DEGREE PROJECT Glocalization for Interior Products Sponsor : INARA PVT LTD
Volume : 1 STUDENT : ABHISHEK KUMAR GAUR PROGRAMME : Bachelor of Design (B. Des) GUIDE : PRAVINSINH SOLANKI
2019 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (FURNITURE DESIGN)
The Evaluation Jury recommends ABHISHEK KUMAR GAUR for the National Institute of Design
Degree of the IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (FURNITURE DESIGN)
herewith, for the project titled "GLOCALIZATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT" on fulfilling the further requirements by*
Chairman Members :
Jury Grade : *Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements : This Project has been completed in ________________ weeks.
Activity Chairperson, Education
Privacy Statement SPONSORED BY INARA LLP Ville Parle (E) Mumbai, India No Part of this document will be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any mean, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying or recording in any other forms without written permission from the publisher. Abhishek Gaur and National Institute Of Design. © 2019-2020 Student Document Publication, meant for private circulation only. All right reserved. B.Des, Furniture Design, © 2015-2020 Edited and Designed by - Abhishek Gaur National INstitute Of Design Graduation Project Guide: Pravinsingh Solanki
© NID 2019
Originality Statement I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or final graduation of any other educational institute, except where due acknowledgment is made in this graduation project. Moreover I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgement. I further declare that the intellectual content of this graduation project is the product of my own, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or style, presentation and linguistic expression in acknowledged. This graduation project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course. Student Name: __________________________
Signature: ______________________________ Date: __________________________________
I hereby grant the National Institute Of Design the right to achieve and to make available my graduation project/dissertation on whole or in part in the institution’s Knowledge Management Centre in all form of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my document or i have obtained permission to use copyright material. Student Name: __________________________
Signature: ______________________________ Date: __________________________________
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This document is a consolidation of my learning through the four years of education I have received at the National Institute Of Design, Ahmedabad, India. The past few months have been as overwhelming as they have been intensive. I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to my mother, brother and sister who have forever been my pillars of strength. My father who is always present in my heart, his lessons and beliefs always give me the courage to stay bold and move forward. They all have heavily contributed to making me the person I am today, and push me to aspire to be better tomorrow.
I would like to thank Parikshit and the rest of my family of INARA:I would like to thank my colleague Kaushik for his support and always being present for discussion and critique, Shivraj for his impressive skills and Jamshedh to bring all required resources directly to me. Avinash for his magical tea and all the little support which makes a huge difference. Personally, thanks to Bhawarlal sir, to show belief in me and guiding me constantly. He is an inspiring a person to look up to, Thank you sir. I would also like to thank all the members of the furniture department. Moreover, my batchmates here at NID. this journey would have been difficult and lonesome had it not been without your help, criticism, motivation, guidance, joyful moments or in intense work. I would never have attained these soft and hard skills had it not been for all of you. All of the faculty members, Rama Rao for his relentless contribution to design education and sharing his wealth of knowledge to help me grow. Moreover, his priceless wisdom and sense of humour. Mr L C Ujawane helped me take baby steps, like a father to a small child. In the Furniture Department, your experience and learning gives me a clearer vision to see ahead.
I also thank the Workshop Staff Members who are always there to help me and give me the right direction if I’m going wrong. Kiran Bhai, Deepak Bhai, Rakesh Bhai, Prateek Bhai, Devendra Bhai, Navneet Bhai, Jalram kaka. I thank you from my heart. My Guide Mr. Pravinsinh Solanki for having faith in my project and offering a sense of clarity and direction wherever I was lost. Thank you, for being an inspiration. I was blind, but now I see. Next I would like to thank all my dear friends who are always there to help me whenever I needed; To Mayur, for being my backbone without him, I can’t even think of NID life, Shravani for curreting correcting me, in learning and life, Sahil, Anirudh and Yash, the three pillars of my life. To be very honest, someday I want to be like Dhiveyesh, thanks for acting as my mentor. Nitesh for enlightening me with his vast knowledge, Thank you, Mohit for making me believe that someone is always there for me and for support, Geet for being my Samadhi, Shakshi for always being there to listen to my rants patiently. Shivansh my FID buddy, People like Jyothi, Shristi, Rayika, Ramneek, Ishita, Poojita, Pouja to make my life joyful and interesting.
My seniors, Mukesh, Raghuvendra, Versha, Jaineel, Edwin helping me as a true well-wisher. My juniors Saurabh, Anand, Manan, Ashwani, Bhupender, Urja, Kedar. Next, I would like to thank all NID students who have always been there for any new type of learning and teaching me every day and night, not just about design but also about life and family. I will never be able to find these kinds of people, all in the same space. I have grown into a better person. My homies, Hitesh, Shubham, Subham and Pranav for staying true to the brotherhood. for hearing me out and having an interesting conversation. I also extend my thank to our Director, Mr Praveen Nahar, the academic department and the teaching staff at NID for an enriching educational experience during the years. I am forever in your debt.
SYNOPSIS
Culture And Tradition Are Inherent in Us, Moving Towards Modernisation, Keeping the Indian-ness And Value
This project has focused on the Perspective of Indianness and its value. Try to find out the reason and thinking behind those designs. This will not focus on a particular culture, tradition, region or religion of any kind but, provide the feel as a whole. The project focuses on the aesthetics and physical attributes of Indian products. People’s perspective and psychology has also been attended to. Studying tradition from the past to what it is now; the kind of work, art, craftsmanship, etc., through books, art, paintings, sculptures, textile, mural, manuscripts, metal works etc. This project is completely observation-based with a view of creating a bridge between Indian and Western context. As in the early days design is still valued with respect to art and craft. Craftsmanship is still considered design in most rural places in India. This indicates the evolution of design, as art and craft keep changing from time to time. This creates a link between the past and present of India.
A desire to consider the machine - made and the handmade on equal terms led us to learn about the role of craft within the politics and economis of India. Artisans and their craft, beyond beauty and skill, have had immerse value throughout history, flourishing through the patronage of wealthy empires and kingdoms, serving the need of religion and being an integral part of the village community.
Design is never static, it keeps on evolving. For example, we can’t create a smartphone before creating a basic model of cell phones, and before that a Telephone. It always keeps evolving and gets better and better. We can incorporate design skills with these trends and fuse with the latest tech. This might be very difficult to achieve in a country like India, as we were deeply rooted in our culture and tradition. If we talk about metropolitan art that has taken simple inspiration from traditional art, providing with new learning and technologies. These might be just physical or decorative elements which are inspired from the original. It is very important that these elements should not hurt any of the sentimental values of any people, society or community. Taking some personal observations from various places and art forms. Mainly from museums and paintings. This observation plays an important role for the progress of this project.
fig. 1 : Artisans working on wood with hand tools
001
013 020
PROLOGUE DESIGN EDUCATION AND INDIA
016
INDIA REPORT AND NID
018
PHILOSOPGY IF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND FURNITURE
020
NATURE OF PROJECT
022
SPONSOR
024
PREMISE BLUE SKY THINKING
028
DESIGN BRIEF
030
TIME-LINE AND MYTHOLOGY
032
RESEARCH ABOUT COMPANY
036
INDIAN INDUSTRY AT GLANCE 2015-16
040
THE INDIAN FURNITURE MARKET: ANALYSIS AND OUTLOOK 2018-2023
042
043
075
REFINED BRIEF GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
046
FACTOR INVOLVED IN LOCALISATION
050
DESIGN VALUE
052
FIELD STUDY
054
DATA MINING
056
DESIGN TREND
058
TARGET AUDIENCE
064
SURVEY
070
INDIAN PEOPLE, PSYCHOLOGY AND INTERVIEW
072
FINDING INDIAN-NESS INDIAN DESIGN
076
INDIAN FURNITURE HISTORY AND STYLE
082
CRAFT DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND SEARCH OF VALUE
086
TRADITIONAL AND METROPOLITAN
094
PAST TO PRESENT
102
107 135 151
MUSEUM DR. BHAU DAJI LAD MUSEUM
108
CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHAKAYA
114
OBSERVATION
132
DESIGN INTERVENTION DIRECTION # 1: TOUCH OF CRAFT
137
DIRECTION # 2: CONTRAST
141
DIRECTION # 3: COMBINATION
145
EXTENDING DIRECTION # 3
149
FINAL CONCEPT FINAL CONCEPTS
153
INDIAN ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENTION
158
TECHNICALS
162
3D VISUALISATION AND RENDERS
173
180
EXECUTION SCALE MODEL (1:6) AND COSTING
180
PRODUCTION
182
186
LEARNING
188
REFERENCES
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PROLOGUE
DESIGN EDUCATION AND INDIA In India, the word design has many meanings and past/ present associations. It is not just the language, but the manifestation of design in more than one area of Indian living and production. Indian women make floral patterns as auspicious welcome signs, and traditionally this is called design. The intricate decorative border of a sari is considered design. But the innovative new chair made by a carpenter, or an improved bedpan which the modern world calls design, is not considered design by people in India.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The Sanskrit words for ‘design’, Akriti and Rachana, both imply a creative process and signal an exalted human activity, an activity that requires not only skill but creativity, not just sadhana or moral discipline, but a spiritual outlook and an aesthetic sense.
Even in this twenty-first century, the modern Indian industry is familiar with engineering design but gets quite confused when it comes to design. The reason for this is a traditional association, as well as what the colonial rulers promoted as design through Indian arts and crafts schools.
Fig. 2: Motif
When modern design, as it is known today, was introduced in India, and when the first professional group of designers was founded, it was named the Society of Industrial Designers of India (SIDI). This was done to emphasize the relationship between design and industrial production, although the Society admitted all designers including graphic designers, exhibit designers, textile designers, and animators.
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INDIA REPORT AND NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DESIGN The first major, full-fledged industrial design institution to be established in India on the basis of the India Report’s recommendations was the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad in 1961.
The catalyst for its creation was an extraordinary one. Barely a decade after Independence, India invited Charles and Ray Eames of Los Angeles to suggest how design could assist the growth of the Indian industry. Government officials were expecting a feasibility report. What they got was an extraordinary statement of design as a value system, as an attitude that could discern the strengths and limitations of both tradition and modernity, and as a profession that could use the wisdom of such insights to make wise decisions about India’s future.
the NID was one of several specialist institutions of contemporary knowledge created by free India to ensure that its youth were at the frontiers of knowledge; harnessing it for the developmental needs of a giant democracy mired in postcolonial poverty. The NID was the first attempt by any developing country to use the design disciplines inherited from the Bauhaus as a tool for national regeneration.
Fig. 3: Ray and Charles Eames
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The design education system established through NID six decades ago did not remain static. It was reviewed and changes were made from time to time, internally as well as with the help of foreign experts such as Charles and Ray Eames, Herbert Lindinger, Gui Bonsiepe, John Reid, and Carl Aubock. One of the major reviews of NID was done by the Kamla Chaudhary Review Committee in 1989. Another thorough review was made by an educational review group led by the author in 1993. Following this group’s recommendations, a new system was put into practice at NID which still is in use today. Design Education particularly important to India, where life is deeply rooted in culture.
NID is a landmark in molding itself as a center for excellence in design education in the most contemporary sense, providing learning in all the disciplines of design under one roof. Fig. 4: Eames Plaza, NID
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PHILOSIPHY OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND FURNITURE DEPARTEMNT A man-made thing that produces pleasure (and criticism) by somehow taping into the order of the universe is beautiful. Making beautiful things makes our lives worthwhile. My teacher, and one of the founders of the Pratt industrial design program, Rowena Reed Kostellow, said, “Pure, unadulterated beauty should be the goal of civilization.” From a pragmatic point of view, for something to be beautiful, it has to work. In order to make this idea clearer I have combined the ideas of beauty and function into one word: Beautility. Tucker Viemeister
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1953: In 1953, the Indian parliament passed the Industrial Policy Resolution conceived by India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It emphasized the need to accelerate industrialization and nurture the growth of public and cooperative sectors so that “proper foundations [could be laid] for increasing opportunities for and improving living standards and working conditions for the mass of the people.” The policy envisaged a simultaneous process of training and development of and managers who would give impetus to nation-building. This program of industrial development would make large demands on the country’s resources of technical and managerial personnel. To meet this rapidly growing need for expansion of the public sector and for the development of the village and small industries, managerial and technical cadresin the public sector was established.
This unequivocally expressed desire to throw open training opportunities to a cadre of experts, who would meet the needs of modern India and articulated the need to establish an institute of industrial design in the country. This institute, it was hoped, would help foster an indigenous design movement in the modern sense of the word by initiating design education and training in the country, and ultimately providing the foundation for a new profession. The educational programme was based on the three premises: first, there was a need for good deisgn in modern mass cuture based on sophisticated technologies; second, there were great possibilities of self- discovery for the designer through use of a wide range of materials media, equipments, and tools suited for mass production; third, the aim of design education was to develop new professional pace-setters who would occuply leadership positions in industry and other fields.
