Products For Provocation: Evoking Curiosity Through Intelligent Objects (2018)

DEGREE PROJECT Products For Provocation Evoking Curiosity Through Intelligent Objects

Sponsor : Museum of Curious Imaginings (MOCI), Goa, India

Volume : 1

STUDENT : HARSHALI GIRISH PARALIKAR

PROGRAMME : Bachelors of Design (B. Des)

GUIDE : KRISHNESH MEHTA

2018 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN FACULTY (PRODUCT DESIGN)

National Institute of Design Ahmedabad

The Evaluation Jury recommends HARSHALI GIRISH PARALIKAR for the Degree of the National Institute of Design IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (PRODUCT DESIGN) Herewith, for the project titled ‘Products for Provocation: Encouraging Critical Thinking through Intelligent Objects’ on fulfilling the further requirements by*

Chairman Members :

Jury Grade :

*Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements :

Activity Chairperson, Education

Copyright 2018 Student document publication meant for private circulation only.

All rights reserved.

Bachelor of Design, Industrial Design (Product Design) 2014- 2018 National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.

All designs are copyright of the Museum of Curious Imaginings.

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, or translated to another language, for any purpose without the written permission from Harshali Paralikar and the National Institute of Design.

All illustrations and photographs in this document are copyright by respective people/ organizations.

Designed by Harshali Paralikar Edited by Yatharth and Vishwanath Pasumarthi

Published by the National Institute of Design (NID) Paldi, Ahmedabad- 380 007 Gujarat, India This document has been set in Lato, designed by Ĺ ukasz Dziedzic This document has been printed

by Siddhi Printech, Ahmedabad on buff 300 GSM paper.

The colours in this document may be different from specified values, due to variations caused by the print production technology used.

PRODUCTS FOR PROVOCATION Invoking Curiosity Through Intelligent Objects

by HARSHALI PARALIKAR

at

MUSEUM OF CURIOUS IMAGININGS

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or 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 institution, 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 acknowledgment. I further declare that the intellectual content of this graduation project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is 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 in Full: Harshali Girish Paralikar Signature: Date:

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT I hereby grant the National Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my graduation project/thesis/ dissertation in whole or in part in the Institutes Knowledge Management Centre in all forms 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 in Full: Harshali Girish Paralikar Signature: Date:

I get a kick out of hearing, “Now that’s a good question!”

A personal note Through this document, I have tried to be broad minded and secular towards Discursive Design, as is the true spirit of the field. The guidelines laid out by Dunne and Raby for characterizing Discursive Design were a pivotal reference point at the start of my venture. Over time, I developed my own nuanced interpretation of Discursive Design, in tandem to that of my client’s needs. I would like to remind the reader that they too, should develop their own approach to Discursive Design and critical inquiries, if they are ever to practice it, and not rely too heavily on the already established frameworks. After all, Discursive Design is not a specialty field. It is a mere practice, which can be conducted by designers and non-designers alike.

Synopsis Discursive Design is the deliberate use of objects as thought catalysts with an intent of generating introspection and discussion. The aim of this project was to practice Discursive Design in the Indian context, explore alternative Indian futures and speculations, and put forth intelligent, questioning products for common consumption.

The project was conducted with studio Museum of Curious Imaginings (MOCI), a brand focused on evoking wonder, fascination, and curiosity amongst all through their activities and products. The MOCI has been founded by Ayaz Basrai and Tarangini Jindal, Product Design alumnus of NID. The outputs were creation of three product lines with an intent to evoke inquisitiveness through their story, form, and interaction with the audience.

The National Institute Of Design The establishment of NID was a result of several forces, both global and local. The late 1950s saw a confluence of these forces, and this time would be a significant one for Indian culture and education. This was a time of reappraisal and reconstruction in a newly independent India. A young nation was confronted with the mammoth task of nation building, of balancing age old traditions with modern technology and ideas. The Modern Movement, the philosophy of Machine Aesthetics, and revolutionary experimentation in the arts, architecture and design were all taking place at the same time. There was a search for the Indian identity across all aspects of life.

On April 7, 1958, Charles and Ray Eames presented the India Report to the Government of India. The Eames Report defined the underlying spirit that would lead to the founding of NID and beginning of design education in India.

The Report recommended a problem-solving design consciousness that linked learning with actual experience and suggested that the designer could be a bridge between tradition and modernity. The Report also called upon future designers to re-examine the alternatives of growth available to the country at that time.

The recommendations of the India Report and the philosophy of the Bauhaus design movement which was learning by doing. Still remain part of NIDs unique curriculum and revolutionary educational philosophy to the present day.

Today the National Institute of Design is internationally acclaimed as one of the finest educational and research institutions providing a multidisciplinary design education.

Product Design at NID Product design is concerned primarily with the relationship between products, systems and those who use them. The Product Design program at NID inculcates user-centric approach and processes. Responsibility and concern towards the social, physical and ecological environments is emphasized in the process of developing innovative ideas.

The program assimilates inputs in diverse domains such as human factors, cognitive ergonomics, form studies, studio skills, advanced cad, research methods, design management, materials & manufacturing processes & social sciences.

Emphasis is on process centric approach which shapes a student’s education through participation and teamwork.

Design projects form the core of a product designer’s education, with gradual increase in level of complexity and cover broad areas that product designers are likely to encounter in their professional careers.

With the meaning of the term in constant evolution, it is safe to say that Product Design today is the study of interaction between the animate and the inanimate, the inanimate being all things created. This expands the horizon of products from commonly understood meaning of the term tangible objects to the more intangible realm, like a service or a digital interface between a machine and a human. It also expands the function of Product Design in service of people.

With the first wave of catering to the Industrial Revolution, Product Design 1.0 saw a plethora of various process created to cater to production for the masses. Succeeded by this was a green conscience rising from the use and throw economy, and thus came PD 2.0 Sustainability and Environment Friendliness. At the end of the first twenty years of 21st century, design is increasingly moving inwards, towards the mind. A quest for the meaning and relevance of Product Design in the next fifty years ignited in the curious minds of NID PD students is the crux of the study of the discipline at NID.

Opposite page Top: The National Institute of Design Bottom: Product Design B.Des and M.Des students as of 2017 with HoD Praveen Nahar clicking an attendance picture. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

places of the project

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

The Greenhouse Collective Located in the interiors of Bardem District, North Goa, in the hamlet Quitla of village Aldona, The Greenhouse is a collaborative studio setup by three partner studios: The Busride- an Architecture and Research practice, Quicksand- a design thinking and innovation consultancy and Tandem Research- an interdisciplinary research think tank.

