MAPPING
INDIA
An insider’s guide to Indian
architecture, design and fashion
commissioned by
MAPPING
INDIA
An insider’s guide to Indianarchitecture, design and fashion commissioned by
Dutch Design Fashion Architecture June 2010
Contents
Foreword 04 Introduction 05 A Great Peep Show 07ARCHITECTURE by Anand Patel
Architecture & Urban Planning in India 11 Introduction 11The Architecture and Urban Design Field in India 12
Architecture in India: Perspective 14
Contemporary Architecture in India
The State of Architecture in India 15
Education 16
Economy 18
Professional Organizations 19
Government policy 20
Key Players in Architecture & Urban Planning in India 22
India and The Netherlands 23
Architecture Events: India – The Netherlands 25
Growth Prospects 26 Awards 29 Journals, Blogs 29 References 29
DESIGN by Hrridaysh Despande
30 Introduction 30 History 30 Context 31 Design in India – Today and Tomorrow 31 Education 32 Organizations 34 Government 35Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion 37
India Design Council 37
Key players 38
Trade and Industry 39
Geographical distribution of design industry 40
Design Users 41 Internationalization 42 Media, awards and exhibitions 42 Recent creative exchange between India and the Netherlands 43 Indian Design Industry- A SWOT Analysis 43 Main trends and prospects 44 Conclusion 46
FASHION by Harmeet Bajaj
47 Introduction 49 Educational Institutions 49Leading Institutes of Fashion Education 49
Organisations 51
Trade and industry 54
Designer wear market 55
Designers 55
The luxury brands 58
The big fat Indian wedding 58
The accessory market 59
Fashion jewelry 59
Key Professionals in the Fashion industry 61
Leading choreographers 63
Event companies 63
Leading set/exhibition designers 63
Media, Awards and Exhibitions 64
Media 64
Awards 65
Events and exhibitions 65
Government 67
Bi-lateral Trade Relations and Exchanges 67
Between India and other nations 67
Between India and the Netherlands 70
Potential areas for joint collaborations 70
Foreword
In the spring of 2010 three key persons in their field engaged in a ‘mapping’ exercise of architecture, design and fashion in India, one of the largest and most populated countries in the world. Brave enough to accept this daunting assignment were architect Anand Patel, design professional Hrridaysh Despande and fashion guru Harmeet Bajaj. In the short time that was available to them they collected a wealth of insightful data and information, but also took the trouble of explaining to us both the nature and the significance of the design profession in India, as well as providing us with insight into how its development interacts with the development of Indian society. To all three I wish to express my profound thanks for their generosity in sharing their knowledge and forbearance in dealing with our demands.
The mapping was conducted in the context of the Dutch Design Fashion Architecture (DutchDFA) programme, which aims to strengthen the international position of the most prominent sectors of the Dutch creative industries – design, fashion and architecture – through a joined-up approach. This four-year strategic programme (2009-2012) takes place in a selection of focus countries (India, China and Germany) and relates to topical issues and local demands. The aim is to build long-lasting international partnerships while addressing the issues facing today’s world through design.
Partnership, dialogue, exchange of ideas, collaboration, trade, can only take place on the basis of mutual trust, which in turn is founded on mutual knowledge. The Dutch-DFA programme is geared towards building relationships step by step and this mapping exercise provides a crucial stage in this process. The draft version of the mapping was presented by its authors in Amsterdam on 15 June 2010 to an audience of Dutch design professionals and administrators. On the invitation of DutchDFA, the ‘mappers’ were each accompanied by several key figures from their field.
This group visited the Netherlands for a week, meeting their counterparts in education, culture and business, renewing old ties – such as with the networks developed between India and the Netherlands by BNO and NAi – and developing new acquaintances and even new friend-ships. New ideas for collaboration arose along the way and will be reflected in the DutchDFA programme of the coming years. At the same time DutchDFA has pledged to create an online ‘mapping’ of the Netherlands for our
Indian colleagues and counterparts, as well as for anyone else wishing to engage with Dutch design.
On behalf of the DutchDFA partners NAi, Premsela, BNO, BNA, BNI and Modint, I wish to thank Harmeet, Hrridaysh and Anand for their invaluable contribution to a future collaboration between India and the Netherlands. Our gratitude also goes to Corien Beks, Theo Groothuizen, Rita van Hattum, Nannet van der Kleijn, Jorn Konijn and Peter Kersten for reading and commenting on drafts of the mapping. Dutch author and critic Gert Staal achieved the remarkable feat of writing a summarizing introduction, whereas Gerrie van Noord as always was a fast and critical editor and translator. However, without the perseverance, charm and organisational skills of Mei-Lan Tjoa this mapping would never have materialised. Thank you all.
Christine de Baan, programme director Dutch Design Fashion Architecture Rotterdam, June 2010
The turbulent growth of India’s economy has led to a significant shift in how the country is perceived within a short amount of time – both within India itself, but certainly also elsewhere. Although not all parts of the country, and certainly not all layers of its population benefit equally from its growing welfare, progress is visible through factors such as increase in income, expansion of the real estate market, the job market and for instance the growth of the retail sector.
Especially in cities, growth has become the default condition. India currently has 42 cities with over a million inhabitants. Within 20 years this number will increase to 68. In the meantime, Mumbai and Delhi have passed the 10 million mark; Kolkata and Bangalore are on the verge of following in their footsteps.
Virtually every number highlighted in ‘Mapping India’ indicates the acceleration that characterises the country’s current development. This speed is accompanied by a growing awareness of the significance that the design disciplines have for the country’s future. Especially because the rapid changes also reveal structural lacks, the answer is being sought in designing solutions: interventions in the areas of infrastructure, health care, planning, education etc. to which designers can contribute. At the same time the numbers show the country’s unprecedented potential (when it comes to production capacity and consumer urge), as well as its boundless needs.
Self-consciousness
It would be painting too simple a picture to assume that the Netherlands, with its knowledge and experience in urban planning, architecture, design and fashion, would find its bed readily made in India. First of all, across the country’s various regions, social classes and urban and rural areas this market is incredibly diverse. Moreover, the interest in design expertise is clearly articulated in certain sectors (like in IT, automotive industries), while it is only partially or under-developed in others. The cities’ thus far unplanned growth clearly demonstrates the dilemma. There are many urgent issues (slum development, sustainability, transport, economic development) that offer
great opportunities for the use of Dutch design expertise. But before that can be applied, local governments need to be convinced of the necessity of central planning. And, after the frustrating experiences with the English colonial mode of city planning, they subsequently need to be made aware of the added value of what the Netherlands have to ‘offer’.
What also has to be taken into account is that the Indian appreciation for the design qualities that especially Europe and Japan can bring to the table, will always be mirrored by a strong sense of national consciousness. In fact, on the basis of its historically grown creative ability and the increase in quality of its education, India sees itself as the Asian design factory of the near future. The ambition is for international clients to come and buy in their design services. If foreign parties want to operate successfully within the Indian design market, they will at least have to show understanding for the specifically Indian sensibility, and preferably incorporate it within their projects through collaboration with Indian designers and architects.