Furniture Design: In all probability, the first few creations in the faculty of Furniture Design at NID in the 60s, marked the beginning of the actual program. Gajanan Upadhyaya, a young architect had an affinity for work related to furniture. Furniture Design designed the chair as part of a scheme for mass-produced low-cost furniture, which became quite popular. It was difficult for me to choose between the Furniture and Product Design departments now in hindsight it seems like the right choice .The Furniture department has given me lot of learning, free time, pressure, exposure, challenges, and opportunities that made me self sustained.
‘Furniture department has always had lots to offer, it is up to the individual about how much he wants to absorb’
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NATURE OF THE PROJECT
The project understands the value of western culture and how we can incorporate it in the Indian scenario.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The land is the soil that breeds human beings. Especially in primitive society and slave society with low productivity, humans have a strong dependence on the land. With the continuous development of science and technology, human has larger ability to change nature and depends less on the geographical environment. But it is undeniable that the geographical environment has always been the material basis for people’s production and life. With an exception on physical activities, geographical environment, climatic conditions, political conditions, economical conditions, and cultural conditions. There is a difference between implementation and adoption. Human habitat depends upon their geographical region. Tradition, culture, and other things develop accordingly. Shifting to western culture might be ideal as their living standards are bent according to their geographic region.
The man-earth relationship is a natural relationship that has existed since mankind was born and multiplied, because human survival, reproduction, development cannot be separated from the geographical environment.
This project incorporates ‘Indian-ness’ in Interior Products which had been lost in the processs of modernisation due to widespread adoption of western culture It aided an understanding of the values of western aesthetics and design that could be implemented in the Indian context. It enable incorporate the value that comes along with modernization ,without losing our own identity. Design always involved evolution, accepting, experimenting and exploring the different directions that lead to innovation.
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SPONSOR INARA is a startup for Interior products exclusively, with a very small team. Their vision is to provide custom fitments that embody good design and superior quality. Imbibing international style and standards, INARA fuses the Contemporary, Modern and Luxe. Committed to Quality and Style, INARA aspires to be a signature style statement for personal and corporate spaces. WORK CULTURE The most import part of design is freedom. This gives the opportunity to take the paths less takenand create something new and innovative. INARA is still in the initial stage of experimention on its method to explore and define its language. Process and working can be molded with respect to time and requirements accordingly.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
EXPOSURE AND LEARNING With limited staff, it’s a challenge that can makes the most of you. From handling clients to the vendors and managing design all at the same time will set forth a challenge and give way to new learnings. There are various challenges faced each day, at every step. Always looking for new things to explore and take a new direction. The PARENT COMPANY has an experience of 40 years in the field of interior, this keeps guiding you at every step from ideation to execution of the project. At the factory, there are lots of expirenced people who have vast experience over the years.
PARENT COMPANY
KSHITIJ INTERIORS
Kshitij Interior Private Limited (KIPL) is into interior designing, decoration, PMC, and manufacturing for the last four decades and has rich experience in serving various qualityconscious clients in different market segments. They offer comprehensive interior design services for residential and commercial spaces. KIPL has two big units of manufacturing products, covering the wide range from modular to exclusive. We even have some colocated vendors for the required process. KIPL will provide all the help which would be needed in the initial stage of the company. Providing with man force in production and structure. Fig. 5: Production factory, Kshitij interior, Mumbai
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 25
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PREMISE
BLUE SKY THINKING
People demand furniture from outside of the country. Including majority of the architecture firms import furniture from different countries. This is because of the design variation, quality and cost. The Indian market is growing and its demand is rising. The question is ‘why are we importing the furniture?’
‘Decades has been spent working as a manufacture for the interiors and architecture and most of the furniture are imported from china’ - Bhawar Lal Sharma (owner of KIPL)
Is it because the Indian market are unable to fulfill the demands of the consumer? Or the lack of supply within the country? Dont we have sufficient manufacturing power, designers or a vast market? Are we not able to meet the production or manufacturing demands? Under what circumstances, can we increase the exports of our country? Can we produce quality with quantity, along with the considerstions of the prices and profits?
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
AREA OF INTEREST Being equipped with such creative and skilled people, we are still unable to reach international standards in design. What if we created products that could be made in India, keeping all the standards, craftsmanship, and quality in mind. Creation of a product which has the Indian-ness with the value of modernization. Its interesting to think that a vast country like India with its culture, art, and craft; summarising into a modern form of discoursev. Fig. 6: Research Board
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DESIGN BREIF Inspired by the current design trend and converting it for Indian people and market, bringing in Indian taste which fits into their lifestyle.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
BACKGROUND Design in india has been inspired and influenced by many cultures over the years. In today’s time, most design trends are inspired by the western culture which broadly has a minimal approach. A country like India is diverse in culture, socially and economically. We can adopt or acquire global designs into our homes, but the question here is: Are we fully satisfied by products that lack our Indian touch and values? The furniture sector in india makes a marginal contributuion to the gross domestic product (GDP), representing about 0.5 percent of the total GDP. India was the largest furniture importer in the world, with a 19% share in the furniture imports worldwide.
INTENT/ OBJECTIVE Understanding our culture, tradition and living standards will help comprehend the required missing gap between consumers and their products. These will help us develop and create an interior product that will have an international standard with Indian values. Seeing Indian value or Indianness in the western products will create the ability to bring new elements into our interior.
Another approach is to give a new dimension to Indian artisans and craftsmen by collaborating with artisans and creating some new gist of Indian modernization. Fig. 7: Repousse artisans
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 31
2019
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
• MARKET DATA • FIELD STUDY • TRENDS • FINDING DIRECTION
• RESEARCH • ABOUT COMPANY • COMPANY STRENGTH
• INDIAN DESIGN • ART AND CRAFT • PEOPLE PSYCOLOGY • CREATING BRIEF • STRENGTHING THE PREMISE RESEARCH
• INTERVIEWS • GENERATING INSIGHTS • CONCEPT
• INITIAL RESEARCH • MARKET • SACRIFICIAL CONCEPT • SCENARIO BUILDING • DISCUSSION GUIDES
AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
• FINAL CONCEPT • ERGNOMICS STANDARD • PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT • TECNICALS
• MATERIAL • PRECUREMENT VEDOR • PRODUCTION
DOCUMENTATION • INITIANL CONCEPTS • IDEATION • DIRECTIONS
• 3D VISUALISATION • RENDERS • SCALE MODEL • PROTOTYPING • PRODUCTION BREAKDOWN
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RESEARCH
ABOUT COMPANY Company (parent) has been manufacturing interiors for Offices and residences like ceilings, wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, flooring, light fixtures and lose furnitures. Most of them are modular. Machinary includes edge bending, hydraulic hot press machine, Plywood Saw Cutting Machine and other small hand tools.
Creating a brand indentity and design language, deisgning some interior products, finding a gap in the market, where INARA could fill the gap, and how it could be different from others?
To expand the company, they wanted to create furniture that could be produced by the parent company. There is no design language or direction that is being followed as such. The idea was to create interior elements that could be produced and manufactured by the parent company. The brief was to ‘Design Interior products for the upperclass people’ Fig. 8
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
TARGET AND VISION
Market Understanding Indian people and the indian market, tried to make furniture that would perfectly blend in with the Indian scenario. If look closely, people are following more of western design and tend to have a minimal approach. Even most of the companies try ing to get into the Indian market. To integrate the values that international design has and to incorporate it with Indian elements, which make us different from others and unique. Understanding the market and manufacture designs in India; for India.
Innovative Design
KEY POINTS
Quality Materials Main Focus On Wood
Mass Coverage Exclusive
Lessprice Direction
Costomisation
New Trend
Quality Check
In India For India
Company Expandition Resource Utilisation
Semi-Industrial International Quality And Standard
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COMPETITORS The market we were targetting already has competitors. Most of them import from china and sell in India. All these companies can fall into our market segment as they have similar target groups and approaches. Most of them are from different countries or Indian companies that import furniture from a different countries and sell in India, like Pepperfry. These companies use low quality materials but their strenght lies in their sense of aesthetics which convinces the people. Some companies abroad are innovative and make good quality furniture but the cost is not feasible in a country like India after import duty and other charges, some times the process becomes lenghty. Some Indian companies import really good design, aesthetics, and also functional but the main problems occur when we use them in the Indian context. We have a different approach towards using the product and also a different mentality while buying furniture. Fig. 8(a): Company competitors
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The Challenge: How do we understand the vast culture of a diverse country like India?
Fig. 9: Indian heritage
Where culture and tradition play a crucial role and that also changes from region to region. It is hard to understand the culture, region, economy standards, psychology, market, technology, capacity and all other elements that make India a unique and beautiful country.
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Indian Furniture Industry At A Glance In 2015 -2016
As of 2015, the Indian furniture market is estimated to be worth US$17,922 million. Of this, wooded furniture accounts for US$ 5,358 million. Imports are growing at 50 to 60 percent every year. India was the largest furniture importer in the world, with a 19% share in the furniture import worldwide. A total of 10,476 imports shipped furniture to India during 20152016, mainly from these countries: 61%
China
15%
3%
Malaysia 2%
Others
11%
3%
2%
3%
Italy
US Germany Thailand Shri Lanka Fig.10
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The furniture sector in India makes a marginal contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), representing about 0.5 % of the total GDP.
The major part of the industry, approximately 85 percent is in the unorganized sector. The remaining 15 per cent comprises of large manufacturers. These manufacture gaints are Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd., BP Ergo, Featherlite, Howorth, Style Spa, Yantra, Renaissance,Millennium Lifestyle, Durian, Kian, Tangenr,Furniture Concept, Furniturewala, Zuari, Truzo, NN R Jasani &Company, V3 Engineers, PSL Modular Furniture, etc.
The home furniture is the largest segment in the Indian furniture industry, for about 65 per cent of the furniture scale. this is followed by the office furniture segment with a 20 per cent share and the contract segment, for the remaining 15 per cent. The furniture market in India is pegged to be around USD 20 billion, with furniture and furnishing having almost an equal split in the market. With the furniture market of USD 10 Billion, the residential sector accounts for a 70% share (USD 7 billion), and 6% if this is organised. The organized residential furniture market is expected to triple in size to become USD 1.3 billion in the next 5 years, growing at s CAGR of 27%; this would be around 9% of the USD 15 billion(expected) residential furniture market by 2020. The current USD 400 million organisation residential furniture market is dominated by Godrej (USD 80 million sales in 2015), style spa (USD 30 million sales in 2015) and other sub players. E-tailing has been a big hit for the Indian Furniture industry and likely to post phenomenal growth in the year to come.
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The Indian Furniture Market, 2019: Analysis & Outlook 2018-2023
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The players such as Pepperfry, Urban ladder and others are generating significant revenue through online platforms. Also, the rising trend of online shopping is pushing manufacturers like Godrej Furniture, Nilkamal etc., to introduce and sell their furniture through online space. For instance, leading offline retailer of readymade furniture products named @Home, which is a flagship brand of Nilkamal Pvt. Ltd has launched its online shopping portal for the exclusive range of @Home furniture, furnishings and home decor items. The wooden furniture is anticipated to continue its dominance during the forecast period in the Indian furniture market and expected to grow with a CAGR of 11.32% during the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023. Although, the growth of nuclear families, impact of western culture has affected the demand for wood furniture and changing taste and preferences for the different king of furniture is pushing the growth of market and interest of customers is diverting towards using different material like leather and glass and making them a lucrative segment in the coming future.
The India Furniture market is further segmented by sector into residential and commercial. Residential segment accounted for USD 20.65 billion in 2018. Further, India residential furniture market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.16% over the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023. Moreover, the market of the residential sector is expected to achieve a Y-o-Y growth rate of 15.08% in 2023 as compared to the previous year.
India is a country with a huge population of urban dwellers and the demand of furniture items from the urban houses is huge and adding to the growth of the furniture market from the residential sector of India. There has been a significant growth in the real estate sector based upon rising demand for residential property in the country along with the change of existing furniture from the established ones. The India Furniture Market is anticipated to reach USD 32.61 Billion by 2018 by registering a CAGR of 13.38% during the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023. Moreover, the market is expected to garner USD 61.09 Billion by the end of 2023. Further, the India furniture market is anticipated to achieve a Y-o-Y growth rate of 14.30% in 2023 as compared to the previous year.