Together, The Greenhouse collective, aims to bring the diverse disciplinary expertise and practices to bear on inquiries of shared interest. The studio is a focal point for new media and experimental work for all three studios and leverages the collective strengths of the partner studios to initiate and drive collaborative projects forward. Since its inception in 2016, the studio has already hosted a plethora of gatherings on various ongoing projects like the Busride Labs questioning the future of heritage, Tandem labs inquiring into AI and public data, and the Quicksand lab on Future Practices in Mental Health.

The vision for The Greenhouse is to be a space that operates as a catalyst, incubator, and showcase for new cultural enterprise; a space for expanded education; and as a social node for new cultural activity.

The Greenhouse has been MOCI’s base since its inception and its co-working environment has greatly contributed to the evolving nature of MOCI.

The Museum of Curious Imaginings The Museum of Curious Imaginings (MOCI) is a brand founded by Tarangini Jindal and Ayaz Basrai . It has it’s roots in its’ founders’ interest in curiosity, inquisitiveness and learning. While MOCI is informed by some of the research and design interests of The Busride Lab, a venture by the Busride Design Studio, it explores the more whimsical, exploratory, playful side of thoughts and things.

MOCI focuses largely on developing and providing for curious thinking and imaginations of kids and adults alike. It aims at eventually growing into a thriving organization conducting curiosity led activities, exercise, and workshop. Presently the MOCI sees itself as a niche brand which showcases specimen objects of wild imaginings to evoke inquisitiveness through carrying products.

The brand is based on the idea of a museum, complete with events quaint architecture, permanent galleries, moving exhibitions, lots of exhibits and artifacts, and a gift shop. The task of this project was to design artifacts for the gift shop which mirror everything that the museum stands for.

Opposite page Top: The Greenhouse, Goa Bottom: Newly designed identity for the Museum of Curious Imaginings museum of curious imaginings

places of the project

Krishnesh Mehta Krishnesh Mehta has been teaching at NID in the Product Design discipline since 1995. He holds a master’s degree in Physics from Gujarat University, a diploma in Space Sciences, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Krishnesh’s interests include DSTM Convergence, Immersive Designs and Futuristic Technologies, Design Measurement, Multi-Sensory Experiential Design, Neurophysiology of Creativity, Leadership, Systems Thinking, 6D Cross Sensory Perceptual and Intuitive User Interfaces (PUI & IUI), Design for Senses and Behavior, and Conceptual Design.

Krishnesh’s guidance has been essential in providing an academic depth to the fields addressed in the project. His acumen in the subjects of Cognition and Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Design for Perception has provided for deep inputs and study material, a feat impossible by a novice designer herself.

Praveen Nahar Praveen Nahar is a Senior Faculty member in the Industrial Design Department at NID. His academic background involves Production Engineering, Industrial Design and Sustainable Design. Praveen has over 17 years of experience in design teaching, consultancy and research. In recent years he has been actively involved with academic projects with students concerning Systems Thinking and Design which involves projects with complex issues/wicked problems.

He has wide areas of academic and professional interests, including Systems Thinking in Design, Design Thinking, Sustainable Design/Green Design, Design in the Public Domain, Rapid Product Development, Appropriate Technology, Strategic Design etc.

Praveen’s inputs have shaped the course of this graduation project even before work began on it. From him the author of this project has learnt the vital skills of critical thinking, being comfortable in ambiguity, and seeking the systemic understanding in all endevours, which together have been laid the foundation of this project. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Tarangini Jindal Tarangini is a Design Strategist and Researcher with a background in Industrial Design. After earning an undergraduate degree in product design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, and working for three years, she pursued her Masters at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. She is passionate about systems design which is deeply rooted in detailed research and first hand experiences. Sustainability is a theme which is recurrent in her work. Tarangini, along with Ayaz Basrai, is a co-founder of Museum of Curious Imaginings.

Tarangini’s keen, critical eye often sees that which can be easily missed. Her clarity of thought and groundedness has often pushed this project to answer difficult questions and in the process, grow leaps and bounds.

Ayaz Basrai Ayaz Graduated in Industrial Design, specializing in Product Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2003. With his brother Zameer, an architect, he set up ‘The Busride’ as an independent Design Studio specializing in the design and creation of built environments, ranging from Hospitality, Entertainment venues, Film and Production environments to Exhibitions and temporary installations, Institutional and Architectural environments. Ayaz’s practice is now heading towards asking some fundamental questions and leaving everyone around him confused in the process.

Ayaz, along with Tarangini Jindal, is a co-founder of Museum of Curious Imaginings.

With a bag full of intellectual probes and a home library at his disposal, Ayaz has been a constant source of inspirations and imaginings for this project.

When not discussing curiosities, he can be spotted messing with the mind of a certain three year old Yohaan Jindal Basrai (honorary mention for keeping things crazy as they should be). museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

INDEX PART I :

ABOUT DISCURSIVE DESIGN Discursive Design Glossary World View Indian Context FAQs About the Project Why I chose to explore this field

PART II:

SCOPE AND PRACTICE OF DISCURSIVE DESIGN Scope Within Industrial Design Within Discursive Design For Personal Quests Practice Aim of the project Insights at the end of the project Skills needed to practice Discursive design

PART III :

CLIENT PROJECT Introduction to the Client Structure of MOCI Philosophy of MOCI Deliverables of the Project Balance Bike Product Ecosystem: Introduction to Balance Bikes MOCI Balance Bikes A Study of Balance Bikes Market Study: Wooden Vehicles Mood-board and Design Guidelines Macro Form Ideation for Storytelling Micro Form Ideation for Storytelling Curiosity Prompt for Adults Research Game 1: Role-play Game 2: Spin the Tale Game 3: Rebuild Game 4: Hunts and Searches Final Product Ecosystem Visualizations MOCI Terrariums Starting Point Crafting a Design Fiction Research Ideation- First Draft of Story and Mood-board Ideation- Second Draft of Story and Montage

Full Story Designing a Diegetic Prototype: Mutant Plant Research- Study of Plant Physiology Research- Thar Desert Flora Research- Study of Sacred Geometry Research- Nature and Form Observation Research- Form Study of Plants in Immediate Vicinity Research- Form Study of Existing Designed Plants Ideation 1- Silhouettes Ideation 2- Plant Profile Concepts Concept Development- Form (Plant Morphology) Research- Botanical Mutations Concept Development- Function (Plant Physiology) Concept Development- Function (Life Cycle) Plant Visualizations Designing a Diegetic Prototype: Terrarium Research- Nuclear Cloud Ideation- Form Study Iterations- Form Development Terrarium Visualization Mutant Plant Terrarium Visualization Post Apocalyptic Educational Toolkits Aim, Goal, Overview Research-Meaning of Education Research- Global Dystopias Prototyping Dymaxion Map Overview Master Dymaxion Iteration 1 & 2 Iteration 2 &3 Finalized Map Prototyping MOCI Website Introduction Case-studies Wire-frames Website Mock 1 Website Mock 2 Product Panel Mock Museum Space Mock v

Bibliography Webliography Citations Acknowledgments

PART I: About Discursive Design

Discursive Design Glossary Following is a short collection of the words used repeatedly throughout this document.