Breakthrough
Research in the architecture, fashion and design sectors all seems to point in the same direction: Dutch designers, and specifically those agencies with a strong, professional work method, will mainly be able to get a foot in the door through collaboration with Indian partners. Indian companies here have a clear goal: they want to
professionalise and (eventually) internationalise their own design practices through their partners.
Although developments in both architecture and in various design sectors happen quickly (education improves, governments takes on a more proactive role and
companies focus on innovation and expansion) an actual breakthrough is still due.
Education
Professional education for architects and designers can benefit from collaboration with Dutch institutions in areas like ‘design thinking’, professionalisation and knowledge of international markets. The demand for architects and
Introduction
Introductory remarks by Gert Staal, author and design critic in the Netherlands
Foreword
designers is substantially bigger than the capacity that the existing institutions can deliver. The current number of 5,000 new architects a year for instance is far too low to be able to meet the actual need. This shortage also seems to exist within other design education, which is often modelled after the example of several
well-established schools in India, such as the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. There are opportunities for Dutch educational institutions to feed new courses in India with curriculums that have proven their quality in the Netherlands.
Government
Through collaboration with Indian and Dutch designers the government could develop more policy related insight in designers’ fields of operation and the application of strategic design processes. Especially with regards to communication, public space and infrastructure there is an unmistakable market for the integration of Dutch knowledge and experience. However, Indian government culture differs significantly from ours and is certainly substantially more bureaucratic.
Nehru’s legacy, which married a capitalist system with a form of state-led economy, shaped after Russia’s, has lost its relevance in contemporary India, but its conceptual framework hasn’t vanished yet. The introduction of the National Design Policy in 2007 offers an important backdrop for Dutch designers who want to get a sense of what’s possible in India. The plan aims to establish a ‘brand image’ for Indian design, for which the use of foreign knowledge is indispensable. A similarly ambitious plan from 2005 (JNNURM) is aimed at producing regeneration in over 60 Indian cities, paying special attention to infrastructure, service provision for the poor, and a reform of urban facilities.
Industry
The use of design in the industrial sector is mainly limited to large (multinational) companies. Thus far there is little evidence of knowledge of design management among the many more mid-range and small companies, and
therefore of their appreciation for this level of expertise.
Active Alliances
It goes without saying that the Netherlands will continue to build on the steadily improving relationships between the two countries. Government bodies and professional organisations have laid the groundwork for collaboration, especially in the area of education and consultancy in relation to the professionalisation of the design sectors. The Netherlands has, alongside England and Japan, gained prominence as a consultancy partner for the Indian design sector in the fields of graphic design and product design.
There also seem to be options for the export of goods and for investments. When it comes to active alliances, several matchmaking programmes have been launched and there are opportunities specifically for collaborations with young, emerging agencies. They are eager to grow and learn, and offer a useful point of access to the local market.
Fairs, conferences and trade events (like Kyoorius DesignYatra Mumbai and LAKME Fashion Week in Delhi) are important starting points for an exploration of
opportunities. Travelling exhibitions also seem to provide a useful platform. Important is always an understanding for the Indian context, whether it’s defined as commercial market, or the social-cultural contexts in which architects and designers operate. It seems obvious to establish, but is essential to emphasise that India is purely looking for connections that stimulate its own professional activity, enhance the quality of life of its own citizens and the viability of its own industry. Who dares to make the leap from the Netherlands will have to realise one thing, using the words of one of Mapping India’s authors: ‘Designers need to display sensitivity to the real needs of people and also sensitize clients accordingly.’
Excerpts from Whitewash by Gautam Bhatia, with thanks to Anand Patel
The government line is ‘unity in diversity’, of secularism, of religious faith and personal beliefs, something that also includes the freedom to practice idiosyncratic whims, fiscal fraud, nepotism and perverse deceptions.
It is said that the 20th century was the most creative period of human history; its 100 years saw changes in
governance, politics, social behaviour, art and science that had not been witnessed in the last thousand. Equally, it is said of India, that the last decade of the 20th century was more destructive than the thousand years that preceded it. Floods, cyclones, famines and other natural disasters aside, India saw the calculated demolition of a mosque; it experienced rioting on a monumental scale. Political assassinations, insecurity, terrorism and fear became the order of the day. But with political ambitions and party loyalties at stake, India chose to ignore it all, hoping it would go away. When a train fell into a gorge killing 800, the India-Pakistan Cricket Match made a better viewing option than dead bodies on muddy ground. When a killer earthquake hit Gujarat and people lay dying under the weight of illegally conceived high rises, a German relief supply plane stood for nine hours at the airport awaiting customs clearance. When a Union Minister, caught with cash stuffed in sofas and beds was re-elected instead of being jailed, it spoke of a new order in the making. In the riots that engulfed the nation and absorbed the elite in intellectual, often ineffectual, debate, in fodder scams of criminal scale in drought afflicted areas, in water riots in places where Ministers cars were washed twice daily, was the first sign that human life came a distant second to religious, political, caste, gender, and personal ideals.
Housing for the Economically Weaker Sections, LIG, Low Income Group. Build for Work Program, Nirman Yojna, Work for Food Program, Karya Yojna. Euphemism upon euphemism. Every official act of magnanimity was tinged with political ill will and doomed to failure. The poor in India were different in far too many ways to ever overcome their handicaps. To be saddled by poverty, to live in the village, to be a Muslim or Christian or tribal; to be a woman, unmarried; to be dark, was the ultimate
humiliation in 18th century India.. Nothing has changed in 21st century India. Several lifetimes and good karmas
would be needed to rise to India’s 21st century ideal: Hindu, Brahmin Male, urban dweller, young, fair, moneyed. To survive is to stick together, and also remain apart from others. Journalists acquire land and live together in a landlocked subdivision called Press Enclave, lawyers in Niti Bagh, Punjabis in Punjabi Bagh, Bengalis in Chittaranjan Park, Jews in Cochin, dwindling to a few hundred, in Jewtown. Cooperation has come to mean cooperating with people whose close proximity is unlikely to produce cultural, economic and ethnic ripples.
A married, orthodox, Bengali Muslim chartered accountant with two children, and employed by a multinational company, is not likely to live next to a South Indian lesbian couple with an adopted Sikkimese baby. It is a much safer bet living with a neighbour who is racially, morally, sexually, spiritually and economically your equal, than attempting to savour the uncertain benefits of diversity. Wherever you go, every turn or incident or meeting reinforces your position, and you are reminded of your deprivations, your opportunities. In your sightline is someone worthy of emulation, someone else in a state of humiliation, another in desperation. The proximity of such reminders baffle; and make you acutely aware of all the social, political, and economic collisions that are waiting to happen to you in your life, in the life of India.