Fig.11: Furniture import in india
The technological advancements such as the availability of high-speed internet networks such as 4G and spiked absorption of smart gadgets are boosting the e-retail sector in India. These advancements further provide ease to the customers to buy furniture through online channels. In addition, the rising number of smartphone users across the country and online shopping is encouraging the furniture industry players to introduce their products through online channels.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 43
The India furniture market by the commercial sector is anticipated to achieve a CAGR of 11.97% during the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023. Commercial sector is further subsegmented into non contracting and contracting. The noncontracting segment in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.32% over the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023 and expected to achieve Y-o-Y growth rate of 14.17% in 2023 as compared to the previous year.
India is the one of the larges importer of the furniture. accordnig to the data we import form measurly from China but as per statistic more then 85% are unorganise sector, even though we have all the required elements to create our own.
The demand for furniture have been observed to majorly generate from northern and southern India. The southern region continues to be the leading revenue generators during the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023 on account of expanding the distribution network of furniture manufacturers in the region. Kerala is among the major supplier of wood which is widely used raw material in the country’s furniture market. The region is anticipated to maintain its dominance by 2023.
Fig. 12: Increase in import per year
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
People are adopting western culture and get fascinated with this living style. The techniques, materials and even designs are usually not compatible in the Indian lifestyle.
India has huge manufacturing power, competitively low price labour and design. India is one of the most growing markets, and large demand, hence a good opprtunity for business.
There are other factors involved like mentality of people, the functionality of products, design availibility, brand, quality issues, before and after services, design value, technology, and approach which affect consumer choice.
The question is why can’t we create our own furniture for Our own market?
Fig. 13: Country export to India
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REFINED BRIEF
GLOCALIZATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCTS.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Designing a set of interior products for upper middle class or above and millenials, which is contemporary and have an Indian feel to it. With consideration of the market study, trend analysis, people, their psyche and the strengths of the company to meet the apt requirements.
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Glocalization is a combination of the words “globalization” and “localization.” The term is used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally but is also adjusted to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market. Localization is an important part of every new foreign market entry, because it ensures that the brand speaks the same language as the potential customer. Although every one of us is unique, there are certain aspects that both unite and separate people into tribes and groups. Geographics, demographics, beliefs, opinions, languages, and experiences are elements that define who we are. Localization is the way to adjust and modify content in a way that resonates well in the target audience. We need to find ways to reduce import of furniture and increase export by focusing on the market and demand. This not just helps to grow the country’s GDP but also increases employment to artisans and craftsmen, retaining our culture and tradition.
Let us assume ‘Global’ as a standard design product that can be considered good as per standards but not suited to specific local needs. On the other side let us assume ‘Local’ as highly customized for the particular person or community. Finding a middle path, the ideal way where we can minimise the highly standardised design product and a customised one for the betterment of a large region with more satisfaction that can relate to culture and other values.
IN BETWEEN GLOBAL
This helps open new learning paths for both local artisans and people with international exposure, price goes down (local material and labour), products relate more with the people and lifestyle, and there is benefit to both company and consumer.
LOCAL
Fig. 14
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Localization is not just about translation. It is about thoughtfully refining and adapting the content to suit local culture. Without a careful localization plan.
Factors Involved In Localisation Of A Product
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The Indian culture, often labeled as an amalgamation of several various cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced and shaped by a history that is several thousand years old.Throughout the history of India, Indian culture has been heavily influenced by Dharmic religions.They have been credited with shaping much of Indian philosophy, literature, architecture, art, craft and music. Greater India was the historical extent of Indian culture beyond the Indian subcontinent. Localization will help to create appealing user experience for your diversified target customers. It is a way to show your customers that you care about them and truly understand what they need. Therefore, your overall customer conversion will increase significantly.
Understanding the differences of the psycology, cultures, language, etc, as per target groups.
Analysis of local business domain, consumption habbits, price points, promotion and distribution.
Connectivity amongst the promiximity of raw materials, transportation and market.
Access of the machinery, equipments and other availability of technology in particular region.
Environmental condition like weather, humidity, tempreture and climate of that area.
Fig. 15: Factor effecting localization.
Availability of resources influencing concentration of industries at that location.
the
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DESIGN VALUE These five important element are kept in consideration while designing the products.
Fig. 16:
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
COMPANY
Understanding the company requirement and strength.
DESIGN TREND
Analysing the latest style in fashion and market.
INDIAN-NESS
Researching the gap to fill in the Indian value which connects us.
STANDARD
MARKET
Retaining the international standards and quality of the product along with the budget.
Analyzes different business domains and documenting its commerce, processes and systems, assessing the business model beside its integration with technology.
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FIELD STUDY RAGHUVANSHI MILLS
INDEX FAIR 2019
Raghuvanshi Mills is the perfect destination for luxury home-décor in Mumbai. From silk damask wallpaper and velvet curtains to antique curios and floor tiles— they’re all available at this shopping complex. Head to Good Earth, a home décor store where everything is displayed so beautifully, you’d want to buy it all. Incense sticks, hand-painted earthenware and fine bone china are some of the things that the store offers. Muslin and Address Home, on the other hand, offer an eclectic mix of products that include soft furnishings as well as candle-stands, photo frames and teapots.
The index is a leading international trade fair for over 30 years, held every year in Mumbai, India, and also the country’s largest focused commercial platform on interiors, architecture, materials, and design, which brings together suppliers and buyers in a design atmosphere. Expanding its reach to the National Capital Region, Index Fairs brings its formula for business success to Delhi’s Pragati Maidan this year in August. Over the years, Index has evolved with the various sectors of architecture and interior design, observing national players grow in size, watching as international players enter the market, and doing business with both exhibitors and organizers to reach new heights in terms of volume and profits. Most furniture is imported from across countries, known country origins are used to give credibility to quality. Most of designs are Scandinavian and Contemporary in style.
Fig. 17
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Most Designs are influenced by western trend and culture. There are popular designs which are combined and explored in different furnishing and hard materials.
Maximum designs of the furniture that are imported in India are usually scandinavian , contemporary and modular. All of them have various changes catering to the different customers and market. Customization to the customers is provided in almost every company as they require the furniture to fit into a space as per their preferences. Also, many of them are using engineering wood. Since people are giving way more emphasis to touch and feel, CMF becomes an integral part of interior designing.
Fig.18:
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DATA MINING To understand the market trend, there is a need to know what kind of furniture is in demand, like, its types and brands, country origin, language and other demographics. Advertisement
All these are Scandinavian and contemporary design languages. Many popular designs are customized through fabric colour and material changes. Many of them are copied or inspired from other popular brands. Common materials used in the imported furnitures are wood, plastic and metal.
An advertisement was put up in ‘India mart’ to connect with importers of india and to try to get their trends data. Talking about market trends and demands, many people who reacted were manufacturers. Gathering this data, it was found that China always stood first in list of import country.
It’s also nice to see some functional designs like spacesaving furniture. This style is quite popular in metropolitan city lifestyles where space becomes an important factor. For example, foldable chairs, multipurpose tables, collapsible furniture, etc.
It was an intense week where more then 10 calls a day were received. After talking and discussing about the related topics, the portfoilio they sent gave some ideas on the next steps.
Due to the upcoming new technologies, people are more concerned about the ergonomics and CMF. Couple of times, there are situations when people are not aware of the technical terms but can define their requirements or needs of their furniture, in a layman language. This highly compliments with the companies who are also willing to customize designs with bulk orders.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Today, companies provide a lot of customization in their products, as consumers have become selective in their choice of furniture and interiors. Companies are providing a wide range of options and selection. This varies from hard materials to soft materials with different finishes. Generally, companies have a tendency to use commonly available materials and give it a high-end finish to provide it a good aesthetic value but at higher price. Due to less awareness, consumers end up falling into this trap, benefiting the company. Fig. 19: Customization in furniture
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DESIGN TREND Indian design history started from ‘art and craft’, and went from traditional to metropilitan. People tend to get bored of existing things and always looking for the new. As we have intricate craft and art work from the past and people have been these aesthetics. Due to globalisation, products are now acessible with lots of options which make shift from ‘art and craft’ to minimal and other design languges for various reasons. People always love to adopt new things. The new will blend through tradition and culture. The most common design language in the market are modern, minimal, Scandenivian, modular and space saving or functional designs.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
MODERN DESIGN Modern design refers to the specific time period from the early to mid-twentieth century. The style is a precursor to contemporary design, with key figures including Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, and Florence Knoll. The inception of modern design happened at the peak of the modern art movement, informed by Scandinavian and German Bauhaus design. The distinct style focused on simple form and function, which are valued as equals under this style. Think earthy palettes, natural materials like wood, leather, and stone, and streamlined silhouettes. From modern came mid-century modern (which was developed in, the 50s and 60s), although in the interior design world the term “modern” often encompasses both.
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN Unlike modern design, contemporary design doesn’t refer to a specific period of time—it’s constantly evolving to reflect the popular styles of present day design. It borrows qualities from modernism, minimalism, Art Deco, and other global styles, without hyper-focusing on any one in particular. Though contemporary design is, by nature, fairly ambiguous, there are a few qualities that help define the contemporary style. Neutral palettes, stark minimalism, clean lines, and organic silhouettes are some of the prominent characteristics. You can expect to see materials including nickel, steel, and chrome, combined with natural textures like hemp or jute. Contemporary is, by definition, what’s happening in design at this very moment in time. This definition makes it more fluid and hard to pin down. Modern design, on the other hand, has a distinguishable aesthetic that emphasizes crisp lines, warm neutrals, and balance.
Fig. 20
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MODULAR DESIGN
SPACE SAVING/ FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE
Modular design, or “modularity in design�, is an approach (design theory and practice) that subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules or skids, that can be independently created and then used in different systems.
These type of furniture bacically performs a different fuction. These type of furniture basically used for the sapce saving purpose or multiple use of the same furniture. In india, mainly for the aviod extra space, the money or both, preffer theses type of furniture.
A modular design can be characterized by functional partitioning into discrete scalable, reusable modules; rigorous use of well-defined modular interfaces; and making use of industry standards for interfaces. In this context modularity is at the component level, and has a single dimension, component slottability. A modular system with this limited modularity is generally known as a platform system that uses modular components. Modularity offers benefits such as reduction in cost (due to less customization), interoperability, shorter learning time, flexibility in design, non-generationally constrained augmentation or updating (adding new solution by merely plugging in a new module), and exclusion. Modularity in platform systems, offer benefits in returning margins to scale, reduced product development cost, reduced O&M costs, and time to market.
Fig. 21
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. This new approach to design, combining beauty, simplicity, and functionality were uniquely suited to emphasize a number of longstanding Scandinavian design features. The formulation of a specifically Scandinavian style of modernist design may have begun in the 40s, but it was not until the beginning of the 1950s that it began to take shape as a recognizable entity. The midcentury modern style was heavily influenced by the appearance of Scandinavian design on the world stage in the early 50s. Most furniture arrangement, even for smaller spaces, is uncluttered and simple, giving the entire space a cozy, content feeling called hygge in Danish.
Fig. 22
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MINIMAL DESIGN The term minimalism is also used to describe a trend in design and architecture, wherein the subject is reduced to its necessary elements. Minimalist architectural designers focus on the connection between two perfect planes, elegant lighting, and the void spaces left by the removal of threedimensional shapes in an architectural design. Minimalistic design has been highly influenced by Japanese traditional design and architecture. The works of De Stijl artists are a major reference: De Stijl expanded the ideas of expression by meticulously organizing basic elements such as lines and planes. With regard to home design, more attractive “minimalistic� designs are not truly minimalistic because they are larger, and use more expensive building materials and finishes. Minimal also refers to essensialism, Every componect of the product required to form particular form or product.
Fig. 23
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
INTERNATIONAL DESIGN ELEMENTS All complex and lengthy process are removed to be efficient and effective. Use of shape, form, colour, texture, symmetry, and proportion in products which can add value. The approach is minimal, only essential elements or components are used.
New Colour, Material and finishes used and explored
Explorative and Innovative with trend and technology.
Its important factor for quality and cost reduction. Fig. 24
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TARGET AUDIENCE
MILLENNIALS Millennials, also known as Generation Y (or simply Gen Y), are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with 1981 to 1996 a widely accepted definition. Millennials are sometimes referred to as “echo boomers” due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because millennials are often the children of the baby boomers.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
The characteristics of millennials vary by region and by individual, and the group experiences a variety of social and economic conditions, but they are generally marked by their coming of age in the Information Age, and are comfortable in their usage of digital technologies and social media. Under-40’s are not buying real estate at high rates, by any generous estimate. Fashion sales are also down amongst this demographic but, home decor sales are higher. Fashion brands are recognizing this and some of your favorite runway designers trying to get in on the home furnishings and decor game. Everyone from Louis Vuitton and Kate Spade to Zara and H&M are getting in on this game. With an appreciation for art & design, millennials are transforming their homes, even rentals into carefully curated extensions of their personality. This is great for designers and artists! And with the advent of virtual reality and view-in-room features, it makes it easier than ever for us to design remotely.