A word of caution would be to not take these terms too seriously and understand that at the root of it, taxonomy is just a useful way of making certain objects and practices more visible and subject to accurately informed discussion and debate.

Discursive Design Discursive Design is deliberate use of products to communicate ideas that are ideologically, socially, and/or psychologically charged—and often provocatively so. It is important to understand the field as an increasingly broad range of practice that is comprised of many forms—think “genus” in relation to “species.” Discursive design operates at the genus level, below which there are many species, such as critical design, design fiction, speculative design, etc.

Critical design, design fiction, speculative design, speculative re-design, interrogative design, design-for-debate, radical design, conceptual design, and dissident design,It should be emphasized that as a part of the discursive design genus, each species shares the same general philosophy of an expanded conception of product design. They all use artifacts to engage the intellect, but each species differs somehow in terms of method, posture, approach or effect.

Critical Design Critical Design uses critical theory to challenge the narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the perestablished paradigms and their elements in play in everyday life. Its opposite is affirmative design that reinforces the status quo. Critical design object plays a role of product design, but emphasizes on neither commercial purpose nor physical utility. It is mainly for sharing a critical perspective and carrying debate to the public to increase awareness on social, cultural, or ethical issues by asking questions to the public. Critical design is popularized by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby through their firm, Dunne & Raby

References Dunneandraby.co.uk Transitiondesign.net- About Arthistoryarchive- Anti Design Designresearchtechniques- Case-studies- Design Fiction Core77- What is Discursive Design, Bruce and Stephanie Tharp Medium- Just Design, Cameron Tokinwise Carl DiSalvo- Adversarial design Matt Malpass- Between Wit and Reason: Defining Associative, Speculative, and Critical Design in Practice Kirby- Diegetic Prototypes and the Role of Popular Films in Generating Real-world Technological Development graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Speculative Design Speculative Design is the practice of speculating future trajectories of human nuances and behavior of individuals, groups, and society with an intent of studying how the future consequences of our actions today might be. The speculative design approach takes the critical practice one step further, towards imagination and visions of possible scenarios. It is the study of alternatives, in the sense that it presents to us alternative trajectories of futures, reminding us that multiple trajectories can exist and to allow us to decide what kind of a future we want to inhibit and trace backwards the changes we must or must not make today, to achieve or not achieve this desirable/ undesirable future.

As said by James Auger designer and teacher at RCA, Speculative Design moves away from the constraints of the commercial practice (steered by the market); uses fiction and speculates on future products, services, systems and worlds, thus reflectively examining the role and impact of new technologies on everyday life; and initiates dialogue between experts (scientists, engineers and designers) and users of new technologies (the audience).

Design Fiction Design Fiction is the construction of a narrative—a movie, animation, written story, presentation or installation—with the intent to immerse an audience in an experience that provokes emotional and intellectual responses. It is the generation of ideas that are not yet possible to provoke a dialogue about what could or should be possible. It is a way to envision new technologies in the distant future, while utilizing narrative to show how these technologies are positioned within a new context. It may sound a lot like a definition for science-fiction, however the key distinction is the use of diegetic prototypes employed in design fiction, providing a more narrowing of focus to a particular context, object, experience, or behavior.

Diegetic Prototype Diegetic prototypes in the context of design fiction are designed object that seemingly exists within the fictional world the audience is viewing. It is a term emerging from Performative Arts, used widely by film scholars.

Terms also associated with the previous terms are: Anti Design/ Radical Design Anti-Design was a design flow and style art movement originating in Italy and lasting from the years 1966 - 1980.

The movement emphasized striking colors, scale distortion (example. giant chairs that make you look small), and used irony and kitsch. The function of the object was to subvert the way you thought about the object. In architecture this was also known as the Radical Design period. The design movement was a reaction against what many avant-garde designers at the time saw as the perfectionist aesthetics of Modernism.

Interrogative Design Interrogative Design combines art and technology as a critical design practice in order to highlight marginal social communities and add legitimacy to cultural issues that are often given little design attention. It aims at multidisciplinary approach towards giving a presence to, empower, and protect fearless thought and expression of issues in the world. It can be best explained through the work of Polish designer Krzysztof Wodiczko. His ‘Homeless Vehicle Project’ of 1987-89 was to draw attention to the world of the homeless. He says, “to redirect attention from the work of art as dissent to the work of art as social action: in this case, the discussions and design collaboration with members of the homeless community to develop both a physical object and a conceptual design that would make their participation in the urban economy visible and self-directed” Adversarial Design, Adversarial Design is a type of political design that evokes and engages political issues. In doing so, the cultural production of Adversarial Design crosses all disciplinary boundaries in the construction of objects, interfaces, networks, spaces and events. Most importantly, adversarial Design does the work in expressing and enabling antagonism.

Transition Design Transition Design acknowledges that we are living in ‘transitional times’. It takes as its central premise the need for societal transitions to more sustainable futures and argues that design has a key role to play in these transitions.

It applies an understanding of the interconnectedness of social, economic, political and natural systems to address problems at all levels of spatiotemporal scale in ways that improve quality of life. Transition Design advocates the re-conception of entire lifestyles, with the aim of making them more place-based, convivial and participatory and harmonizing them with the natural environment. Transition Design focuses on the need for ‘cosmopolitan localisms’, (Manzini 2009; Sachs 1999) a lifestyle that is place-based and regional, yet global in its awareness and exchange of information and technology.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

Discursive Design: A World View The word “discursive” comes from “discourse,” which can be understood most basically as the expression or treatment of a topic—part of a discussion or debate. A discursive design is an object that has been intentionally (and usually abstractly) embedded with discourse and/or is used to elicit discussion.