Yet places in the city radiate the genial signs of shared tolerances. There is an Islamic tomb in the old neigh bour-hood; a Hindu temple is quietly being `regularized’ down the road; a delegation of Buddhist monks is attending a peace conference at the international centre. The day-to-day signals are those of a country tolerant in mind, where an unwritten code of religious and social conduct governs the passing of each day. But passive individuals given to the rituals of secularism in their own life, become rapidly fanatical when part of the larger collective of their own community. The community provides the platform for action, the political party the credo of hate. Every bit of pious rhetoric invariably has undertones of violence. Contradictory signs are everywhere. Doordarshan will transmit a commercial for a refrigerator across the land. The fridge is laden with chicken, milk, fruit juices, eggs
and ham. But the ad is imbibed by a bonded labourer in drought-ridden Bihar. A political leader still maintains his links with Gandhi by dressing in a similar fashion; only the shawl is of pure silk, the dhoti of terrycloth.
India allows everything to coexist; mineral water and cholera, the personal computer and the hand plough, lesbianism and arranged marriages. But what appears sad and funny and stupid at times is only the sad and funny irony of such juxtaposition. A towering, five-storied mansion, slapped with an expensive stone veneer and flouting every building bylaw, becomes delightfully funny, extra vagant and sad when viewed across a grim cityscape of mud shanties with a single water source and open sewage. That the residents of these mud shanties have helped build the mansions, and survive by their construction, only makes the irony sadder and funnier. In India the desperation of daily urban life is in perpetual conflict with the 21st century itch to become the world’s most notorious consumers. Setting an unfamiliar course on the path of perennially increasing gross domestic product, the new Indian has learnt to make his own substantial contribution to the annual growth rate. Flatron TVs, stainless steel fridges, call centers, cell phones with cameras, Baroque houses with cupids pissing into Italian fountains, pool-side barbeque grilles, vacations in Brazil, Corinthian columned housing called Malibu Heights, plate glass malls, BMWs - all vie for space on the credit card. Risen from the ashes its owner is now in stiff competition for global goods and services - unsettled and unsettling, a mercenary, setting American standards of consumption and obligation. Defending the new gods of NASDAQ, he is often consumed by middle-class guilt and returns to desecrate old temple walls. He belongs at once to the new India, brash and arrogant, relentless in his persuit to become someone else, but unable to shed the undiscovered values of the old India, an imaginary Gandhian utopia. Outside his hermetically sealed malls and farmhouses, this other India awaits admission. The pi-dog sniffs turd on an unfinished road. Citizens reel and shuffle about in unhealthy purposelessness, filling forms in triplicate with mother’s maiden name, clubbing
daughters-in-law to death, exchanging packets of notes in darkened halls. Theatrical scenes in discordant play. Considered together, they produce the schizophrenic character of the new India. An India of despotic and devious insanity that plays itself out daily through a cast of shifty trustless accomplices - the new heroes.
Along the new road, four-laned, with guard rails and green signage similar to any American highway, India bristles
with activity, thirsting for things that once belonged only to another world. After half a century of sustained denial, the thirst is endless. But turn into the side road and the scene changes. Drive along this dirt track for thousands of miles and the scene refuses to change. Mile upon relentless mile, a primitive land unmade in any physical way stretches on, a lone tree in the distance, a charpai and a mud hut. Talk to an old woman trying to sell a heap of garlic in the emptiness; tell her about the new economic order, the high Forex reserves and job outsourcing. Tell her about the world’s fastest growing economy after China, and watch the faded eyes light up. There is change in the village: Sure, there’s been a six year drought, and the only well has dried up. But Maggi Noodle packets are now available in the ration shop, and Bisleri mineral water in plastic bottles. There’s no caste rivalry anymore; the Dalits have relocated to a separate village, nearer to the Dalit well. What’s more, her husband has a steady job as a bonded labourer; even the children have work in the matchstick factory. Sure there’s not enough to eat, but food isn’t everything. Things are looking up.
Outside the village, dried by famine, the billionaire industrialist looks blankly at the gnarled face; past her shriveled skin, he sees the remote village wall. He knows, behind it are other unimaginable states of malnourishment, infant mortality rates that defy all norms, and many lives lived on only twenty rupees a day. Less than the cost of pissing in a London pay-toilet. But he smiles. Inequality is only an indicator of a thriving economy, he tells himself. In so formidable a divide, no unrest is possible.
That two centuries can exist in such appallingly close proximity without even affecting each other is a surprise that India offers all the time. If there is dissatisfaction in the village, it rarely spills into the fancy farmhouse next door. If industrial workers die of chemical waste pollutants from their own factory, the owner simply hires new workers. As long as the boundary walls are high, the fences electrified, as long as profits and dividends stay within the family compound, life is OK. Hyper-reality. Against the denuded backdrop of fallow dry fields, California houses huddle, embarrassed in their lushness, a little uncomfortable in the Indian sunshine.
But not for long. Everyone knows that the artificial India is the real India now. As Mahatma Gandhi once didn’t say: The real India is not here, it’s in California.
Small town Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, is the largest manufacturer and exporter of brass objects in India, with an annual turnover of over 42 crore rupees. Despite its
supposed richness, in urban terms, Moradabad is truly the armpit of the world. Squalid beyond belief, treeless, filled with rivulets of effluents, unmade roads, stagnant pools of water and with a roadside poverty to rival any of the small towns of Bihar, in the public life of the city there is not a hint of its industrial affluence. And yet, along its Eastern edge lies its only link to affluence -- the city’s larger houses -- each displaying a level of ostentation in indirect proportion to the surrounding blight. In such a setting, the houses become nothing but the carefully preserved and fenced bits of ornament in a sea of grime - petrified statements of contrast.
The irony hits you every day. A three-bedroom apartment across the Dharavi slum in Mumbai costs one million dollars. And there are enough takers for it. As there are for the Neo-classical and pagoda-style houses of Amby Valley, a leisure home reserve of artificial lakes, artificial ski slopes and artificial beach fronts, built north of the city. And physically protected from the mess of India.
But move higher up and away from the rarified ground atmosphere of Amby Valley and include the perspective of its surrounding countryside, a rawness hits the senses. When viewed with the parched village ponds, the lakes flicker in mock hyper-reality. Against the denuded backdrop of fallow dry fields, California houses huddle, embarrassed in their lushness, a little uncomfortable in the Indian sunshine. But not for long. Everyone knows that the artificial India is the real India now. As Mahatma Gandhi once didn’t say: The real India is not here, it’s in California.
Who cares about Gandhi anymore. From the heroism of Independence, India had happily reduced the heroic act to money matters and fiscal prowess, making as the new heroes of our times the Richest Indian, the fourth richest Asian, the Most Affluent American of Indian origin, the only Indian in Fortune 500. The old heroes were still there, but they were shelved and reduced to caricature.
