.
Beekeeping and its architecture connect
Bees are another word for sustainability. Absence of them means an irrevocable damage to our ecological cycle and environment. The haphazard unplanned growth of our urban spaces provoked M Arch student of RV College of Engineering, VijithendraThejaswito take up bee keeping as a hobby and ponder over their existence in our urban spaces and connect the same to sustainable architecture and urban spaces. Architect Thejaswi will be making a presentation on Beekeeping and Sustainable Architecture. The presentation is hosted by ASSOCHAM GEM Karnataka Chapter.
Earthworks
It is not common to start an architectural practice soon after graduating. Rarer still is for this practice to solely focus on sustainable architecture. Yet, 3 young architectural practices, having done just that, will be presenting their works to the gathered audience. The much looked forward to presentations by the three young practices, Red Brick Design Studio, Kala Kutumbh and Masons Ink is hosted by ASSOCHAM GEM Karnataka Chapter.