Before “critical design” the general term “conceptual design” was probably most prevalent while “interrogative design” was used by Krzysztof Wodiczko at least by the early 1990s, and “anti-design” and “radical design” have been used to describe international movements in the 1960s and 70s.

And architecture had been using “critical architecture” for at least a decade prior to “critical design”—in fact, “post-critical architecture” had already arrived just as design was starting to get its criticality on.

Undoubtedly there were many other versions of, and nomenclature for, this type of work that never made it into the history books. Most recently, speculative design and design fiction have established themselves within the design lexicon. While “good design” is often professed to be unobtrusive, intuitive, invisible and something that does not make the user think too much, discursive design instead actually targets the intellect. The primary goal is to prompt self-reflection, ignite the imagination, and foment contemplation—to deliberately make the user think deeply. The product is given form and function so that it can communicate ideas that encourage introspection and discussion—this is the goal and the measure of success.

Rather than tools for living and doing, these are tools for thinking.

Creation for the purpose of provocation has been avidly observed in other mediums like film, literature, art, dance, theatre, and music. Yet, the art of making objects has been at work, sincerely making functional objects for utility.

Our conception of discursive design work is akin to graphic design political posters. To question the legitimacy of product design expansion into this arena is tantamount to challenging illustrators who make political cartoons, musicians who write protest songs, filmmakers who create expository documentaries, writers who pen critical op-ed columns, or any other creative practitioner whose efforts are directed toward more socially-engaged ends rather than basic forms of utility and entertainment While different, this design approach is only a shift in orientation, it is not a radical departure. It is still product design, but with somewhat different product affordances.

Just as the graphic designer can create more readable and effective election ballots, they also can create political posters. Both activities employ the same tools and mediums, but one helps people do, the other helps people think.

Bruce and Stephanie M Tharp explain the kinds of design that exist today, starting from Commercial Design, graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Responsible Design, Experimental Design, and finally Discursive Design. The focus instead of being on what we design and who we design for, is on why we design.

My Critique of International Discursive Design Through the course of my study of Discursive Design, I have come to believe that Discursive Design on an international platform carries a certain ‘Western’ outlook. Western Critical Design as inspiring as it is to designers from around the world in it’s higher order of questions and future probes, does not always impress the developing country audience as deeply provocative. While it is appropriate for it’s own context, it’s lack of relation might be because a lot of the scenarios imagined in a western dystopia are already realities in other parts of the world. Cameron Tonkinwise, Head of Design Studies at the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, can be credited with the use of the word ‘Eurocentricsm’ in this context. He underlines that many dystopian scenarios found in present-day speculative fictions are ‘Eurocentric’, i.e. largely revolving around European perception of the world.

A critical design artifact for life without electricity will not resonate with Indians who are well acquainted to long power cuts. In the ‘Black Mirror’, a television series produced in the UK, season 3 episode 1 revolved around using eye implants and mobile devices to rate people and their online and in-person interactions on a five-star scale. This storyline is relatable to China’s reality of social credit scores, and thus might not be provocative to people there. In a developing nation where people largely live from hand to mouth, everyday life is hard and possibly dystopic to the European gaze.

Discursive Design has proven itself as a useful tool in generating thoughts and words about topics of particular vastness and wickedness. While the relevance and understanding of a critical design project is bound within it’s contextual boundaries, I also believe that it is possible to push those boundaries farther and include as many minds within it as possible. By this I mean that the next challenge for International Critical and Discursive Design might be to reach out to a wider. This could be channeled by using global platforms like the United Nations and Google to put forth content that is Socially Responsible, Commercially earning Discursive Design.

Refrences Core77 -Four Fields of Industrial Design Core77 -What is Discursive Design

Examples of Discursive Design projects Top: Compass Table - Dunne and Raby EM fields given off by electronic devices placed on the table? Surface cause the compass needles to twitch and spin.

Middle: Selfish Ledger -Nick Foster for Google X Imagines a future of total data collection, where Google helps nudge users into alignment with their goals, custom-prints personalized devices to collect more data, and even guides the behavior of entire populations to solve global problems like poverty and disease.

Bottom Left: Future Energy Lab -Superflux Commissioned by Government of UAE. The Ministry of Energy. An air sample from the future to experience a future scenario.

Bottom Right: Anab Jain explaining the Future Energy Lab project to members of the Govt. Of UAE.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

Discursive Design: The Indian Context As an Indian child of Maharashtian ethnicity raised in Maharashtra, I have a very distinct memory of the traditional Vasudev walking and singing from lane to lane during the five days of Diwali.

Vasudevs along with Keertankar and Shahirs were a part of a small band of people responsible for intellectual stimulation of public through performance. Their content, despite being largely inspired by Hindu scriptures and mythology was heavily loaded with personal questions and provocations which were otherwise difficult to address. These performers had their own styles of narration: while some plucked at the strings of the heart, others won the audience over with their wit. At the end of the day, they all used their platform as a medium to evoke thought and left their audience discussing and reflecting from their work.

The history of Indian culture has been rich with content created to inspire or dictate a certain kind of behavior.

Starting from the cultural text collections like the Veda and Upanishads which give advice on an ideal lifestyle, to Ashoka’s rock edicts which dictate how one must behave.

One could say it was the earliest form of Design for Behavior Change, the ‘Design’ here being the design of the social systems, social institutions, and governance with an intent of bringing uniformity and order. It is interesting to note here that there existed created material which spoke in codes, poems, metaphors, and riddles to provoke thought in people.

Mahabharata as a narrative at large and the Bhagvad Gita are both poems that speak indirectly, providing more clarity and depth with every new reading.

In the recent times, cinema, art, theatre, and dance have taken up more provocative topics. Even news and radio channels have taking to speaking in a language that is provocative to the extent of being annoying. And yet, that sort of provocation is only exactly that, provocation. It can be shocking and bizarre yet easy to digest since it is heavily looked at through the lens of entertainment. What is conspicuously scarce though, is the application of this intent in designing of objects, spaces, structures, fabrics, and still other unacknowledged mediums. While increasing number of makers and creators are dipping their feet into designing for the intellect, their work is not tagged under western jargons and is lost in time and oblivion.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

India needs its very own interpretation of Discursive Design creatively critiquing everyday Indian issues and speaking in styles and mediums that people of this nation easily understand. Indian Discursive Design could speak about topics of public interest thereby drawing attention to the issue and also generating original thought and idea on it. For example a project titled ‘Statues of Indian Future’ which showcases large statues in India which also perform an environmental or a social function is a critique on the recently unveiled ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat. But instead of only critiquing and missing other points of views, a project which displays alternative statues is far more compelling as an idea and an argument.