Millennial Color Trends Colorful kitchen cabinets and appliances, while not particularly common, are on a lot of millennial people’ Pinterest boards. Most of them have light and darker or more matte finishes, but still more toward natural feels. Also as a compromise, pops of pastels and bold color are popping up in small appliances and on pots and pans, like Smeg toasters and Le Cruset dutch ovens, or as a bright, bold ceramic tile backsplash! Peope are now more open and exploring the color plate of their spaces. The evolution of the color pink is interesting when you look at millennial design trends. By this point you’ve likely heard of ‘Millennial Pink,’ a hue more muted than bubblegum, cooler than salmon, and punchier than baby pink. But each of those other shades maintain some popularity amongst millennial products. Pastels on the one end and jewel tones on the other, particularly on velvet pillows can be found all over the homes of the under 40 crowd. Fig. 25
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What Do Millennials Want Their Homes to Look Like?
Smart Home Technology
They’re more minimalist and paired back than their predecessors. They are generationally opposed to excess and that is reflected in the aesthetics of their homes. Smart, low-maintenance, modern with some naturalistic, nostalgia elements. Mid Century Modern and rustic. These are the trends we’re seeing emerge in the millennial design market!
When it comes to home tech, you’d be surprised that millennials aren’t that into ALL of it. What remains popular are Nest thermostats, built in speakers, and controllable lighting, including the very popular colored LED lights in showers. Perhaps it is budgetary, but millennials aren’t nearly as obsessed with things like heated floors or alarm systems or smart appliances as you might think– at least not yet.
Millennial Shape & Style Trends Most of the houses are with modern, trendy hardware in interesting finishes have become increasingly popular. Languages of kitchen, living room, may costomised according to personal preferences but in mordern trend. Some of the office space and doors painted in modern, funky colors as both a design statement and as a way to make a space more casual and interesting. Millennials tend to be drawn to natural stones and woods. Wooden objects with steel frames are beautiful and appeal to millennials the high contrast is also practical in the kitchen.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Fig. 26
People And Target Group No accurate data found for the classification of the economy class people, but we are targeting approximately 40-50 % of the market(upper mid-class and above). Our product is for high-end luxury class, providing contemporary design with lux feeling, adding Indian-ness in it. The colour palette will follow the recent trend and materials for the target group. Material finishes can change according to consumer interior and preference; Wood tone mid to dark, gloss, matte, semi-gloss, options are kept open. Balancing with colour ambience and lighting, it should give the feel of luxury. Keeping things minimal and elegant, light and dark ambience. The style should give the feeling in a simple way, retaining the Indian-ness in them. Fig. 27
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How Do We Incorporate International designs into Indian-ness?
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
People prefer to buy things which are important to them either itangible or not. All international design languages have similar characteristics. The first, removal of all unnecessary or optional elements from the design. In other words they go with essentialism, these designs are kept minimal. These things can change according to the region or target audience. The second approach is ‘simplicity’. This term refers to removal of all the complex forms and processes. It has multiple benefits like it can give you elegant design with all requirements. Less use of the materials, easy to manufacture and covers the mass group of people and altogether it will cut down the cost and time in manufacture. Reduction in the price of the furniture adds one more value of affordability. And the third, ‘Aesthetics’. This makes the design look more attractive and suitable for living standards. This plays an important role in the propotion of the furniture with respect to design, material and CMF. So this will give the consumer full satisfaction with simple design.
So, how are we going to incorporate these elements as a part of Indian-ness? Indian people still see design as art and craft. Precise art work, carving, scuplture and hand finished products are very complex and intricate, which can’t be reproduced by machine. Indians love hand made and personalised products. If we observe, all the ancient designs are full of motifs in the form of any art or craft. And are still being practiced. Can we simplify these art elements that bind with the values of international standards? Taking art or craft and simplifying them to simple or basic yet attractive forms and incorporating them into a new design language.
Fig.28
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Survey
65% of the people are highly concerned about their interiors and more 30% are moderate about their interiors. Surprisingly more than 75% of the people are concerned about the type of furniture in their house.
This survey was conducted with 132 people through google survey to understand their opinions and design preferences. These questionares help to articulate people’s preferences. Main focus is on Gen Y (millennials) as the target audience.
Gen Z 17.8%
Gen X 46.5%
Gen Y 35.7%
Fig.29
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Most of them like to have simple and classic chairs in their house and people also like to have customized furniture for their interiors. More than 50% percent of the people prefer contemporary designs. As per the statistics, it is quite close to 41.9% of people who chose - combination of the materials as a preference where as 41.1% of them, opted wood as a material to be used in their furniture. As per the survey people are more concerned about material and design over price. Indians keep value for money and have concerns about ‘kitna chalega’, i.e durability of the product. More than 80% of them are not willing to change their furniture till 5 years. People often get connected to furnitures over a period of time, which ends up staying as an ancestors memory for decades.
At last , there were random furniture pictures to choose from, people could select as many as they wanted. This exercise was to understand language and simplicity of their preference. According to the survey, along with the simple design, people are looking for something new. Those designs which were very innovative and different got lesser votes. Such are good as sample, but people are more comfortable with furniture which look more familiar, have decent design and simplicity. People have chosen more of cushioned furniture as compared to naked furnitures. Such furniture often gives more stable and comfortable look and feels welcoming by nature. The top voted furniture have turned out to be the one which are strong and old structures but new in present time.
CONCERN ABOUT INTERIOR
Often people have shown to relate more with wood in comparision to other materials. But at the some time, good aesthetics have also made to good figures as per the data. Although, the data shows more inclination for furnitures that are combined with other materials (majorly wood).
COMBINATION OF MATERIAL CONTEMPORARY DESIGN WOOD FURNITURE Fig. 30
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INDIAN PEOPLE AND PSYCOLOGY Indians are comparatively more social than others. We spend more time together, receive guests more frequently and love to spend time together. All this makes us very different from other social systems, which also changes our interior accordingly. We judge a product not just by its design, but its durabilty, alternatives and lot more on upon function of the product. People in Indian see things very differently. Some times specific products is used for different purposes other than its own, for them a furniture is not just an element in interiors; its a part of living. For instance, chairs can be used as a stool, stand, gift, according to the time, place and purpose. Sometimes designing for them is easy but at times, it is more or less impossibe to put them under one umbrella. Even if they are from the same regions, they might have diferent cultures, traditions and backgrounds.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
We are consciously or unconsciously connected to our culture. I remember talking to one of my roommates about Indian design and connection between him and his culture. We went on discussing on a very large scale from broad mentality to all the advance technologies. He also focused on dressing style and others. He fancies the western culture,tries to adopt its style and finally, said doesn’t miss culture and tradition at all, he enjoys this modernisation. After a pause, I reminded him about he listening to the Bengali Durga Mata songs continuously from last two-three days. (He is from Kolkata and Durga Pooja was near). Hence , most individuals in India are significantly connected with their traditions and culture. They are modernizing with time, but are distinctly rooted with their origins. Thus, providing a new trend which feels more connected to their culture and tradition.
Interview And Perspective
Conversation with people about Indian design. How and what they interpret about Indian -ness.
Changes are good, rather then following culture blindly.
Indian designs are mostly about ‘MOTIFS”
“Simplicity” is my culture of belief, nothing else really matter.
Its good to change with time and trend, other wise we might lag behind.
Indian designs are repeatative, they keep making flower and animals.
I love my culture but still like the Western touch.
They show or reflect particular region or community.
Its more of art and craft.
Its Labour intensive, requires lots of skills.
If westernisation is all about progressive transition, then what is modernisation ??’
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FINDING INDIAN-NESS
INDIAN DESIGN If defining design is an awesome task, any attempt to define Indian design would be even more difficult. This is because, in India, the word design has many meanings and its association with past/present. It is not just the language, but the manifestation of design in more than one area of Indian living. Indian women make floral patterns as auspicious welcome signs, and traditionally this is called design. Even in the 21st century, modern Indian industry is familiar with engineering design, but is quite confused when it comes to design. One of the reasons being its traditional association, and another being the promotion of designs by colonial rulers through Indian arts and crafts schools.
The intricate decorative border of a sari is considered as a design. But an innovative new chair made by a carpenter, or an improved bedpan, which the modern world calls design, is not considered design by Indians.
When modern design, as it is known today, was introduced in India, and when the first professional group of designers was found, it was called the Society of Industrial Designers of India (SIDI). This was done to emphasize the relationship between designing and industrial production, although SIDI admitted that all designers including graphic designers, exhibit designers, textile designers, and animators.
Fig. 31: Motif
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Root of Indian Design India’s oral culture and its intense religious mysticism might give one, an idea that there is an absence of rational thinking and scientific systems, but this is far from the truth. Historically, it is evident from the Mohenjadaro-Harappa excavations that, as early as 2500 BC, there was highly developed architecture, town planning, and technology in many places. India’s traditional knowledge was exceptionally organized and meticulously articulated. Even in the arts, there were extremely detailed canons and highly sophisticated structured treatises. Since Indian culture did not distinguish between applied art and fine art, there was no separate treatise on design. The Shastras are studied even today by the classical practitioners.
Ancient India had Shilpa Shastra for sculpture, Natya Shastra for dance, Sangeetha Ratnakara for music, Vishnu Dharmottara for art, and Vaastu Shastra for architecture.
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Systems of Education in India: Gurukul and Craft Training Indian education complexity is not just unity in diversity, but also the simultaneous telescopic existence of the past traditions with contemporary: the bullock cart beside the spacecraft, the burkha beside Miss Universe, and illiteracy beside software supremacy. India’s ancient system, called the Gurukul system, still is used with some changes in the learning of traditional performing arts such as classical music and dance. The pupils go to the guru, a practicing performer, who teaches all subjects from the very beginning over a period of five to seven years. Through apprenticeship, the skills and knowledge are passed from generation to generation, almost always orally without any written texts. Fig. 32: Pupils in Gurukul.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Pre-Independence Period: Macaulay’s Basic Education and British Art Schools
For the student, craft is an education that makes men and women grow in wholeness by being brought in touch with materials. The discerning art critic Herbert Read called this “education through things” while India’s “great soul” (Mahatma) Gandhi advocated this as the pedagogical principle of “learning by doing.”
Pre- independence
While similar to the Bauhaus but in an environment of feudal oppression and colonial exploitation, Santiniketan stood for the cultivation of arts and crafts in a concept of total education. Tagore believed that,
Lord Macaulay introduced by the British during their colonial rule over India. Although this was an exploitative system meant to create a middle-level administrative staff to serve the needs of its British rulers, India has not been able to replace this system with a better alternative in more than half a century of independence. Notable Among others was Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, who established in Bengal his Santiniketan, an experimental university for arts, crafts, and design. Starting well before the emergence of the Bauhaus, Santiniketan compares favorably with the renowned German school.
“Man’s energies running on two parallel lines of utility and self-expression tend to meet and mingle .... The building of man’s true world?the living world of truth and beauty?is the function of art.” The Bauhaus and Santiniketan were much alike in trying to synthesize the work of artists and craftsmen. Their difference lay in their application. While the Bauhaus evolved and taught a machine aesthetic oriented to mass production, Santiniketan considered the language of the hand more important in the Indian context, and oriented its teaching towards craft production.
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Post-Independence
In India, craft is not a thing of the past, but a thing of the present as well as of the future. With nearly twentythree million craftspersons still practicing, craft is as contemporary as mass production, showing a great promise in the globalized world of the future.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
After Independence in 1947, India focused on rapid scientific and technological development. India’s largest dams, largest core industries, and scientific organizations started with help from the best foreign expertise available. Space research and nuclear research programs were established at premier technology institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology. The then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, had the vision to see the importance of modern design and architecture in the development of industry and the economy of the country. He invited Le Corbusier to design the whole city of Chandigarh as a model of city planning and architecture, and Charles and Ray Eames to recommend a program of training in the area of design as a model of design education.
Viewing design as an activity that improves the quality of life, in their 1958 “India Report,” The Eameses recommended a sober investigation into those values and qualities that Indians consider important to a good life, and “to follow it with a restudy of the problems of environment and shelter; to look upon the detailed problems of services and objects as though they were being attacked for the first time; to restate solutions to these problems in theory and in actual prototype; to explore the evolving symbols of India.” Drawing a distinction clearly between “America, which was a fertile tradition-less field,” and “India, a traditionoriented society where the decisions are apt to be unconscious decisions?in that each situation or action automatically calls for a specified (preset) reaction,” they wrote that “all decisions must be conscious decisions evaluating changing factors. In order to even approach the quality and values of a traditional society, a conscious effort must be made to relate every factor that might possibly have an effect. Security here lies in change and conscious selection and correction in relation to evolving needs.