Mahatma Gandhi, a distant guardian of Independence, CV Raman of science, Ramanathan Krishnan and MilkhaSingh of sport grinning down their respective shelves, a little weary, a little sad.
The new heroes were ordinary money-grubbing parasites, whose sole ideal was to be a millionaire by the age of 30 or grow their hair long for the Guinness Book. There where no Mahatma Gandhi Margs, no New Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiums, no Satyajit Ray Chowks. Only Ansal Plazas and Raheja Towers. Builders commemorating their own actions in their own lifetime, to give you a taste of the new India.
For most people, born soon after partition and witnessing something of the promise of Independence, India now offered only a regressive refrain. Every shock of communal violence, every message of narcissism and greed in the papers, was a signal to retreat - to withdraw behind high boundary walls; the only way of self
preservation was through self-absorption and selfishness. Social obligations and ambitions withered away and all that remained was the cold hard truth: each man for himself. The boat was sinking, and fast. Save yourself. I too learnt to survive in the only way possible. I became a modern day hero - an Indian without obligation or ideal. I learnt to cherish all that was of value to the new India; Money, split air conditioning, microwaves and Haryanvi guards for the house - all the buttressings that recreated an image of myself as a promoter of my own middle-class cause. There was no other way. It was more important to earn even if in evil ways, than carry the mantle of some half-baked proposition into the uncertain arena of national idealism. To save the country’s millions, to propose solutions for low cost shelters or do something as archaic as believe in the country was an old Gandhian madness. Sometimes it is difficult to live in the eternal overdose of India; its daily message of violence, the generous hostility of its ordinary life; the persistent symbols of piety and fanaticism. Yet, despite the despair, the daily embrace of life also adds another dimension to the country. It provides the compassionate face of humanity in perpetual struggle. After 20 years of being back home, every day still affects me profoundly; every sight fills me with new rage, tears, greater compassion, even love. How uncomplicated the place was, I always thought, and how much everything was a reminder of life and death.
The book consequently is written with love. At the outset this may not appear so, but, every aspect of derision and despair has a corollary in affection. If I have hated and despised the happenings around me it is only because I have always thought of India as a welcoming family home full of cherished value and memory. Like a
benevolent grand parent, happy in its poverty whose touch and embrace were a measure of my own comfort and security. And it is with great sadness that I see the grandparent suffering and dying.
But among the unhoused millions, gas tragedies, thieving bureaucrats, earthquake relief that never comes, large scale urban despair and nuclear threats, the sadness is naturally tinged with comedy. In India comic relief
becomes an effective tool to assuage collective guilt. The daily quantum of human suffering, the weight of public expectation in helping to alleviate that suffering and, the cartoon characters that pose as potential providers and rulers, altogether rate India high as a setting of daily satire and parody. The largest number of forest management and research institutes thrive when twenty thousand hectares of wilderness is being eroded every day. A railway tout encourages you to limp on the train so as to take advantage of the quota for the handicapped. Six grown men with doctoral degrees sit together in a train compartment and conduct a deep, heartfelt, debate on the shunting schedule of the 242 Down Passenger train from Mehsana, a widely acclaimed book, Trains at a Glance, in hand. Where would this happen but in India.
Whitewash satirizes the medium of the newspaper as well - its known personalities, advertising, classified ads, tenders, obituaries, and hue and cry notices. Film stars, politicians, cricket players - animated but in recognizable form - engage in fictitious interviews and scenarios. In attempting to poke fun at the current state of affairs within the country the newspaper format of the book examines issues, perso na-lities, people and ideas in a way that is wholly idiosyncratic - at times, projecting the current image of India, at other times, an India that once was, and yet others, an India that may never be, and perhaps, should never be.
In so doing, it is meant to act as a form of corrective measure to the real India, offering a set of unintellectual lenses behind which lies something of today’s morality. Thieving forests officials, presidents, WMDs, dowry deaths, adulterated foods, newly wed housewives, crashed trains, striking airline pilots are all mixed and matched in the unstructured way it is possible only in India. In Whitewash their actions are further embellished to represent a grossly magnified picture of the world - an exaggerated picture of people driven to grotesque levels of greed, and indulging in heinous acts of depravity and barbarism.
The more I wrote, the more I realized that it was not possible to exaggerate Indian reality. From my narrow middle-class cocooned perspective, self-conscious and self-serving, everything was an exaggeration. India loomed as large as an untamable beast, baring its fangs with such regularity, that it left me reeling in retreat. Life beyond the boundary wall had become a matter of such serious - almost criminal - tragedy, that it was now a very highly developed form of comedy. At one time it was possible to laugh and cry at the same time. Now it’s hard
to stop laughing.
But there was another reason. For some time now, I realized how little I am affected by the day to day affairs of India, how little its public, political and social life interests me. Even the daily news seems unreal -- like narcissistic messages from some distant unstable planet. The aspects of India that enrich my personal life belong at divergent ends of the spectrum; sometimes the daily offering is close to the meditative - the sight of the sweeper woman’s movements across the floor, a lone figure doing yoga under a tree; more often, it is in the realm of the mundane - the daily march of children heading to school, the vegetable vendor’s chant. Whatever it is, people, places and landscapes move me profoundly. But the middle ground, the India of daily squalor and dormant prejudices, is always hard to accept. In that world, I am not a player, just a viewer in the back row, watching the audience with as much interest as the play. I suppose in every society the middle class bears the burden of dysfunction. People belong out of human need, inadequacies. People of my background - privileged and pretentious, a little aloof, and always judgmental - are easily unhinged in an untamed country. Without the daily crossfire of survival and aspiration to occupy you, India is an inadequate ally, just an indulgence. A great peep show. Whitewash is therefore, not an objective book. No book on India can be. It is a prejudiced work filled with love and hate and despair; by exaggerating and fictionalizing known events, personalities and situations, the book I hope will caution against the excesses of our time and act as warning for the future. By extrapolating the madness of the present, the writing is meant to stir the reader against complacency. Moreover the book is written about India from my personal viewpoint. It encompasses thoughts, historical data, contemporary references and ideas, expressed from the vantage point of an ordinary middle-class urban life. It may be chronologically and historically an unconventional view, but, for a place which follows no established convention, I think it is the only perspective possible.
Gautam Bhatia is one of the most famous architecture authors in India. He has written Punjabi Baroque and Comic Century. He is based in New Delhi. As a critic and satirist, he writes columns for Outlook magazine and Indian Express newspapers, and his columns have also appeared in New York Times.
Introduction
India will have more than 590 million people living in urbanized areas by 2030. 70% of new employment will be generated in cities. 700 to 900 million square meters of new residential and commercial development needs to be built every year (an entire new Chicago!) along with 2.5 billion square meters of roads to be paved in order to accommodate this anticipated growth in the next 20 years. 68 cities will have a population of above 1 million
inhabitants. About 1.2 trillion US dollars are required to meet this demand to rejuvenate and build Indian cities. Thus, cities will be central to India’s economic future. Among all the States and Union territories, the National Capital Territory of Delhi is most urbanized with 93 percent urban population followed by Union territory of Chandigarh (89.8 percent) and Pondicherry (66.6 percent).