It will not be a surprise if the Indian Dystopias are extremely shocking and if Indian Utopias are an epitome of peaceful culturally rich co-existence. Either way their plurality awaits exploration.

Vasudev are a small tribe of people who sing on the streets early in the morning. They sing Bhupali and Bharud- praises of Hindu gods and godesses, and lessons from Hindu scriptures on how to live a kind, happy life. Being a Vasudev is hereditary profession and not a form of begging.

Keertankar are performance storytellers who tell stories ie Kathas from the Hindu scriptures. Keertans are a small session of animated story elling. The Keertankars hold Keertans at temples or small public gatherings Shahirs were public performers who’d sing the tales of the ruling king and their kingdom. The Shahirs were a semi-formal source of information on the court proceedings and kings decisions for the common public. They were also a medium of critique of the kingdom: through their information the common public formed opinions on the state issues. A Shahir’s performance was a cause of great excitemnt and provided ample content for public discussions.

FAQs About this Project Is India ready for provocative products?

Will India understand?

Is the country ready to accept metaphors through products?

Provocative content triggering nationwide reactions, often violence, is not new to India. And yet, the country needs to be more exposed to objects that may stir paradigms and cause debate simply to increase the ability of its population to look at things from different angles. A country as diverse as India must encourage tolerance and acceptance, and one way of giving birth to those virtues is to enable people to understand that their perception of the world is crafted solely from their own point of views, and that other perceptions and paradigms also exist.

How does one measure the impact?

It is difficult to quantifiably measure the impact of Discursive Design in action. It triggering a debate in an audience is the most evident impact. The impact of Discursive Design projects that are open for common public consumption is difficult to measure. But the impact of Discursive Design projects done for clients is extremely quantifiable in the sense that one can trace the project after its completion and observe the kind of discourse and the consequent changes it brought to the client.

How will you earn money from this practice?

Through discursive design, complex matters of enormous scale, which don’t directly affect an individual, are beyond their grasp. For example reading about India becoming a nuclear superpower in the newspaper means nothing to a citizen. The scale of the matter is so large that it’s impact on an individual is incomprehensible. Discursive Design provides that alternate point of view that one might not be able to see. It suggests that the everyday as we know it could be different, that things could change. And the tolerance born out of that ounce of clarity is what a diverse country like India needs.

Design is a luxury for most people of the country, and hence is only put to practice by those who can afford it. The rest of the country is on varying levels of struggles to make their ends meet and are consumed to varying degrees by their concern for ‘roti, kapda, makaan’ (bread, cloth, shelter).

Design is then employed by those who can afford it, for social good, and the benefit of those who can’t. The government only recently has acknowledged the potential of design in governance and policy development, hence not much can be said about that collaboration yet. So in a chaotic country like ours where sanitation, housing, transportation and the other developmental portfolios seem to be in urgent need of design interventions, why spend resources in Intellectual stimulation, which appears to be on nobody’s minds?

It is essential to put forth Design for the intellect because a change in mindset is equally important if not more, to a change in behavior. With an entire generation of design professionals focusing their efforts on sustainability, inclusivity, and responsible design and laying it’s foundations, allows a new generation of designers to focus their work on behavior and cognition lending their work a deeper meaning.

Will it be impactful?

It may seem difficult to conduct client projects with a Discursive Design approach since it’s not the usual norm. Of course the need of the client must be taken into consideration and whether a Discursive Design outcome is the best possible solution must be delved upon at length before diving into it. But if it all fits right, this practice may actually be extremely insightful to the client in fore sighting and analyzing their own self. Depending on the end audience, Discursive Design can be an unconventional approach to a conventional problem which if executed well has the potential of changing mindsets.

What are some examples of recent Discursive Design projects in India?

Game Design: Quicksand Antariksha Sanchar is an Indie Tamil punk speculative adventure inspired by the vibrant cultures of south India. It is a narrative of Local realities woven in a tech enabled medium of Virtual Reality. The game explores the meaning of space travel in an Indian context speak the common Indian language of history and culture (vimanas as spaceships and ragas as an understanding of emotions) Furniture Design: Madhu Priyanka Kannabiran’s The Sitting Renaissance is a project that rethinks the relevance of chairs for human posture. The project questions the human dependence on a quintessential ‘chair’ and alternative ways of resting the body. Through the project Madhu re-imagines these alternatives and resultantly has designed and proposes alternative seats.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

Why I Chose to Explore This Field My Introduction to Discursive Design

Why I believe It Is of Significance to Design Practice

I was first introduced to Discursive Design in January 2017

by Paolo Cardini, professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Cardini was visiting the National Institute of Design, Product Design department to take a course titled ‘Souvenirs from the Future’, which I was to attend.

Asking questions of Why and How in pursuit of knowledge is an essential part of being a designer and is a trait imbibed early on in Design schools.

The course revolved around the idea of creating cultural futures. The premise was that since the advent of the technology boom, any applied technological advancements have been born in the west and then introduced to the east. In essence, and to quote prof Cardini, ‘the future comes to west first and then the east’. This fact had been so normalized in my head until then that it did not strike me that something could be wrong in it. Cardini then pointed out that almost all futurist looking movies are set in the United States, featuring the Caucasian American people. The world, or parts of the world that have access to the Internet, have been feeding off this version of future, and consider it to represent progress and development. Speaking in the Indian context, it is no wonder that western designs and technologies travel across the globe and are applied in this country where they are retrofit imperfectly or are creatively adopted to fit the needs of the locals. Take for example the trend in architecture of having glass panels for the exterior of a building, which makes sense in cold countries since they want to preserve heat but is misplaced in a tropical place like India where rising temperature of the building causes a rise in air-conditioning bills.

The course ‘Souvenirs from the Future’ was aimed at eradicating this adaption of western futures in the minds of young creatives of non western countries, and instead envision a future trajectory of their own in their own cultural context. Through the course, we drafted designs for future technologies inspired by Indian local crafts and traditions. The project provoked me to ask myself where my understanding of ‘development’ and ‘good design’ rooted and deeply question my own design philosophy and how it translated into practice.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

My education at the National Institute of Design, which is heavily influenced by the Bauhaus philosophy of form follows function trained me to ask question, but in search of voids and gaps that exist in our world that translates into ‘needs’ which can be bridged by Design.

By the beginning of my last project, my understanding of a need had evolved from that of being a physical gap to more of a mental one. Systems for Happiness made me ask questions about why we do things, instead of the traditional Design probe of ‘how’ we do them.