“ In India, design is an evolutionary and not revolutionary activity ” The Eames not only recognized, but also greatly admired, the process of evolutionary design of India. They stated: “Of all the objects we have seen and admired during our visit to India, the Lota, that simple vessel of everyday use (to carry water), stands out as perhaps the greatest, the most beautiful” and hoped “that an attitude be generated that will appraise and solve the problems of our coming times with the same tremendous service, dignity, and love that the Lota served its time.”
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INDIAN FURNITURE: HISTORY AND STYLE India is a large country on the Asian continent, full of diverse peoples and cultural traditions. But one thing many of these cultures didn’t place much emphasis on historically was furniture. For much of India’s history, people didn’t use a lot of furniture in their homes. A few cultures in early India did have furniture-making traditions, like the fourteenth-century Vijayanagar Empire in Southern India. But the furniture was mostly ceremonial, like royal thrones. Most people in India didn’t have what we would consider furniture, things like tables, desks, dressers and chairs. With the exception of perhaps a few low chairs and cushions used for support, they usually sat on the floor, even sleeping and eating on the floor. What kind of furniture do you have? Is it a mix of styles and influences? The furniture made and used in India is an excellent example of the blending of various artistic styles into unique work.
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EUROPIAN INFLUENCE Beginning around the 1500s, a series of European powers invaded and conquered parts of India. The first was Portugal, followed by France in the late 1600s, then the Dutch and finally the English in the 18th century. People came and settled and built homes and businesses. These settlers wanted furniture similar to what they knew from their home countries. So these Europeans used Indian carpenters to develop furniture using European styles and Indian materials. The result was furniture that reflected a mix of Europe and India. Indian craftsmen created distinctive furniture with very decorative qualities using their skills in wood carving and inlay, the process of creating patterns on wood surfaces with small pieces of precious materials cut and placed so they lay flush, creating a smooth, flat surface.
INDIAN FURNITURE STYLE Most furniture was made of wood, a plentiful material in India. Types of woods included many excellent hardwoods like rosewood, teak, acacia, ebony and shisham, also sometimes called North Indian rosewood and native to the Himalayas. Other materials included exotic substances like ivory from elephant tusks.
As a result of the nation’s history, Indian furniture styles are a mix of those from the East and West, often called IndoEuropean furniture. There are several types of Indo-European furniture, reflecting either Portuguese or Dutch influence. MUGHAL AND GOANESE STYLES Portuguese-influenced styles included the Mughal Style, found in Northern Indian. Mughal style featured furniture like tables and writing desks made of dark hardwoods like ebony with decorations of inlaid bone or ivory. To the south, the Portuguese-influenced Goanese Style included furniture like large cabinets, adapted from traditional Portuguese forms, with intricate inlaid and incised (cut into the wood) geometric decorations.
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Indo-Dutch Style Furniture made in the Indo-Dutch Style included light-colored hardwoods with incised and inlaid decorations. Another style, used in India but made mostly on the island of Java (also colonized by the Dutch), featured furniture made of dark woods like ebony with elaborate carved floral decorations. ANGLO-INDIAN STYLE By the 18th century, English influence became predominant, and a lot of furniture increasingly echoed traditional English styles like Chippendale and Sheraton. Think of the formal styles with straight-backed chairs you might see in a fancy dining room. But even this furniture was still made of Indian materials and included Indian decorative flourishes. Within all of these styles, people included traditional Indian elements like dhurries, durable cotton or wool woven rugs with an easy-to-clean flat weave; and bolsters, long large cushions someone could sit against or use for support. Fig. 34
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And one traditional piece of Indian furniture became used by the European cultures, and is still in use today. It was a type of low bed called a charpoy. Charpoys are made of an open wooden frame with four legs. In the middle of the frame is a tightly-woven rope mesh. They are versatile, and can also serve as tables or benches.
Indian furniture history is a blend of European furniture styles and Indian materials and techniques. In early India, most people didn’t have furniture, but with European colonization, furniture was developed using Indian craftsmen to make furniture with Indian materials like hardwoods of teak, ebony and shisham. The furniture adapted European styles with Indian decoration like inlay of precious materials like ivory. Indian furniture styles include types of Indo-European furniture that reflect Portuguese or Dutch influence. They include the Mughal Style found in Northern India, with dark hardwoods inlaid with ivory, and the Goanese Style, found on large cabinets based on traditional Portuguese forms. The Indo-Dutch Style used light-colored hardwoods with inlaid decorations. A Dutch style made on Java but used in India featured dark woods with carved floral decorations. Later furniture reflected English furniture styles like Sheraton. Within these styles, people also used traditional Indian elements like woven dhurries, long bolsters, and low, ropestrung charpoys.
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CRAFT DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND SEARCH FOR VALUES
What has been forgotten is their relevance as useful objects, serving a meaningful purpose in the lives of their creators and their users.
In a most broad sense, design can be described as harmony in form.The most important aspect of design, however, lies in the meaning and use of man’s creative impulses; and therefore the greatest harmony is achieved only when the aesthetic aspect of “good design” is truly integrated with the utility of the object which man has created. The design of a wheel is its meaning, as the shape of the pot indicates its purpose. Today, the patrons of art and craft in India have bypassed the difference between true design and its superficial outer face—decorative embellishment. The basic shape, form, and use of a handcrafted object is forgotten for its carving, or the patterns and motifs on its surface. Beautiful, ornate, even timeless in their forms, they have frozen into admirable museum pieces—only to be romanticised, patronised, and the maker lionised perhaps for a few brief moments. Fig. 36
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DESIGN AND DECORATION
One can rejoice here that design development has been applied to areas that genuinely needed it; that housewives and traditional artisans can understand and accept these products, which are made with their existing skills; and that the woman, happy, because something has made her daily chores easier, had bestowed upon it her love and blessings by adding her own, individual, creative spirit.
There is the newly-introduced, smokeless chula (cooking stove) which is designed for improved wood-burning cooking, to make kitchens smokeless and to use less firewood. According to a UNICEF pamphlet, the design of the stove corresponds very much with traditionally known cooking facilities.
This new stove is for truly indigenous use. Inexpensive, welldesigned, and with the additional decorative patterns, it has that individual touch required to make it an aesthetically appealing handcrafted product. It is necessary and important to remember, however, that the form and line of the new smokeless chulha is its design; while the pattern made on it by the woman is merely decorative embellishment.
The particular design adapted for use in the villages of Jammu & Kashmir are made of local mud, and can be constructed by rural women in their homes, or by the local village potter. Many women are enthusiastic in learning how to make the newlydesigned stove. On one occasion when they were asked to try it out, and the officer in charge of the chula scheme went back after a few days, he saw in one household a new mud chulha with a beautiful decorative pattern embellishing the outer walls.
Even with the most graphic, detailed, or decorative motifs used on the outer walls of the stove if the stove itself was misshapen or inefficient, the design of this product would be useless.
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They place them in a milieu totally out of context, where these pieces serve only to make a visual statement of our past glory or the designer’s “good eye”. The object is no longer in use as it was originally meant to be; it is no longer considered comfortable or convenient, and hence has no real relevance to its makers or its viewer; and the only place it has a right to be is in a museum. Crafts in India today have become commercial items of trade—between the abysmally poor village artisan or weaver, and the urban elite, who, on par with the foreign importer of handicrafts, cares only that the product should be of “excellent quality”. It is significant that at the level of the central government, the development of handicrafts comes under the Ministry of Commerce which oversees marketing and export; whereas most state governments attend, more realistically, to all aspects of handicraft under the Department of Industry, which can administer those areas of assistance needed most by artisans. They include access to good quality raw materials at fair prices, credit facilities, and technological assistance through the district industries centres. Genuine market contact can come only if these areas are treated first with utmost attention and importance.
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CRAFT, DESIGN AND INDUSTRY The craft “development” organisations like industries departments, design centres, weaver’s service centres, and schools of design have no direct connection with, or responsibility to, the domestic markets of villages, towns, and cities—where traditional handcrafted goods should surely have more relevance than to department stores in New York or Paris. On the other hand, marketing organisations have neither the design team, nor the trained personnel who can genuinely feel and report back on the pulse of the market; nor the funds to spend on technological innovations to improve products. Often they do not generate enough income from lackadaisical sales efforts even to pay the craftsmen for their supplies within forty days of delivery. It is difficult to expect artisans to be progressive or positive about design and product innovation when the via media between his hands and the air conditioned emporia in capital cities is itself illequipped to handle his problems.
Again it is ironic that most state marketing outlets, established for the exclusive purpose of promoting and marketing crafts of their own state, prefer to stock “fast selling” products from other states. They do not delve deeply into the condition of all existing folk, trade, and feudal crafts of their own areas, in order to re-design, adapt, or even just revive them. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar are cases in point; while many other states are “offenders” to a lesser degree when, to boost sales, counters are allotted to jewellers who sell precious stones from Delhi and Rajasthan to augment their sales figures. In such transactions, the question of reviving traditional motifs and patterns, let alone giving genuine technological and design input, does not arise.
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Craft and Design Institute The School of Design in Srinagar similarly employs a number of highly skilled craftsmen and designers to create new forms in materials such as wood, papier mache, copper, willow, and clay. Interesting modern products lie on display in the showroom which is only reluctantly opened to visitors. Artisans again are supposed to replicate what they will but without ready finances or firm orders from even the government institution promoting the sale of handicrafts. The onus of all market experimentation, viable price structuring, and bulk retailing is left to the artisan. The State Government emporia should be full of these newly designed products, to gauge the response of the market and take the lead in developing a wider range of hand crafted products. The purpose of their existence is to show the way, and assure design and marketing support to the smallest artisan in the state. Victor Papanek, a UNESCO international design expert and Dean of the School of Design at the California Institute of the Arts, could almost be describing our holy of holies, the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad, when he says:
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“ The main trouble with design schools seems to be that they teach too much design and not enough about the social, economic, and political environment in which design takes place. It is impossible to teach anything in vacuo, least of all in a system as deeply involved with man’s basic needs as we have seen design to be.”
Institutions such as these will first have to understand the customer or the community for which they are designing; and then work as community problem sol vers.The most important consideration is to ensure that the artisan can under his existing living conditions of living, produce objects that are relevant to him as well as to the community outside. This can be achieved not through patronage, not through decorative processes, but through tools and products which can enable the artisan to compete with mass-produced goods which flood both urban and village markets. Linked largely to the export market, the private sector has willy nilly brought about most of the change in designs produced by artisans. These have been more as a result of market pressures than as a response to a genuine need. This actually widens the gap between the rural artisan and the market. If we believe strongly in the quality of life and human dignity, an important requirement to improve the condition of both is to ensure a durable link between man and his environment, even as both are caught up in the dynamics of change.
Man’s world is an extension of himself; and design—that is, the ordering of man’s tools, his work, and his goods—must deal with both his material and spiritual needs. What then are the essential ingredients for meaningful design efforts in the field of handicrafts? styles or needs of the person for whom he is producing. “Design”, passing through the intermediaries involved, becomes repetitive, imitative, and in the next season “out of fashion”.
No one even seeks to ask—let alone answer—questions about whom the artisans should rely upon to keep them in touch with both their tradition and the modern changing world.
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This kind of ‘design’ activity is unfortunately still more in the genre of product adaptation. True design development would need a greater integration between new tools, new methods of manufacture, and improved shapes and forms — keeping in mind the ultimate purpose of the object for both the producer and the consumer. Firstly the craftsman must be brought in touch with the various aspects of a wider society. Conditions must be created where he meets his customers face to face, and understands their needs. For this, stalls, shops, and traditional marketplaces must be set up where craftsmen can themselves sell their products. These could be arranged in small towns and cities, and should be provided rent free, with electricity and some storage facilities. Larger department stores, government emporia, and super bazars must provide space for the presence of genuine craftsmen themselves. Then, craftsmen and design teams must work closely together, particularly to understand why a certain new product using the craftsman’s skill needs to be designed. Ideas for tool and technique changes, as well as product adaptation, must have the active participation of the artisan—so that he is not alienated from his end product, but feels and understands the need for change. For this, designers must spend more time with artisans—to understand their environmental limitations, and to explain the cultural milieu of the customers to the artisan. Fig. 39: Worker
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ARTISANS AND DESIGNERS Designers must work with organisations responsible for the marketing of their designs. Or, the designer must have formal marketing arrangements through retail outlets both in India and abroad; otherwise the craftsmen are used as prototype producers and then abandoned. As they have no knowledge of distant markets, they cannot pursue them on their own. Officialdom, patrons, traders, and designers must have a deeper understanding of the sociological milieu of the artisan and learn to evolve rather than impose ideas of designchange. A more positive attitude towards the promotion of crafts is required from them instead of “preserving-ourglorious-heritage” and “help-the poor-artisan” attitudes; we must assert with confidence that craft products are better for every man’s use, and the artisan has an important role to play in society. Designs of craft products must be suited to the genuine needs of as large a number of people can be reached and catered for. In applying their skills towards reducing costs, raising efficiency, increasing durability, and incorporating the creative spirit of the crafts’ own cultural environment, craft designers can be responsible for ensuring that craft products compete fairly with mass-produced industrial goods.