Among the major States, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized state with 43.9 percent of the population living in urban areas followed by Maharashtra (42.4 percent) and Gujarat (37.4 percent). The proportion of urban population is the lowest in Himachal Pradesh with 9.8% followed by Bihar with 10.5 percent, Assam (12.7 percent) and Orissa
(14.9 percent).
In terms of absolute number of persons living in urban areas, Maharashtra leads with 41 million persons, which is 14 percent of the total population of the country. Uttar Pradesh accounts for about 35 million followed by Tamil Nadu 27 million.
It is within this framework that we are looking at the emerging trends and demands in the architectural and urban design practice in India, especially through its cities and new towns.
Architecture
Architecture & Urban Planning in India
Prepared by: Anand Patel, architect
The Architecture and
Urban Design Field in India
Architecture in India carries a difficult burden. In a country, where situations and problems achieve a despairing magnitude, is there a way of thinking of architecture, other than as mere problem solving? Should architecture even innovate towards problems? Should it remit to finding solutions to the Bhopal Gas tragedy? Should artistic effort be directed towards making, not just adequate, but thoughtfully imaginative houses for those who need shelter from a cyclone in Orissa?
Let us extrapolate.
For an architect, architecture is a kind of memoir. A piece of construction, the making of a building, even the viewing of a monument, is a form of autobiography; as personal an autobiography as an architect can write. It carries notions of professed aims and ideas influenced too by the people who build them, and those who live in them. Seen through the architect’s eye buildings express the architect’s own perceptions of a place - the way he would make it for himself, the way he would occupy it. And, to that degree, architecture becomes a canvas of confession. Since architecture is such a conspicuous, immensely physical object in space, its presence in fact, influences everyone. The presence of building around us provides a persistent frame of reference - as permanent as roads or fields - from which there is no escape. Buildings are explicit, big, always visible. They line the street, they are at the end of the road, they make the town. The final products of a difficult endeavor, they involve questions of aesthetics, design, construction, layout, structure, materials, details, ornamentation, personal likes and public taste - all things that can be individually identified to convey the way a building is made. Through them, architecture becomes a treasure trove of unfolding links and discoveries, connecting histories of culture to expressions of style and personal histories, making the past visible in the present.
Architecture in India: Perspective
No doubt we have a great architectural heritage of temples, mosques, palaces and forts. So much so that whenever architecture is thought of in conjunction with India, images of the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and South Indian temples are conjured up in our minds.
Do we have anything today as representative of Modern Architecture, which could be compared with our old buildings? Or in even simpler terms - ‘what represents Modern Architecture in India’?
The answer to this question also depends on the spirit behind it. If the curiosity behind the question concerns the quantum of construction done in post-independence years, the answer can be one impressive list of statistical figures, a fine achievement for building science and technology. But, if on the other hand the questioning mind is concerned about new architectural and planning thought generated in the same post-independence years, which have resulted in buildings and cities suited to our socio-economic, cultural and climatic circumstances, our achievements are not very impressive so far. But considering the fact that formation of thoughts and ideas, in this relatively young field, has been going for only the last quarter of century and with the limited resources that we have, it is evident that we are on the verge of making a break-through. Architecture traditionally, i.e., before the arrival of British on the Indian soil, was from the social point of view, a creation of spectacular sculptural forms hewn out of stone. Architectural material was stone; tools, chisel and
hammer, and the aim was glorification. In contrast, the every-day needs of a common man were ruthlessly neglected. Then the British arrived on the scene, it was through them that the first introduction to elementary modern building construction and planning was introduced into India. Their aim, however, was to house their
organisations, and their people and whatever was
necessary to control an empire as big as India. Apart from self-serving military cantonments and civil lines, they also left the basic problems well alone. It was no intention of the British to educate Indians in the art and science of architecture. Consequently Indian minds, during the British reign, were completely out of touch with the progressive thinking taking place in the rest of the world. The most significant architectural phenomenon that took place during the first half of this century in this country was building of Imperial Delhi. This was an anachronism of the highest order, because, while at that time
contemporary Europeans were engaged in most progressive thinking in architecture, Sir Edward Lutyen’s was a masterpiece in high renaissance architecture, the result of a way of thinking typical of the early nineteenth century in Europe. It is interesting to note that at the same time as the construction of Delhi, Europe was having the period of modern architecture movement in such schools as the Bauhaus.
Independence woke us to a changed situation. “Time had moved on. In place of religion or royal concern with architectural immortality, this situation demanded attention to those problems that had so far been ruthlessly
neglected. The ordinary man, his environment and needs became the centre of attention. Demand for low cost housing became urgent.
Industrialism that was to follow in India spawned its own problems of townships and civic amenities for workers. Fresh migration from rural areas to existing cities also strained already, meager housing capacities of existing cities. The very scale of the problem was and still is unnerving. 8,37,00,000 dwelling units needed throughout the country and the demand rises annually at the rate of 17,000 dwelling units, not to mention rural housing. To face staggering problems of such magnitude, twenty-five years ago, there were few Indian architects in the country and practically no planners. There was only one school of architecture in Bombay. But there was the will to build, with the limited resources and technological know-how at our disposal.
We marched ahead and built an impressive number of houses and other buildings of utilisation nature. In the process we made mistakes and learnt from them. Each fresh attempt was a step closer to building of forms more suitable for the Indian climate and socio-economic conditions. In this process, architects also became aware of the need for a certain amount of research work in new ways of building and planning if we were to face the problem squarely as they say. Since government was the agency with the largest resource, it had to carry the heaviest responsibility for construction. Need for various kinds of organisation on the national and regional level was felt. Following is the list of governmental bodies that we have today, which in some way or the other are responsible for building industry in India.
(1) CENTRAL PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT (C.P.W.D.) (2) TOWN & COUNTRY PLANNING ORGANISATION (3) HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (4) CENTRAL BUILDING RESEARCH INSTITUTE
(5) NATIONAL BUILDING ORGANISATION (6) HINDUSTAN HOUSING FACTORY
(7) STATE HOUSING BOARDS & DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES
Apart from all these, are state housing boards in all the mentioned above bodies which are responsible for implementation and designing of the housing needs, and general controlled growth of the existing cities according to drawn up master-plans for development. For financial help they depend on agencies like HUDCO.
Together with the help of the entire organisations, by no means an exhaustive list, government performs various roles, from public works to deployment of financial resour-ces, from research to distribution of funding to building industry. Much has been done much remains to be done. On the architectural horizon today find us with a new generation of architects and planners. Today we have nearby fifteen architectural schools throughout the country and certain equipment and knowhow of naturalized building science and technology and a growing experience with new material and methods and large scale planning. All this had not been easy.