This does not go to say that traditionally practiced Industrial Design is in any way wrong or incompetent. But I have come to believe that asking the Why of things leads to a far greater clarity which can lead designers to coming up with more creative solutions to the problem than just catering to it with the approach of fulfilling a physical need.

This being said, another reason I wanted to pursue Discursive Design is because the practice of Discursiveness Design (as per my understanding and as of 2018) is restricted to a handful of studios and practitioners unevenly spread cross the world. Developed countries have the luxury to invest in introspective design probes, but the developing ones can’t afford to do the same. Should asking questions be restricted by economic status? Doesn’t everyone deserve to be helped in broadening their perceptions and horizons?

Strongly feeling for theses questions, and living in India, I decided to choose a project in Discursive Design despite knowing very well that there were barely a couple of people in the country I could collaborate with.

Personal Quest

What now?

After the course, I was due to go for an exchange semester to Politecnico di Milano, Italy, where I got a chance to work -for five months- on a strictly commercial design-engineering project for a leading coffee machine company. The project involved building a more intuitive automatic coffee-machine designed for a nuanced coffee drinking experience. I sensed a deep lack of personal purpose throughout the project.

At its end, the take away for me was that if I had to find meaning in my work, bring about a change for the ‘better’ through my design, it would be by empowering people to know themselves and what they want, instead of enforcing my version of ‘better’ on them. I wanted to help people form their own opinions of what was right and wrong, good or bad, through their own eyes. I wanted to enable people to feel comfortable, feel active, feel in-charge, and feel empowered. I thought I could do this by directing the users of my designs towards self-awareness and mindfulness of their choices.

Discursive Design has only just taken off in India.

Reflecting on my journey of the last four years, in the initial years I choose projects believing that there is a definite need for intervention, something that is lacking, which through my design I can fulfill and therefore make the world a better place. Over the passage of Design Projects, my understanding of what a ‘need’ is morphed from being more outwardly to more inwardly. I sought to understand how ‘problems’ arise in the first place, and can they be tackled at their roots before tackling them at their physical manifestations. This does not go to say that we don’t need creative problem solving for physical needs. It’s just the trajectory of my journey in Design education that steered me towards this path.

Of course asking questions never stops.

It’s heartening to see that systems project’s from Product Design discipline do lately work towards critically probing into introspective topics (Systems 2018 projects on Empathy and trust).

In the Indian Design Industry, Discursive Design is being channeled through in house inquiries of studio (Busride Labs by the Busride Studio, Antariksha Sanchar by Quicksand) and by individual designers through their own personal projects (the India Futures Project, Future Fiction).

Eventually I imagine this practice to reach in-house design studios of companies who understand and acknowledge the importance of probing and new knowledge generation to reinvent themselves. To integrate it as a valid practice will definitely take a lot of take time and a lot of pitching,

In the desperate search for latitudinarian, undogmatic, provocative without propaganda design methodology, I found solace in revisiting the learnings of the ‘Souvenirs from the Future’ project from earlier that year and therein, around August 2017, began my journey of Discursive Design.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

PART II: Scope and Practice of Discursive Design in Industrial Design

SCOPE Within Industrial Design Quoting the Tharps , the practice of Industrial Design can be divided into four parts. Commercial, Responsible, Experimental, and Discursive.

I believe, since after my experience with his project, that Discursive Design is no less responsible. I believe making objects that are thought is in itself an act of great responsibility. The designer would want to remain neutral, unbiased and assume utmost responsibility if his work is going to fiddle with the thoughts of people.

I believe that Discursive Design is no less Experimental, and that it is a constant exploration to see what works and what doesn’t in order to provoke thought. One could say it’s Psychologically Experimental and works at the fringes of our understanding of the human mind.

I believe that Discursive Design is no less Commercial. All made discursive objects thus far support their maker in some or the other way, it may be through displays in the museum or as content in a publication or a website. Some studios like the Superflux and the Near Future Factory are fully functioning commercial Discursive Design practitioners, channeling their philosophy into client projects.

So what does this leave us with?

Discursive Design can also mean Commercially made, Socially responsible, Psychologically Experimental products? ________ In the larger playing field of Industrial Design, design practice is moving from designing hard products to soft products. This can be proven by the gradual transition of mass-production of objects by the late 20th century to the object-UX or object-UI partnerships that products have today. The cognitive quotient of a product has largely detached itself in terms of design, and become its own body which we now call User Experience Design, User Interface Design, Design for Emotion, and Design for Behavior Change.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

This goes to show that there is, and always has been a need for thought localization through design, and that in the first twenty years of the 21st century, that need has been acknowledged as an independent and intensive task of design that requires focused study. Which according to me is a massive achievement! As Bruce and Stephanie Tharp write, “names and definitions can be crucial for the development of practices and disciplines—they create the necessary common ground for individual understanding and broader discussions. They help disciplines understand themselves as well help when communicating with other fields.

Names represent identities. Identities facilitate mutual understanding. And mutual understanding furthers respect, collaboration, and growth.”

So if we were to create a diagram representing the hard and soft products and their relationship with each other, it would look like a swatch of smooth gradient with fertile merger in the middle. __________ Many classifications of Industrial Design practices have been made on various basis : 1. On the basis of the outcomes: Automobile, Electronic 2. On the basis of the guiding philosophy: Sustainability, Democracy 3. On the basis of intent: Commercial, Responsible In order to accommodate Discursive Design, I would like to create anther category.

An industrial design output can be placed on a scale of ‘Hard Products’ and ‘Soft Products’, thus identifying them all to be products, ie to be outputs designed with an intent, and also placing them in an a category that best represents them.

By Hard products I mean tangible products that are meant to serve a function that we can see, whose usabillity and impactfulness can be quantifyablly measured.

For example a chair, a lemon squeezer, or a coffee making machine.

By Soft Products I mean intangible products that manifest through behavior, emotion, or experience, whose usability and impactfulness is qualitatively measured for example a pavilion experience, a

Within Discursive Design Through my study (a still uninformed and undeveloped view), I observed that the practice of Discursive Design has had the following types of applications, each having its own distinctive target audience: A) Discursive Design for Research Application Here, new technologies were being formed and to experiment their application, one would create a product which would invariably be an alternative to an existing similar product. An example of that would be Neri Oxman’s work in production technology/ these kinds of applications usually happen out of a research center eg. Work done by MIT Media lab. Here, the client is the Research body itself, or a sponsor who might see a business opportunity in the application of a new technology. The target audience in this case are people from the research body or the funding body, who just want to see how the new innovation will translate into products and get a first hand experience.