“artists” were masons, painters, illustrators, stone and clay workers, wood workers, and metalsmiths. Because the same artist-craftsman also created artefacts of everyday use for the householder, it is obvious that no separate terms were needed to distinguish the plastic arts from the crafts. In the minds of the creators and the people for whom these objects were created, art and craft remain one inseparable concept. This unified concept remained unchanged for more than 2000 years and had a single word to express.
“KALA”, This is a word the meaning of which embraces all aspects of human arts, crafts, skills, and techniques. The only parallel one can think of is the old Greek word TEKHNE, which meant both art and technique.
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Traditional And Metropolitan Metropolitan art being art that is produced in the city and town centers and displayed the cultural institutions. Non-metropolitan art is an Umbrella term for folk, tribal and ritual art. Despite clear distinguished among these three arts, the umbrella term also called ‘traditional arts’.
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The assumption of innovativeness in traditional art is contributed because of two misunderstandings, I believe, the first is to assume that art are invariably repetitive their practitioner merely ‘imitating’ what their predecessors did. The second possible stem for the different learning methods adopted by metropolitan and traditional artists. Art historical debates that remain consistently broad and generalized, featuring no prominent critiques of individual traditional artists. In the contemporary Indian art discourse,’craft, and ‘traditional arts’ are frequently used as synonyms, the pejorative terms applied to one being indiscriminately applied to the other. These terms tend to be used interchangeably because the metropolitan-traditional art dichotomy has precedents that are comparable.
Coomaraswamy’s (Theorists) argument of marga (highway) from desi (byway) art- which helps us to undermine the myth that folk and tribal art is created by racially different peoples or by peoples from a given social stratum. -is however often cited as an important contribution to the advocacy of traditional arts. According to him, This is not necessarily a distinction of aristocratic and cultivated from folk and primitive art, but one of scared and traditional from profane and sentimental. He also felt that the division of Modern life into activities of labor and leisure meant that modern art had ‘become abstracted from the general activity of making things for human use- whether material or spiritual. The fact that medieval Indian painting treated painting -space as two-dimensional was interpreted by the ignorant early English as a lack of aesthetic propensity in the Indians. Thus in their misbegotten magnanimity, they taught our city-bred artist the glories of English Academic Realism. (Swaminathan 199:22)
There is a fundamental difference between art and craft. On principle.
The crafts are concerned with the surface. Their basic function is decoration, with predominant stress on design. When the craft achieves their maximum skill, they can aspire to the level of art. (Adajania 1999:34)
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Non-metropolitan Indian arts are inevitably prefixed with qualifying adjectives, while it appears that ‘art’ san prefixes connote metropolitan arts exclusively, implying their ascendancy. The issue, however, is not that distinct adjectives are used to qualify undeniably distinct practices; what is jarring is that arts prefixed by ‘ritual’, ‘folks’ and ‘tribal’ are more often used as synonyms of craft; this usage ignores their significant distinctions. A ‘handcraft’ emporium in India is often situated as the final stop in coach-conveyor belts, particularly in cities that have proved to be tourist honey-pots. I must clarify that tribal, folk and ritual arts are distinct traditional with a distinct purpose, idiom, and trajectories bearing little resemblance to the market-driven product churned out for tourist emporia. There is however one factor that links these three kinds of arts, which explains why metropolitan arts are deemed superior to them. In addition to this misconception, I believe that debate about the traditional - metropolitan art divide needs to factor in the influence of the art market.
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Apart from the trends of conceptualism and new media, which admittedly play a significant role in this divide, the strongest prejudice that links these three art is the belief that is repetitive. If we keep all work removed from the site of genesis, function when put sale as commodities for anonymous buyers in a city art gallery; In such a set up, it is customary and part of a familiar polemic to pair ‘folk’ and ‘tribal’ with ‘craft’ while ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ remain in the category of ART.
One viewed as ritualistic and convention-bound is generally regarded as part of a collective tradition prone to repetition, rigid formulas and resistance to change. The other perceived as change -orientated is termed ‘free’, ‘dynamic’, individualistic, with an accent on originality: a selfimage which is part of a historical consciousness whereas the perception of the other is ahistorical and timeless. (Sheikh 1998:18) Ironically, this dichotomy is paralleled by another equally uneasy one between Indian metropolitan and international artists - a postcolonial legacy that the former take for granted (Mitter 1997:42). Sinha asserts that in the rush to align ourselves with Western modernism, a general area of evasion is Indian aesthetics (Sinha 1999:80). Dalmia avers.
It has often been contended that art in Indian is both hybrid and imitative. That would be a contradiction in terms, for modernism as it took root in the West had avowed its affiliation to universalism and internationalism. Then again when an artist like Picasso borrowed from African sculpture or Matisse from Persian miniatures it was to lean to ‘high modernism’. In a similar vein, the borrowing of Picasso’s inventions by Ramkinker Baij, or F.N. Souza were considered derivative art. (Dalmia 2002:75) The hierarchies implied in both national and international art discourses may result partially from a lack of transparency in these arts’ socio-political and economic contexts. Others before me have noted the frequent use of terms like ‘repetition’, ‘imitation’, ‘derivation’ and ‘appropriation’ in Indian art discourse, but there remains considerable ambiguity in these discussions because they have only linked these semantics to orientalist and postcolonial discourses. To cut through the opacity that befuddles our conception of what constitutes innovativeness in art, I propose to modify and extend previous writers’ exercise by linking the semantics of these four terms to the hegemony of the art maker.
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‘REPETITION’, ‘IMITATION’, ‘DERIVATION’ AND ‘APPROPRIATION’ The muggu floor drawing tradition in Andhra Pradesh. While the ritual artist repeats his or her artistic act, he or she also imitates what the community’s predecessors did. This is not a lack of innovation, nor is it imitation as understood in the metropolitans’ copyright conscious market; this is a purposeful repetition of motifs in a traditional vernacular.
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If a woman in Andhra draws a pot overflowing with milk, or sugar cane and wheat sheaves on Bhogi day (part of the threeday annual harvest festival, Sankranti), it is not because she is incapable of conceiving a form she has not previously seen nor because she cannot draw a form she imagines. It is because she draws an overflowing pot as a symbol of abundance - a basic motif symbolizing food that has remained constant for centuries, for generations of Andhra women. She may, however, and almost certainly does draw a pot in a distinctive style. Indeed, upon close, regular observation, I found that I could easily recognize individual styles and preferences among muggu practitioners. Moreover, if an overflowing pot served as a mark of thankfulness for what the family has been blessed with or as a symbol of hope that they would continue to receive food and sustenance, it is hardly surprising that today, women draw cars in a muggu - a contemporary symbol of prosperity. Understood thus, an act of repeating what their forerunners have drawn is as much an expression of a cultural as of an artistic tradition.
As such, it hardly constitutes an act of mere imitation. It is when the meanings begin to fade from such symbols that it may be interpreted as an imitation. Although the meaning connoted by the term ‘repetition’, ‘imitation’, ‘derivation’, and ‘appropriation’ share some synergies, it is problematic they are often used synonymously. While the difference between the following definitions and etymologies will soon be clear, their commonality may seem less so. I would suggest that they all related to our concept of the ‘original’, which means among other things, ‘a point from which something develops’, ‘first or earliest’, ‘new, not copied or based on something else’, ‘first version, from which others are copied’.
In art, art is achieved by choosing elements of an ‘original’ and assimilating it into a renewed interpretation of the original. Fig. 40: Women making traditional muggu.
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In art, both etymological meanings of the word ‘derive’ have relevance: to ‘develop’ or ‘deviate’ from an ‘original.’ From the three formal categories identified in muggus, the muggu tradition has changed course a few times already. It is because muggu practitioners have collectively changed course, or - to follow the etymology - formed multiple tributaries, that it survives to this day. To derive or deviate from a course may suggest a weakening, narrowing or lessening but surely the muggu tradition’s resilience notable if one considers it is an ephemeral practice persisting in an increasingly materialistic, consumer-driven society - lies precisely in its ability to see, to adapt to new socio-cultural contexts - as the changing materials, forms and techniques of the muggu tradition demonstrate. Muggu practitioners similarly learn symbols, motifs, and drawings with seemingly infinite permutations and combinations by imitating community elders but they can and do make up their own muggus. Ironically, traditional artists, today are not overly concerned about whether their work is called repetitive, imitative or derivative.
Fig. 41: Contemporary style of muggu
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The high conceptualism of metropolitan arts also ignores discourse about traditional arts among traditional artists. Serious studies of traditional arts are often undertaken within an anthropological rather than an aesthetic or art-historical framework. Muggu practitioners, for example, may not talk about ephemerality in the terms we tend to use. They will instead say, ‘The old muggu must be washed and a new one drawn every day/ or they may say ‘Vishnu must leave on this day. The chariot muggu symbolizes Vishnu’s departure, so we cannot draw it after this day’.
Creation in its best sense stems from a sense of kama, joyousness, hence it comes within the purview of dharma; it is born from a desire to produce something in the likeness of the Creator, a desire also to replicate the cosmos in smaller terms.
Synthetic powders and chalk are now used often to make muggu as are plastic stencil sheets and perforated tubes which are used by women who lack the time or skill to draw traditional muggus new forms are also constantly added on to theseemingly infinite public repertoire.
Design for us is not just ornamentation or arrangement,but it is an expression of a world view, where to be surrounded by beautiful objects is an act of noble living.
After all, we are forced to make a divide between arts anthropological and aesthetic values partly because of the markets’ need for a hierarchy, without which it would be difficult to accord a monetary value to different arts and artists. Consequently, we fail to accord artistic value to myriad practices that would otherwise enrich metropolitan arts, guiding- or deviating -them toward the more exciting direction.
Creativity, therefore, arises from a need to give form to the formless, from nirakar to sakar and thereby give shape to something beautiful so that it can then take its rightful place in the world we inhabit.
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Encapsulating the influence and qualities from 5,000 years of history and combine it with sixty years of post-Independence to produce this identity. India is not a homogeneous monolith that can be fitted easily into one nation congruity. Indian design is informed by certain objects, made from elemental materials such as stone or iron, that dates back to the Indus Vally Civilisation and continue to exist alongside technological advancement.
PAST TO PRESENT
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In-country like where one can see a bullock- drawn cart standing patiently at a traffic signal next to the latest imported car, there is an awareness of the coexistence of the past, the present, the rural and the urban.
Creating an identity involves a contemplative dialogue about these coexisting aspect and between the sacred and the secular, the essential and the superfluous, the handmade and the machine, and the high-tech and the low-tech. All the object included are used daily and are, therefore, not obsolete or historical but very much present; we are showing them here in a non- linear way to demonstrate Indian’s confluent culture and how its past continues to inform current design.
Indian everyday object reflects a complex identity and creation. many of Contemporary objects are inspired by them. Many of these objects are from outside but has been adopted by Indian society. These objects are influenced by many culture and tradition in terms of their materials, use or techniques; but all tell a story of the nature of harmonious culture synthesis. This culture synthesis encompasses internal influence from many empires and dynasties - such as Maurya, Gupta, Pala, Chola and Vijayanagara, which collectively spanned a period between fourth century BC and sixteenth century AD- and religions including Hinduism, Buddism, Jainism and Sikhism. External influence - from the early Islamic sultanates, trade along the Silk Route, the Mughals and their Persian traditions, and the British, Portuguese and other Europeans- have also left distinct marks on the Indian Design- scape. Our own works as artist and designer are informed by many of these objects, which teach us about ingenuity, materiality and beauty.
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Then over the years, as Indian communities grew in the diaspora, we began to see a sow assimilation of population Indian culture into the Western mainstream, including food, Bollywood, music, shops, in neighbourhoods known as little India Selling a plethora of items from the ‘motherland’ pressure cooker, masala boxes, jewellery, clothes, shoes and bindis. it is a contemporary design scene that has contributed to our understanding of what inherently constitutes design in India today. Ascontemporary designer Divya Thakur(b.1971) has proclaimed, the design is án ingenious, spiritual, complex continuum that has eliminated the redundant and assimilated the use since time immemorial. The purpose, reasoning behind and proportions of a craft object were considered predestined and proportions of a craft object were considered predestined and perfection was divine attainment.