However, it was not huge, building institutions, but individuals that have been responsible for evolving a new aesthetics bridging the hiatus between traditionalism and modernism. Painstakingly these individuals have worked, over the years, learning both from abroad and our experiences with traditional architecture, to bring about various schools of thought responsible for the spirit of modern Indian architecture. The emphasis now lies not on awesome monumentality, but factionalism with
accompanying virtues of economy, simplicity and utility. It is relevant here to go into the development of these ideas. As a matter of fact some ideas of modern architecture were not to come to us until 1950, when Le Corbusier at that time was a leading figure in architectural circles created Chandigarh, one of his most ambitious projects. This had a tremendous impact on the mind of Indian architects, who had so far only seen-either glorious temples or forts of the past or the Imperial British capital of New Delhi in the name of modern architecture. Overwhelmed, they found this expression of modern architecture quite acceptable. It was grand and sensational and at the same time was based on rational basis of climatic analysis and planning freedom. In the years to follow, buildings spring up all over India, which had similar expression and the same materials. But ideas of Le Corbusier had to be crystallized before they could be
adopted in India. Some realized that concrete and plastic forms were after all not the solution for all Indian
architectural problems, howso ever sensational they might be.
There was another parallel phenomenon going on at the same time, which was to influence the course of modern architecture in India to come. Indian architects were going to Europe and America to seek higher education and cultural inspiration. The Indian architectural community took its inspiration from ideas developed in the western world. During the sixties these architects who received their education in the western countries commanded high positions as professionals as well as teachers. They taught, practiced and experimented with what they had learnt in the west against the harsh realities of India. The process of fermentation of ideas was turned on. There were many realizations that were to form the rational basis for architecture to come.
First of these realizations was that if we have to do anything worthwhile in India for Indians under Indian socio-economic and climatic conditions, the west was no place to look for inspirations or solutions. We will have to evolve our own patterns of development and physical growth, our own methods and materials of construction and our own expression of foregoing. This realisation created a sense of vaccum and because of the poignancy of the feeling of vaccum, the search began, and architects started looking in different directions for various answers. In each direction partial perception of truth was declared as the total truth. The fact however, remains that in each direction we have moved closer to the rational basis of modern architecture. One of the first places where Indian architects looked for inspiration for expression of total architecture of India, is our own village and folk
architecture. Architects studied with keen interest the way people solved problems long before western influence was felt in India. From desert settlements of Jaisalmer, to village developments of hills, plains and sea-coasts, all became the focus of study. Complex vernacular plans were analysed and looked into for inspirations. It is the contention of these farsighted architects, with a hard nosed realism, that in such kinds of dense developments, with simple methods of construction and conventional low cost materials, when laid out in a planned manner, that we will find the answer urban housing for our really poor masses. While some of these architects were busy looking for answers in what we already have in our traditional settlements, others were exploring how industry can be made use of in solving the aspect of building problems. Prefabrication has potential in large scale
housing, large span structures and industrial buildings on anywhere were repetitive units can be employed. But so far in India, industrialization of the building industry has not made great headway for lack of technological i nfrastructures to support it, therefore its influence is only limited to fascination of imagery. However, one aspect of technology that can be successfully applied in architecture is invention and manufacture of new building materials from industrial waste to replace the traditional building materials like steel and cement of which there are tremendous shortages.
There is the growing realization among architects that just to build visually beautiful buildings will be useless, unless it is backed by infrastructure of services, such as water supply, electrical supply and communication system of rapid mass transit, etc. In other words it is not an individual building but the total environment that matters. All this calls for serious attention on patterns of physical growth that will take care of layouts of all these services in an organised manner.
Contemporary Architecture in India
“Is there an architectural style that you can identify as “contemporary Indian”? Jagan Shah, architect and historian, feels there is and picks on 20 mid-career architects — he calls them the “new moderns” — for an exposition of the “contemporary Indian” (Contemporary Indian Architecture, Roli Books).
So what is the “contemporary Indian”? No, it’s not an architectural style that merely tacks on “Indian” motifs or symbols to the structure, or mimics vernacular
architecture. No, in a globalised world, an architect can’t simply get by on national identity.
What ties together the architects Shah picks on are “multidisciplinary insights” and a widening of respective agendas to include concerns about climate, ecology and gender. It is through the description of structures by them that he comes to a definition of the “contemporary Indian”. Shah refers to two other vital issues which have had an impact on “creative” expression — the diminishing role of the state in commissioning public buildings, and the fact that with globalisation, architects are concentrating on delivery schedules, quality, detailing, engineering and programming skill.
Walls have eyes
Auroville-based Anupama Kundoo is first on the list and it is her own residence that Shah holds up as an example of the “contemporary Indian”, identifying it in her attention to three areas: “Eco-friendly building materials, alternative technology, and an architecture that is energy-efficient and climate-responsive”. Called “The Wall House”, Kundoo’s house is only 2.2 metres wide, made of exposed brick that’s scaled down to the smaller proportions of the local achakal brick. It’s most distinctive feature is a two-storey-high vaulted verandah at the entrance, made of interlocking clay tubes, which is not just cheap, it is also great for insulation. Energy and costs have been further lowered by the use of solid stone and recycled wood.
Modern temples
Starkness of form ties in Kundoo with Bimal Patel. And Shah picks on three structures by the Ahmedabad-based architect, the most distinctive being the container terminals operations centre in Chennai. A solid block oriented in east-west, the entire south facade of the building is a plain, blank wall, the north being entirely of glass, looking out over the containers stacked far into the distance. This does not just reduce the energy
consumption, the blank wall also provides a space for a mural by Water D’Souza — a motif that fuses the industrial with the spires of south Indian temples.
See through
In this line-up of architects, Kapil Gupta and Christopher Lee are probably the most “international”. Shah picks on three of their much-acclaimed structures, including the Jeweltech factory. From the outside the building looks like a solid square monolith, encased in glass. Inside, it is like a panopticon with a glass “canyon”, a reworking of the traditional Indian courtyard, running through the entire height of the building. It serves as a surveillance devise and also divides the factory floor and administrative sections.
Local touches
Shah holds up Rahul Mehrotra’s design for the TISS campus at Tuljapur as an example of how a structure can be traditional and native to a place and also incorporate modern needs. The campus is an undulating, low structure made of local stone. Full of open spaces — courtyards and terraces — it fulfils the need for interactive spaces and also provides relief from the hot and humid climate.”