B) Discursive Design for Policy Development Here, Design seems to be playing a role of a foresight communicator, helping policy makers see a future trajectory and decide what aspects of it are desirable, based on which they take informed decisions about amends in policies today, so as to avoid/ attract the kind of future they want. Here, the client is a governing agency, and the target audience for the design are the decision makers. An example could be London studio Superflux’s work for the UAE Ministry of Energy.

A special mention in this category to organizations employing Discursive Design to spark debates about future of the technologies they themselves works on. For example the ‘Selfish Ledger’ video produced for Google for internal circulation. The video imagines a future of total data collection, where Google helps nudge users into alignment with their goals, custom-prints personalized devices to collect more data, and even guides the behavior of entire populations to solve global problems like poverty and disease. It was a thought experiment meant to provoke discussion and debate within Google. ‘Selfish Ledger’ was made in late 2016 by Nick Foster, the head of design at X (formerly Google X) and a co-founder of the Near Future

Laboratory.

C) Discursive Design as an Educational Exercise Here, Design was a known mega skill which was put to application for a new purpose. Schools and studios tried the speculative design approach for problem solving to try out a different methodology of conducting design process.

The aim was to learn a new process and discover a different kind of intent to the context one was living in. As a result, a lot of student and in-house studio projects have emerged on the social media platforms. The ultimate aim of these projects was gain visibility to be more provocative to a wider audience. An example could be the Studio Design Investigations, a five year fully funded diploma at the The University of Applied Arts Vienna.

Despite these approaches, I thought that approach to the practice of Discursive Design was still missing- that of making intelligent products for ownership. Taking Discursive Design on a commercial platform, where people where not only provoked by the product, they could buy the product and be a vehicle of provocation themselves.

It’s not enough to get one person to see things from different angles. One must also provide tools to pass on the knowledge they have effectively. Hence, I felt the need of making an addition to the former list of application of Discursive Design: D) Discursive Design for the Layman Consumption There are two micro types of application of this division: Here, the design is an instrument not only for the designer to make a provocative statement, but also for a consumer to buy that artifact, and therefore buy that story and provocation and propagate this further as his own. This has been achieved through exquisitely crafted, strongly designed artifacts which are made to simply exist. These artifacts can also be bought so that the owner now owns something provocative which is a start to a debate or a story of his own.

An example of such a product would be the mushroom cloud terrarium and the Dymaxion map.

Discursive design applied to a functional product, service, system to show that using the tools and methodologies of Discursive Design, there is an alternative way, or there’s more to the product ecosystems that already exist around us today. An example of such a product would be the post apocalyptic educational toolkit and the balance bike.

The aim of MOCI is to design products which encourage curiosity and incite inquisitiveness.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

PRACTICE Aim Of The Project Through my time at NID (2014- 2017) I was strongly influenced by NID’s Bauhaus philosophy of ‘form follows function’. This 20th century modernist philosophy movement which stressed on experiment and problem solving deeply resonated with me and through a progression of design projects, I tried to find a problem in the physical world around me and solve it creatively. By the end of my last semester, something changed. I could no longer physically solve a problem while knowing that only if the recipient audience changed the way they thought, most problems would no longer remain relevant. This made me seek answers beyond tangible design, into human behavior, intuition, and emotions. Herein I stumbled upon Design for Behavior Change.

While Design for Behavior Change is a psychology based discipline with a long drawn methodology, what can be done at a more elementary level is provide a nudge to the recipient audience. This nudge can be in any form or medium, and its primary function is to gently prod the user into a mindset desired by the designer. This coincides directly with Discursive Design, which provides provocations (the nudge) to the user to get them to be inquisitive, introspect, aware, discuss, and debate (the desired mindset).

Since being driven strongly to cause a change in the mindset of a person and putting forth various other points of views of a situation, it goes to say that I was strongly committed to the ideology of Discursive design and wanted to pursue it further.

The aim of this graduation project was to bring Discursive Design beyond studio doors in the Indian context, and through it, to put forth intelligent, questioning products for the common consumption.

My personal aim for this project was to try my hand at an intensive, guided discursive design project. Through that my aim was to understand how to evoke a perception change and how provocations can be built through products The aim was to also understand what this field means in the Indian context and what would the narrative of Indian discursive design sound like To understand how to build Indian discursive narratives To be able to crack the code for building unique processes for different kinds of provocative products

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Insights At The End Of The Project This is a collection of my insights on the practice of Discursive Design as done in this project: Critical Design work requires hefty amount of self awareness- to attract attention to a paradigm one needs to know first that it exists and one that one may or may not be a part of it.

Deep Discursive Design work requires immense intellectual bandwidth and can often drive one crazy, to say the least.

Bouncing off ideas and taking critique on the project from time to time is crucial to the health and relevance of the Our understanding of ‘normalcy’ is deeply embedded in small mundane objects and practices of everyday life.

One must allow and entertain all thoughts and possibilities during the course of the process, nothing is too wild.

One must keep a constant check on their own prejudices and biases and not let them affect the narrative of the work.

One must allow oneself to stray from the traditional design process and let the process unveil itself.

With conjecture to the above point- documentation is a must in the project-- since the process can get confusing it is the documentation that comes to rescue.

Ethics of discourse are important. As a creator, one must be neutral and not have an agenda to convey through the discursive objects.

Skills Needed to Deep Dive In Discursive Design There could be more existing skills. Here are a collection of the skills I identified : Deep interest in knowledge It could mean having to read, to watch, to observe, and finding answers to the seemingly dumbest of questions Self Reflection Ability to take a step back and access one’s choices and decisions in the process and critically analyze if they are influenced by any personal prejudices or biases Objectivity To be able to objectively analyze the in the information that comes your way.

Story telling The ability to craft imaginary scenarios with a given piece of information.

Multiple Fore-sighting Ability to trace various trajectories of the future ie take a current practice/ paradigm and with adequate information and imagination, trace a future trajectory for it .

Comfort in Ambiguity The ‘figuring out’ phase of Discursive Design is information intensive and predominantly full of confused vagueness, and ambiguity from not have a set course, a laid out path, or predefined direction. Being comfortable in this stage will help channel creativity better.

Dealing with Work Insecurity The year 2018 when I did this project, Discursive Design is not too popular amongst designers and not many know much about it. It is natural to doubt weather the project will be understood by fellow designers and open audience.

Maintaining faith in ones ow practice is an essential skill.