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The Shilpa Shastra - the ancient Hindu science (Shastra) of sixty- four arts and crafts (Shilpa) - are a series of ancient Indian texts that expound rules on how iconography, carpentry, textiles, jewellery and even painting should be produced.
Many words refer to the design process: Iraada(intention), Rachana(composition), Banaanaa(to make or fix), Banavat(structure), Yojana(plan), Namuna(sample), and Abhikalpana(the making of something).
Indian precise work in various art and craft forms, in exotic and ordinary materials like metal, wood, ivory, coconut shells etc.. Simplifying and giving them a modern value, which could be minimal or essential but at the same time retain the originality of Indian aesthetics.
Defining Indian-ness was very difficult to understand and vast to cover. From language to culture, lifestyles of people and tradition changes from region to region. Rather than going to the ‘How’, the focus will be on the ‘Why’. Going through the notion of people and their belief. This study does not seek to conclude or define what ‘Indianness’ is, but might help you create your own perspective of what it is .Visual aspects were one of the main attributes I have focused on, as India is diverse in art and craft.
Is ‘Indian-ness’ just an appreciation of the visual aspects of art and craft? Tradition? Culture? or Beliefs?
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
MUSEUM Cane Rattan work in India is characterized by comfort, durability and aesthetic appeal. The idea is to introduce handwoven technique - natural in its appearance, timehonoured and distinctive
DR. BHAU DAJI LAD MUSEUM The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum (formerly the Victoria and Albert Museum) is the oldest museum in Mumbai. Situated in the vicinity of Byculla Zoo, Byculla East, it was originally established in 1855 as a treasure house of the decorative and industrial arts, and was later renamed in honour of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad.
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Fig. 43: Bahu daji lad museum
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RATNAGIRI: Buffalo horn Soak in coconut water to shape, bend and give finish onto its surface. Used for lamp, decorative elements.
DACCA: Metal Work Majorly made with silver metal, motifs are influenced by day to day activities, inspired by flora-fauna.
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BIDAR: Metal work Bidri craft is practised in Bidar-Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and in Maharashtra – bordering Karnataka. The metal used is a blackened alloy of zinc and copper, inlaid with thin sheets of pure silver.
BELL METAL:
POLISHED AND PLANE SURFACE
An alloy of copper and tin for making bells, with a higher tin content than bronze.
BLACK POTTERY: Clay work The black clay pottery of Nizamabad in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, India is unique type of clay pottery known for its dark shiny body with engraved silver patterns.
CONTRAST: METAL COMBINATION
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SHOPSTONE: Carving and Sculpting
JAMMU AND KASHMIR: Paper Mache
Soapstone is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. Soapstone is used for inlaid designs, sculpture, coasters, and kitchen countertops and sinks. It is often used in traditional carvings.
A moulding material made of paper pulp mixed with glue and other materials, pressed together, molded into various articles, when moist which eventually turns hard and strong after drying.
MOTIF; INSPIRED BY NATURE GEOMETRIC CONSTRUCTION AND SYMMETRY
GEOMETRIC CONSTRUCTION AND SYMMETRIC
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
MOTIF; INSPIRED BY NATURE
REPOUSSE WORK: Metal Work Repoussé or repoussage refer to a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Chasing, chased work, or embossing refer to a similar technique, in which the piece is hammered on the front side, sinking the metal. The two techniques are often used in conjunction.
CONTRAST: METAL COMBINATION
ARMOURY MOTIF; PERSONALISED, INSPIRED BY NATURE, DEFINE POWER
STORY TELLING; BELIEF, INSPIRED BY NATURE, FLORA FAUNA
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 113
CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHALAYA The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya abbreviated CSMVS and formerly named the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is the main museum in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was founded in the early years of the 20th century by prominent citizens of Mumbai, with the help of the government, to commemorate the visit of George V, who was Prince of Wales at the time. It is located in the heart of South Mumbai near the Gateway of India. The museum was renamed in 1998 after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Maratha Empire.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Fig. 44: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 115
SENSE OF LIFE OF BUDHA Journey of budha’s life is represented on stone. It is composed into different segments and then sculpted.
STONE TILES
Symmetry, Geometric, Flora And Fauna
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
SHANTINATHA
SCULTURES
Symmetry
Depiction of devotees, their stories and various emotions: Celebration Devotion Respect
Stone used: Sandstone, Limestone, Marble, Basalt
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 117
SENSE OF LIFE OF BUDHA
intricate work, symmetry, devotion.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
YASH PADMAVATI
Ornamentation
VISHNU
MAHAVIRA
Ornamentation
Symmetry
Symbol of power through its size, Emphasis of devottees, Meaning to postures & elements as subordinates
Plain and simple sculptures which signifies simplicity of buddha.
In the concpet of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu is the preserver and protector of the Universe
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 119
UMA MAHESHVARA: Art style- Chulukgam
Certain sculptures describe the power and function of the god, by playing with its positioning (centred) and size. As visible, devottees potray their affection for Lord Shiva and the depiction of his reliability on a cow as a vehicle. The nature of the given scuplture communicates the importance of the natural surrondings and lifestyle. More importantly, ornametation is the oldest and most contesting form of representation. For example : A crown depicts the power of that persona.
ORNAMENTATION AIHOLE temple decoration 7th Cen BE
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
BRAHMA : Art style- Chulukgam
The combination and arrangement vary from image to image. The rosary represents time, and the water pot, the causal waters, from which all creation has sprung. Brahma controls time as well as the principle of causation. The Kusa grass, the ladle and the spoon being sacrificial implements, represent the system of sacrifices which is the means to be adopted by the various creatures to sustain one another. The book represents knowledge, sacred and secular. He is the giver of all knowledge-arts, sciences and wisdom.
AIHOLE temple decoration 7th Cen BE
The poses of the hand (Mudras) are Abhaya, i.e, assuring protection and Varada , i.e, granting boons.
The objects usually shown are: Aksamala (rosary), Kurca (a brush of Kusa grass), Sruk (ladle), Sruva (spoon), Kamandalu (water pot) and Pustaka (book).
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 121
KING SALA FINGHTING LION
Ornamentation Story of celebration Floral motifs
Temple of tripurantaka, Balligame, Karnataka, 1070 CE
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Nature Inspired, Motif (flora), Ornamentation Intricate work, Tesselation.
DECORATIVES:
Contrast, Motif, Intricate work, Material combination.
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CHAURPANCHASHIKA AND SULTANATE STYLE
2D Art, Ornamentation, Story telling, luxurious interior
Design pattern, Celebration, devotion, luxurious interior
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
MUGHAL STYLE
Motif, Floral pattern
Ornamentation, Pattern
PORTRAITURE
PATKA
Iconic Story in frames, Story depiction
Highlight to show power and authority, Accesorised.
Ornamentation
BUNDI - KOTA STYLE
Adorned with accessory
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 125
MEWAR STYLE
RAJSTHANI STYLE
Story telling, Power, Ornamentation
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Popular segment of story which shows power and charecteristic of Lord Rama.
Embellished , the iconic light behind head symbolizes the power of Lord Parshuram.
CHITRAKATHI
Ornamentation, Story telling
Decorative , Depiction of nature, Negative & positive composition
Segment of Ramanaya, Power, Ornamentation
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 127
WEAPON
Ornamented Sword; According to heirarchy of power and levels of the members.
Intricate work, motif and tesselation.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Decorative Armour Gaurd; Personal armour of emperor Akbar
Contrast, Metal combination, Nature inspiration designs, symmetric, Motif, message, and composition.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 129
WESTERN ART AND CRAFT
Symmetric , Motif inspired by flora.
Realistic art, dark background, humanist painting.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Realistic sculptures, drapes to make it looks interesting
Active poses, sophisticated and realistic expressions.
Spotlighting to main characters, realism .
Story telling, realistic work, highlight, expressions, dynamic poses.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 131
“Nothing is Homogenized in India: Every piece has a handfinished individuality that retains the vibrations of the craftsman” he says, ‘objects evoke emotion, have rich symbolism and always a strong narrative. So much of what you see is in mind, all the pieces are brimming with additional meaaning and imaginary, and it is this which fills the space in the mind’s eyes.’
OBSERVATION GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Michen Aram Armenian (American designer)
Most of these artifacts are hand made. Metals like Copper, Silver, Iron, Gold, are the commonly used materials. They effectively use the contrast properties for their craft. People also use material that are commonly available in their regional areas like Buffalo horn, Coconut shell etc. What they have in common is story telling and beliefs of culture, region or tradition. Most of the artifact surfaces are fully covered with motifs and art elements. Many of them are repetative , geometric or symmetric paterns. Art and design is influenced by many countries due to business trade with China, Iraq and many others.
India is a land of spiritual and traditional practices according to region, religion, culture or beliefs. People believe in simple and high living. A centre for the living traditions of art, folk, performing arts and architecture of India. Our lifestyle was purely based on nature, thermal comfort, natural lighting, practical use of local materials and other aspects of good design, traditional lifestyle was logical and eco-friendly for example, cow dunk is used as fuel to clean mud homes and as fertilizer. It starts and ends, both with nature , maintaining the eco-system.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 133
DESIGN INTERVENTION FINDING DIRECTION Before incorporating various exploration, there were some important decisions to be taken. Design with contrasting effect, is seen using combination of different materials, colour and finishes. Embibing craft is very tricky at one point for this project because, the company interests don’t lay in the carving of the wood etc. They want to keep it minimal. To add the craft, weaving was incorporated as one important aspect to trigger the sense of touch. The idea was to incorporate story telling through my furniture because this is an intriguing aspect of art and craft in India. Even a “belief” have been conveyed through story telling.
Fig. 45
Two elements that add aesthetic beauty is its ‘raw nature’ and the sense of touch.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
In India, the most important factor is the ornamentation. From sculpture to painting of any decoration, from lord Shiva to his Nandi, from King to Saint, there are some ornamentation used to highlight or to show importance.
Fig. 46
Ornamentations cue regional diversity through it’s aesthetic stories, as also convey social heirarchies. Hence throughw ornamentation, their meanings can convey the stories intended.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 135
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
DIRECTION: 1
TOUCH OF CRAFT Cane Rattan work in India is characterized by comfort, durability and aesthetic appeal. The idea is to introduce handwoven technique - natural in its appearance, timehonoured and distinctive
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 137
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ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 139
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
DIRECTION: 2
CONTRAST Ornamentation at its best can be characterized by adding metal in combination with different material. This highlights an interesting design element , ie, contrast, onto a furniture.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 141
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 143
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
DIRECTION: 3
COMBINATION The idea is to amalgamate the ancient handmade technique along with contemporary style aesthetics. Weaving lends to a modern and offbeat look to the design while the brass inlay bring in ornamentated vibe.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 145
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 147
148 / GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Further exploring direction 3, combining metal with wood and weaving to compile the desirable output. Metal to give ornamentational value to the furniture and weaving compliment the handicraft.
COMBINATION
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 151
152 / GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
FINAL CONCEPTS
LOUNGE CHAIR
2mm of brass inlay, show contrast and combination of two distinct materials. Thus, adding value as an Ornamentation to the furniture in simpler form. GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
This part of the weaving show the handicraft of india. Which provide the hand made value to the furniture.
Classic simple furniture and structure. As per the survey, people prefer simple and ever green furniture with some new elements.
Language of the collection reflects similar style by adding weaving to it, like as that of the Centre table top as shown.
For tea and water, solid surface can be used to place drinkables whereas the books or artifacts can be placed over the woven section of the table.
CENTRE TABLE
Brass metal inlay to show combination of material and contrast.
Bottom space is provided for storage like accessories, magazines,etc.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 155
SIDE TABLE Languages are maintained, providing 2mm brass inlay.
Indian women wear ‘payal’ on their legs. Similarly, keeping single trip inlay onto the legs of the furniture.