The State of
Architecture in India
The modern practice of urban planning in India was initiated after the War of 1857. The British realized that they had come within a hair’s breadth of losing their empire in urban areas because their organic morphology made them difficult to control. There was a concerted effort thereafter to rebuild Indian towns on more familiar terms that they could ‘understand’. In her study of Lucknow, Veena Talwar Oldenburg compellingly demonstrates this imperialist logic underlying our legacy of modern urban planning and, indeed, by extension, of modernity itself.Arindam Dutta makes another crucial point, arguing that the process of making a plan or designing a ‘solution’ is already predetermined by the architect or urban planner before understanding the specifics of the ‘problem’ at hand.3 Not surprisingly, such plans fail to meet the actual needs of society and are frequently resisted, subconsciously or explicitly, by local inhabitants who must bear the brunt of these ill-conceived solutions. In order to establish the authority of its master plans then, the government today has to deploy the police powers of the state to ‘enlighten’ society, compel its acquiescence and ensure that ‘solutions’ are duly implemented.
Dutta’s argument helps explain the process of sealings and demolitions imposed on Delhi in the recent past. The destruction is rationalized by urban planners (who created the problem) and bolstered by the judiciary (who refuse to know better) as a cost that society must bear in order to institutionalize urban planning practice. As Dutta says, ‘It is because the origins of modernity in the colony are... tied up with the ends of imperialism that its outlines operate as a historical teleology in reverse: first the institutions and then the “enlightenment”.’
To institutionalize the ‘modern’ process of planning, the Public Works Department published The Handbook on Town Planning in 1876.4 The Handbook contained guidelines for undertaking urban development projects all over the country and it is easy to trace the origins of many current professional philosophies and practices to this book. These guidelines were formulated at a time when the British had begun systematic efforts to ensure civic health and hygiene in their own cities at home, so they merely transferred the models they had developed for those cities to the colonies.
Nevertheless, their desire to incorporate new ideas was evident even then, because the Handbook was updated eight times in the 70 years before independence, with each successive edition including the latest British advances in urban planning practice. In all the decades since independence, however, the Indian PWD, the heir to this legacy, re-published the Handbook only twice and did not attempt any major changes to its contents. Thus the dated references to Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City and the New Town plans developed in England between the two World Wars are retained as models for use in India. While it is possible that the irrelevance of the Handbook’s contents has led to its recent neglect, it is clear that its ideas have fundamentally moulded the imagination of the Indian urban planner. In fact, its lingering presence in current practice illustrates two debilitating characteristics of urban planning in India: first, the unthinking acceptance of foreign models to serve local purposes; and second, the inability or unwillingness among professionals to update their knowledge base and intellectually engage with the specific complexity of Indian urbanism both as a sociocultural construct and as a technical entity.
Instead, contemporary local urban planners ape the colonial British in their desire to protect empire by disciplining urban space and punishing its ‘disorderly’ manifestations assumed to be the expressions of a rebellious populace. So deeply embedded is this punitive vision that the notion of a planning model that mediates and facilitates a necessarily chaotic urbanization, and that is sensitive to the needs of vast swathes of disadvantaged inhabitants, becomes tragically inconceivable.
This failure is not a new malaise. As far back as 1924, government records about the construction of New Delhi identified the problem of local developments not following the Master Plan formulated by Edwin Lutyens. As Stephen Legg observes in his study of Delhi’s post-colonial development, ‘the would-be panopticism of the imperial city became impossible to regulate from the very
beginning. ’5 A 1939 report that Legg cites reproduced the 1914 sanctioned layout of New Delhi – a map of stark and clearly defined functional zones – and contrasted it, equally starkly, with a map of the actual layout of New Delhi – which, by 1938, illustrated a dazzling array of mixed land-uses and what to the official gaze were ‘haphazard developments’.
Even then the problem then was not identified as one of supply and demand or of needing to understand local characteristics of urban living; then, as today, it was
understood to be one of the lack of strict regulation. Thus the main recommendations of official reports invariably reinforce the imperative to regulate development such that it conforms to official plans. In subsequent
post-independence government policies, stricter enforcement of the law remained the leitmotif of recommendations to solve the persistent problems of ‘illegal’ development. Indeed, this collective fixation with enforcement on the part of both urban planners and government policy-makers – so that the issue becomes one of law and order rather than that of inadequacies in the planning process itself – is arguably the most significant obstacle to contemporary India urban planning.
Legg identifies another significant dimension of the problem of urban planning in India: urban planners deal with the city as an abstract entity rather than as a living organism. Consequently, there is no intellectual or moral commitment to the plans that they make – merely a feeling of victimization when inhabitants do not follow their prescriptive abstractions. Perhaps this professional indifference to the socio-spatial consequences of their policies is also rooted in the Nehruvian development paradigm that sought to combine the existing capitalist system with a Soviet-inspired model of centralized economic planning.
In the Nehruvian paradigm, planning was a ‘scientific’ process, the domain of ‘objective experts’, its goal the furtherance of national interests (which, presumably, would trickle down as local benefits). The aim was to rule ‘from a distance’ by targeting supposedly discrete, self-contained and static objects such as an economy or a population. Post-independence urban planning also fell under the sway of such planning ‘from a distance’. Regrettably, urban planners seem to be the last to realize that cities are neither abstract nor static entities and that unless they seriously engage with the specific ground realities of Indian urbanism, the profession will not be able to cope with the fact and type of contemporary
developments documented in the ACHR report. The force of this tragedy is coming to the fore in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in 2010. With a view to ‘impressing the world’, the government has embarked on a series of ill-advised, costly and
unsustainable projects such as urbanizing the ecologically fragile flood plains of the Yamuna river and undertaking extravagant image building beautification projects such as the complete makeover of Connaught Place: Nero fiddles while Rome burns!
Clearly, there is an urgent case to be made for changing the way urban planners conceive urban space. This, in turn, requires a comprehensive re-formulation of our dis ciplinary assumptions and pedagogic practices. At present our academic institutions emphasize the rote transmission of received knowledge and routine methods for minimally informed and vocational ends. Unsurprisingly, there is little or no local theorizing of the urban planning experience in India. By habit and circumstance, local urban planners have accepted images of cities derived from cultural, social and economic contexts different from theirs and recycled them into teaching curricula.
This situation cannot change unless practitioners undertake focused studies of Indian cities based on innovative hypo theses that challenge received wisdom. Such research would enable urban planners to conceive Indian cities in indigenous terms in order to incorporate the culturally plural, socially evolving and economically constrained characteristics of Indian society. We must critically interrogate the mentality represented by the PWD Handbook in order to decolonize our own concepts of Indian cities.
As we begin to analyze the intellectual and socio-political history of urban planning and chart thoughtful parameters for contemporary practice, we would do well to regard cities as human spaces in which we live and participate rather than as alien and unruly objects, which we seek to tame with our objective expertise. Instead of perennially viewing what exists locally in negative terms and using western standards as positive, we must understand that our inherited and supposedly neutral urban planning practice is driven by a logic of aggressive and purposive control of the population.7 Our vision must be one that fosters social welfare rather than one which relies on punitive sanctions in single-minded service of the abstract patterns on paper which we call master plans. Our current historical condition demands that the existing planning paradigm be cast aside; changing the way planners conceive the city is an important beginning in this process.