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
SOFA
2mm brass inlay. Raised platform is provided for placing the drinkables like tea/ coffee or books with ease of reachibility.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 157
INDIAN ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS
158 / GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
This information is collected after six yesr of intesive field work by a group of ergnomics experts headed by NID’s Dr. Debkumar Chakrabarti. As a part of its research activity, the Ergonomics Laboratory indertook an ambitiouse project on developing a data kit on Indian anthropometric dimentions for ergonomics design practise. 50th percentile value represents closely the average of indian individual. Dimentions are in mm
Height 1646 mm
01 619mm 02 1868mm 03 1369mm 04 849mm 05 769mm 06 579mm
Fig. 47
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
01 959mm
01 1099mm
01 839mm
01 417mm
02 1749mm
02 1699mm
02 1729mm
02 188mm
03 1209mm
03 1209mm
03 1229mm
03 213mm
04 1149mm
04 1309mm
04 1019mm
04 519mm
05 419mm
05 459mm
05 539mm
06 949mm
06 1129mm
06 789mm
07 669mm
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 161
162 / GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
TECHNICALS
760
A F METAL INLAY
740
C 5MM DOWEL
D
230
B
`690
590
2
2
1 1 700
4 E METAL INLAY
730
3 EXPLODED
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
A : SEAT BACK B : SEAT BASE C : HAND REST D : 1&2 BACK LEG; 3&4 FRONT LEG E : 1 FRONT AND 2 BACK F : CNC WORK (INLAY) G : WEAVING
GRADUATION PROJECT
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
LOUNGE CHAIR
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
30
560
650
B
50
A
TOP
640
40 760
230
G
WEAVING SPACE
25
G
25 SIDE
50
20
FRONT
SIDE
30
FRONT
30
35
565
550
30
70
16
25
553 40
40
50
50
80
20
50
30
20
25
PERSPECTIVE
PERSPECTIVE
550 25
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
A : SEAT BACK B : SEAT BASE C : HAND REST D : 1&2 BACK LEG; 3&4 FRONT LEG E : 1 FRONT AND 2 BACK F : CNC WORK (INLAY)
GRADUATION PROJECT ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
LOUNGE CHAIR
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 165
Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
C
E
F
TOP
660
65
Ø60
30
35
35
LEG
HAND X2
2
560
40
10
METAL INLAY
88
FRONT
15
45
SIDE
7
740
D 50
30
1
50
1
2
30
2
2
10
550
570
PERSPECTIVE
88 FRONT
WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE
REVISION
BY
232
202
235
205
232
202 35
SIDE
MATERIALS
DATE:
235
740
205
30
20
MATAL INLAY
SIDE
FRONT
SIDE
FRONT
A : SEAT BACK B : SEAT BASE C : HAND REST D : 1&2 BACK LEG; 3&4 FRONT LEG E : 1 FRONT AND 2 BACK F : CNC WORK (INLAY)
GRADUATION PROJECT
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
LOUNGE CHAIR
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
D
900
A 900
E B
TOP
50
305
240
C
FRONT
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
SIDE
A : TABLE TOP B : LEG C : PLATEFORM D : CNC WORK (INLAY) E : WEAVING
GRADUATION PROJECT ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
CENTRE TABLE
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 167 Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
820
Ø200
B
290
A
X4 SETS
5MM PLYWOOD
900
5MM DOWEL
35
5
35
12 5
20
50
35
700
100
120
12
20
10
100
295
2
35
50
900
120
WEAVING SPACE
METAL INLAY
540
120
50
25
50
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
25
A : TABLE TOP B : LEG C : PLATEFORM D : CNC WORK (INLAY) E : WEAVING
GRADUATION PROJECT
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
CENTRE TABLE
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
C
D
TOP
880
890
880
820
198
890
5MM PLYWOOD
35
35 2
LEGS
99
198
198
50
198
2
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
A : TABLE TOP B : LEG C : PLATEFORM D : CNC WORK (INLAY) E : WEAVING
GRADUATION PROJECT ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
CENTRE TABLE
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 169 Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
2250 METAL INLAY
D
1050
790
B
150
600
550
550
550
TOP
C
FRONT
MATERIALS METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) FABRIC: SWED
DATE
REVISION
125
SIDE
METAL INLAY
A : LEGS B : PLATFORM C : BACK CUSHION, C2-C4 (SAME DIMENTION) D : CNC WORK (INLAY)
WOOD : TEAK
DATE:
125
400
400
A
725
C4
650
C3
150
C2
250
500
C1
BY
GRADUATION PROJECT
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
SOFA
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
A
1030
B
980
150
R70
50
25
125
20
30
METAL INLAY
660
660
50
150
2
150
150
35
RIGHT PLATEFORM
C
C1
C2
D
450
976
926
Ø80
100
100
580
TOP
TOP 602 35 35
380
380
380
300
600
580
80
LEG
2
120
120
130
FRONT
MATERIALS METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) FABRIC: SWED
DATE
REVISION
FRONT
SIDE
A : LEGS B : PLATFORM C : BACK CUSHION D : CNC WORK (INLAY)
WOOD : TEAK
DATE:
SIDE
BY
GRADUATION PROJECT ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
SOFA ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 171 FURNITURE DESIGNE
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
500 METAL INLAY
400
396
500
C
A
B
E
5
C 20
A
35
SMALL CURVE
D
D
22
TOP
B
35 15
500
10
TOP
434
548
525
400
METAL INLAY 20
FRONT
2
15
FRONT TOP
SIDE
Ø115 470
E FRONT
TOP
MATERIALS WOOD : TEAK METAL: BRASS (2MM SHEET) WEAVING: FLAT SYNTHETIC RATTAN PLASTIC
DATE: DATE
REVISION
BY
A : TOP BASE B : TOP C : PLATEFORM D : LEGS X4 E : CNC WORK (INLAY)
2
25 2 LEGS
GRADUATION PROJECT
172 / GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ALL MEASUREMENT IS IN
TITLE:
MM
SIDE TABLE
DRAWING NO: 01
PROJECT GUIDE: PRAVINSINGH SOLANKI
DATE : 25 OCT 2019
PROJECT DURATION: 4 MONTHS
PLACE: MUMBAI
INARA LLP, MUMBAI
FURNITURE DESIGNE Opposite Tagore Hall, Rajnagar Society, Paldi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380007
RENDERS
Fig. 48
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
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GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
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PROTOTYPING AND SCALE MODEL
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
COSTING The calculation of material and cost is combined of all four pieces of furniture. Many of the processes are inhouse and total cost varies to customer and quantity orders. MATERIAL USED
Burma teak
21000
CNS and 2mm Brass Sheet
14500
Sofa Fabrication
Burma Teak [950X200X30]X2 [900X200X30]X5 [50X50X350]X4
[750X200X30]X4 [50X50X100]X9
[800X90X20]X2 [700X30X30]X1 [750X70X30]X1 [50X50X700]X4 [50X50X30]X2
[250X350X20]X2 [200X100X20]X1 [50X50X550]X4
60000
Weaving
2500
Inlay
4500
Fixed Charge
-
Labour Charge
-
Intellectual charge
-
Fabric - 13 Meter
Profit (10-15%)
-
Metal - 2mm Brass Sheet (750X750)
Total Amount
-
Weaving- Flat synthetic rattan plastic
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 181
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PRODUCTION
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 185
I had always only heard about how the industry works, its has always been like percieved as very different from what we learn in college. This is not related to the design but about the process. Designing becomes one of the elements, yet there are other things we should be careful about. The most important learning is about managing work and people. Its varies from owners, employees, work, distribution, factory workers, clients, vendors etc. They all understand different languages. Things are the same but priorities change according to whom current you are dealing with.
LEARNING
Another important learning is communication with factory workers. Designing products and explaining to them and making sure they understand. We have to blend with them to communicate effectively. They have good experience and understanding about production, they might be rigid to certain things and will try to manipulate novelty in certain ways. Their experience might give us a different level of challenge and ease.
We live in a very protective and supportive ‘bubble’. The industry works differently. We find everything under one roof, from guidance to people and machines. In industries it very difficult to work with different vendors and people. Each time you have to explain effectively. Sometimes you have to rely on them, according to their time and technique. Firms like Inara, might not understand the design process. They try to copy or may ask you to design the existing design with some changes. It is our duty and responsibility to make them realise the importance of the design process. How the design process can be implemented into business and can help them grow.
ABHISHEK GAUR / FURNITURE DESIGN / 187
REFFERENCE
RESEARCH PAPERS AND ARTICLES Design: Art and Craft as a United Concept by H. Kumar Vyas Design in India: The Experience of Transition by Ashoke Chatterjee Design Pedagogy in india A Perspective by Singanapalli Balaram
BOOKS
Does Modernization Require Westernization? by Deepak Lal
Sar: The Essence of Indian Design by Swapnaa Tamhane and Rashmi Varma
Introduction: Indian Design and Design Education by Martha Scotford
Handmade in India Book by Aditi Ranjan
An Exploration of the semantics in Contemporary Indian Art Discourse by Aurogeeta Das
India Contemporary by Henry Wilson
Craft Designs and Development A Search of values by Jaya Jaitly
Indian Anthropometric Dimension by NID
Indian Design by M P Ranjan Consciousness and Indian-ness : Making Design ’good’ by Anne Rademacher
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
WEB SITE REFERENCE
PICTURE CREDITS
https://study.com/academy/lesson/indian-furniture-history-styles.html
Fig.1 Handmade in India Book by Aditi Ranjan Fig.2 https://www.jaypore.com/multicolor-fish-madhubani-art-work-15in-x-55inhandmade-paper-paint-p162609?view=all Fig.3 https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/J5PcsLOaQk6M9XNHypt75H/Thedesign-manifesto.html Fig.4 50 years of NID, Book Fig.5 Pic credit: Abhishek gaur Fig.6 Pic credit: Abhishek gaur Fig.7 Handmade in India Book by Aditi Ranjan Fig.8 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.8(a) <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.9 http://burgundyochre.blogspot.com/2014/07/poster-design.html Fig.10 3d, made in Rhino 6 by Abhishek gaur Fig.11 Excell data by Abhishek gaur Fig.12 Excell data by Abhishek gaur
https://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/trends/a13098062/ contemporary-vs-design/ https://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/furniture.html https://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/2016/furniture-2016.html https://www.speakingtree.in/article/indian-design https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190503005195/en/IndianFurniture-Market-2019-Analysis-Outlook-2018-2023 https://www.ibef.org/download/Furniture_170708.pdf https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=82495& https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/glocalization.asp http://vnlocalize.com/4-reasons-localization-important/ https://www.loridennis.com/greenblog/2018/07/top-millennial-interiordesign-trends/ https://www2.multilizer.com/learn/what-is-localization/ https://blog.sampleboard.com/design-craze-millennial-pink/
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Fig.13 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.14 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.15 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.16 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.17 https://www.magnonindia.com/best-interior-designers-in-electronic-cityhow-to-choose-the-right-sofa/ Fig.18 times of India: Index Fair Fig.19 Red Oak Furniture Fig.20 https://www.myparadissi.com/2019/01/contemporary-small-house-with-natural.html
Fig.21
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Modern-multifunction-lift-top-woodcoffee_60760500690.html
Fig.22
https://clemaroundthecorner.com/2018/01/10/japandi-style-scandinave-japonais/
Fig.23
https://theultralinx.com/2017/01/minimal-interior-design-inspiration--82/
Fig.24 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>
GRADUATION PROJECT/ GLOCALISATION OF INTERIOR PRODUCT
Fig.25 https://blog.sampleboard.com/design-craze-millennial-pink/
Fig.26
https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/smart-door-lock
Fig.27 https://in.pinterest.com/corealine/deep-black/ Fig.28 http://khushmag.com/galleries/fashion/fashion-gallery/47/1791 and https://www.gotceleb.com/lily-collins-gritty-pretty-magazineautumn-2017-2017-03-14.html Fig.29 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.30 <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/ infographic”>Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a> Fig.31 https://www.hayneedle.com/product/brewstermehndipaisleywallpaper.cfm Fig.32 https://indianewengland.com/2018/04/pearls-of-wisdom-you-are-thatshwetaketu/painting-santhana/ Fig.33 https://www.wisteria.com/Mughal-Dynasty-Whitewashed-Settee/productinfo/T21728
Fig.34 https://pastperfect.sg/about-us/indias-colonial-antiques/ Fig.35 https://www.greatnewplaces.com/sg/c5022-ThePastPerfectCollection Fig.36 Handmade in India Book by Aditi Ranjan Fig.37 http://mokshaonline.in/block-printing/
Fig.38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEC6aHo3OKw Fig.39 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman_doing_Block_Printing_at_ Halasur_village.jpg Fig.40 http://files.list.co.uk/images/k/kolam-workshop-lst119273.jpg Fig.41 https://in.pinterest.com/shanthi0412/ Fig.42 Photoshop by Abhishek gaur Fig.43 Wikipedia Fig.44 Wikipedia Fig.45 https://www.tibursuperbum.it/ita/monumenti/ villaadriana/FloraCapitolina.htm and https://i.pinimg.com/ originals/4e/25/6c/4e256c990a0bd64d2019661afcb73815.jpg Fig.46 https://in.pinterest.com/corealine/deep-black/ Fig.47 http://jfjm100.com/boston-furniture/anthropometry.html Fig.48 https://vk.com/photo-55268627_456286882
NOTES All pictures in both of the museum are taken by Abhishek gaur with proper permission with required authority. All Sketches and drawing are made by Abhishek gaur in paid or student versions of the softwares. Render is done by Shivraj under Abhishek gaurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guidance. TYPEFACE Montserrat Light Regular Semibold and Bold
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