Education
The Built Environment Design professions are inclusive of all that is life, living, human aspirations and activities. I t deals with man and nature interactive relationships. The sage author of “Aparajita Prchchha” says “architecture began with the beginning of this universe”. In India our schools are in different academic associations: liberal
education, arts, technology and autonomous environments. The Council of Architecture norms recognize this and provides for liberal individual personality development of each school. Geographically, India contains each of the global geo-climatic zones, it has variety of traditions, above all, we have seen that we have large and varied practice zones. Such a situation demands intense academic involvement.
There are about 150 odd universities, technical institutes, colleges and schools offering an accredited (by the All India Council of Technical Education, AICTE and the Council of Architecture) degree in architecture - equivalent to a B.Arch. or Diploma in Architecture. Together they enroll about 6000 students in a 5 year architectural program. This in turn adds about 5000 eligible architects to India’s human resource pool of building design professionals. However, these numbers are far short of the actual demand for architects in the country at the moment.
Amongst the highly rated institutes for architectural education are the following few,
• Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, (CEPT) Ahmedabad
• Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, (KRVI) Mumbai
• Maharaja Sayajirao University, (MSU) Baroda
• Chandigarh School of Architecture, (CSA) Chandigarh • School of Architecture and Planning, (SPA) Delhi • Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Kharagpur and
Roorkee
• Manipal Institute of Technology, (MIT) Manipal Growth and prosperity of an economy, to an extent is reflected in its physical appearance. The industry responsible for this is the construction industry, which for quite sometime is experiencing a boom. Times have changed and so has our focus. From, the basic necessity of housing and shelter of yesteryears, emphasis is now given on comfort, luxury and style. All this has importantly led to creation of avenues for those interested in making a career in this sector. In the last few decades our economy has witnessed hectic and massive construction activities, new structures have been raised, townships have evolved, evident of growth in the sector.
The construction task involves both the designer and constructors. Any built structure is an outcome of close coordination and participation of a number of people, technical and non-technical, including architects, contractors, surveyors, engineers, designers along-with
brick layers, masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers etc. Everyone is specialized in his own area hence beyond comparison.
The Need for Design Schools in India
India is fast becoming one of the world’s leading consumers of manufactured goods. Be it cell phones, sneakers, cars or home furnishings; Indians are lapping it all up. And the manufacturers of the world cannot ignore the fact that there needs to be a new design sensibility for this new client base.Jayashree Bhosale at Economic Times writes about this need for an “Indianised” design and by extension the Indian designers. In the whole post-secondary education boom, pure design schools have not been at the forefront. And that is a niche waiting to be filled.
India is now a potential design pool. Just by sheer numbers! http://www.designinindia.net/
There’s a whole new talent dimension that India has yet to cash in on: design. The demand for professionals in this field is going up by the day, as international brands call in on one of the world’s key manufacturing and consumption centres. But with just a handful design schools in the country, it’s an opportunity waiting to be tapped. “There are only five to six good design schools in the country. Had the supply of experienced designers been enough, some of the top manufacturing companies of India would not need to hire design heads from abroad,” says Forbes Marshall director, Naushad Forbes, who is also a visiting faculty at Stanford. The Indian industry can meet just an estimated 10% of the demand for design professionals, as design schools take in only about 500 students annually.
“A lot of design companies from abroad are looking to collaborate with Indian design companies. There is lot of cross-cultural design taking place. In areas of clean technologies and eco-friendly design, Indian designers can contribute a lot as we are used to the concept of recycling and reusing,” says Falguni Gokhale, director, Design Directions, the company that designed the water purifier, Tata Swach.
The product design teams of multinational companies usually consist of people of various nationalities, and there is a place on these teams for Indians. “As India is a huge
market, it is necessary for an MNC to have Indian designers to understand the needs of the Indian
consumers,” says Florence Rohart, footwear designer with Adidas, Germany.
Institutes like DSK Supinfocom in Pune are looking to tap this opportunity, and recently held a week-long master class with a four-member team of footwear designers from brands like Puma, Camper and Newfeel participating. “We are looking for possible internships and placements for our students with big brands in different products,” says vice chairman Shirish Kulkarni.
India Inc is filling in some of the supply gap, but we still have a long way to go. Indian automotive companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and Bajaj Auto have good design talent and studios that match the best in the world. The demand for professionals in emerging markets is particularly encouraging as design as a career in western countries has become saturated and fiercely competitive, says Sudhir Sharma, CEO, Indi Designs and erstwhile founder director of Elephant Design. Further, he says, most developed countries have developed
expensive design practices, which are not viable in today’s economy.”
Though there is a large number of vacancies, designers eventually start their own business. “Only 20% designers stick to a job,” Mr Satish Gokhale.
Economy
The economy of India is the eleventh largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) In the 1990s, following economic reform from the socialist-inspired economy of post-independence India, the country began to experience rapid economic growth, as markets opened for
international competition and investment. In the 21st century, India is an emerging economic power with vast human and natural resources, and a huge knowledge base. Economists predict that by 2020, India will be among the leading economies of the world.
India was under social democratic-based policies from 1947 to 1991. The economy was characterized by extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth. Since 1991, continuing economic liberalization has moved the economy towards a market-based system. A revival of economic reforms and better economic policy in 2000s
accelerated India’s economic growth rate. By 2008, India had established itself as the world’s second fastest growing major economy. However, the year 2009 saw a significant slowdown in India’s official GDP growth rate to 6.1% as well as the return of a large projected fiscal deficit of 6.8% of GDP, which would be among the highest in the world.
India’s large service industry accounts for 62.6% of the country’s GDP while the industrial and agricultural sector contribute 20% and 17.5% respectively. Agriculture is the predominant occupation in India, accounting for about 52% of employment. The service sector makes up a further 34%, and industrial sector around 14%. The labor force totals half a billion workers. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry and fish. Major industries include telecommuni-cations, textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, information technology enabled services and software.
McKinsey & Company recently came up with a comprehensive report titled “India’s Urban Awakening:
Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth”.
India has a young and rapidly growing population—a potential demographic dividend. But India needs thriving cities if that dividend is to pay out. New MGI research estimates that cities could generate 70 percent of net new jobs created to 2030, produce around 70 percent of Indian GDP, and drive a near fourfold increase in per capita incomes across the nation.
Handled well, India can reap significant benefits from urbanization. MGI offers a range of recommendations, the vast majority of which India could implement within five to ten years. If India were to follow the recommendations, it could add 1 to 1.5 percent to annual GDP growth, bringing the economy near to the double-digit growth to which the government aspires.
Surging growth and employment in cities will be a powerful magnet. MGI projections show India’s urban population soaring from 340 million in 2008 to 590 million in 2030. And this urban expansion will happen at a speed quite unlike anything India has seen before. It took India nearly 40 years (between 1971 and 2008) for the urban population to rise by nearly 230 million. It will take only half the time to add the next 250 million.