Representational Skills of some sort are important. Text as a medium is not enough to express your idea of a provocation.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

PART III: Client Project and Deliverables

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

Introduction to the Client

Structure of MOCI

Philosophy of MOCI

The initial brief of the brand as explained by the client at the onset of the project was that of a traditional, esoteric museum space which exhibited age-old information and artefact’s and relics of untold stories from the age of discovery. In reality, it would be a crossover between fantasy and fiction, leaving it to the audience to figure out how what is real and what isn’t. The Museum would resemble the content and language of a Florentine Renaissance Museum, e.g. Museo di Galileo. At the same time, it would exhibit curious content from all eras of the past, present, and future inspired heavily by the works of genius scientist-creators like Leonardo da Vinci, Ernst Haeckel, and Buckminster Fuller.

This museum would have a strong online presence, and a well stocked e-shop. The online museum would be a platform for design-fiction storytelling, and the e-shop a market to shop for diegetic prototypes.

The museum MOCI and the products are the face of the brand and would deem as Level 1. Level 2 into MOCI was to inculcate curiosity and inquisitiveness through activities, workshops and to build support systems for people to further practice and spread the same. This meant that the brand and its products, become facilitators to gather an audience and get a discussion going. This project has focused on the Level 1 of the brand. To start out, MOCI has focused most of its products towards children of different age groups. Over time, it intends to expand it to a broader, nonconstrained audience.

MOCI finds its roots in instilling undiluted curiosity and inquisitiveness amongst people.

The Museum is a platform to exhibit diegetic artifacts from strange, beautiful stories which dance between facts and fantasy, coaxing the audience to ask what is true and what isn’t.

The brand differs to the often employed design assumption that users are stupid, and products need to be dumbed down to their level for better ease and convenience. It believes that the gross underestimation of the intelligence of the masses has led to building of product ecosystems that caters to faster, better, and more but makes for slower, lazier, and unenthusiastic audience (q).

Assuming that evolution is the growth and advancement of human intelligence over time, wouldn’t that be counter evolutionary? -the MOCI asks.

For this purpose, we need intelligent products. Products which coax the user to rise to their level of intelligence and exceed even. That can be made possible by engaging the user in product which address complex, mammoth topics in a physical, sensorially rich way. To be intellectually engaged with the product and ask questions of, about, related to it is the fundamental intent of the brand.

Given that such kind of counter intuitive interaction (counter intuitive solely because we are now excessively used to easy and fast interactions) with products will not appeal to many people immediately, MOCI intends to launch itself-for the time being- as a niche, esoteric brand.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Deliverables of the project The first challenge after the brief was to bring this museum to life and populate it with content, both physical and virtual.

This task was undertaken by working on the virtual presence of the museum, the website. The mock website was flooded with galleries and exhibitions, supported by an e-commerce handle which sold artifact and products either from or inspired by the exhibitions. Next step was to build a few of these products, and smaller supporting products.

MOCI has been discovered and articulated throughout the course of this project. What began as an idea has over time developed into a full-fledged fleshed out brand. The guideline of how to translate the philosophy of the brand into physical design pointers has been compiled for the future use of the client.

Deliverables of the project I undertook with MOCI therefore are: 1. A scratch attempt at the MOCI website (concept/ wireframing/ mock-ups) 2. Products that will be sold by MOCI (Seven in total, five displayed for the jury) 3. A Guideline Document articulating the physical manifestations of the brand philosophy, for future designers of the brand.

4. The Project Document as a reference of the processes followed to design for MOCI, for future designers of the brand.

museum of curious imaginings

people of the project

Parent Child Imagination Game A toolkit for imagination

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Museum of Curious Imaginings: Balance Bike Product Ecosystem Aim

Overview

To create a tool for curiosity and inquisitiveness for toddlers and enable parents/adults to take part in and stimulate their child’s imagination.

It can be difficult to entertain a child all day, every day.

For the first few years of a child’s life, their parents are the primary source of their intellectual stimulation, social interaction, model behavior, and recreation. The child’s curiosity and inquisitiveness is endless and unstoppable, and it is often exhausting for adults to keep up with the little ones enthusiasm. It’s a constant task for the parent to be a better version of themselves and keep the child occupied every day.

Sure enough, there are times when the best of us run out of tales to regale the little ones with. When you’ve read all the storybooks, heard all the recordings, played with all the board games and even had a walk around the house. And the toddler is still bursting with energy.

To create imaginative adults and more fun and fruitful parent-child interactions.

Goal Create a Balance Bike that is not just a vehicle but also a medium of imagination and storytelling through its tangible form.

Create a tool for parents to be able to nudge and participate in the imaginations of their toddlers.

A product for children aged 18 months to 6 years, and for all adults who play with children. To create a bike and supporting products which facilitate the above aim

The MOCI Balance Bike intends to cater to the toddlers’ large appetite for answers and keep them occupied in interesting and new ways every single time, including the adult parent or guardian in the whole process.

The bike have as few loose parts as possible.

Usage of plastic should be avoided. Wood or composites of wood are preferred materials.

The design must have least amount of unused parts at any given point.

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Introduction to Balance Bikes What

A balance bike is a two-wheeled pedal-less bike that teaches toddlers as young as 18-months to balance on two wheels.

The first balance bike finds it origins in a Dandy Horse invented by Karl Dreais in 1817. The Dandy horse was the earliest form of two wheeler without pedals marked the beginning of mechanized personal transport.

Who

A balance bike is used by toddlers roughly from the age 18 months to 5 years depending on each child’s growth and development.

How

The balance bike can speed up the process of learning a bicycle by breaking it down for a child. On a balance bike, the reader learns to balance and counter-steer thereby gaining confidence in these two aspects of cycling. As the child progresses to a normal cycle, they are already comfortable on the cycle and must only learn how to pedal while balancing.

To function properly, a balance bicycle must be small enough for the rider to be able to walk the bicycle while sitting comfortably in the saddle, putting both feet flat on the ground. The rider first walks the bicycle while standing over the saddle, then while sitting in the saddle. Eventually, the rider feels comfortable enough to run and “scoot” while riding the bicycle, then to lift both feet off the ground and cruise while balancing on the two wheels. After a brief learning period, toddlers learn to ride, jump and coast on their bikes with no assistance from their parents.

Why

Why for MOCI

How to ride a balance bike (from top) 1. Getting comfortable on the bicycle 2. Walking with the bike, small steps 3. Running or scooting 4. Lifting both feet off the ground to Cruise graduation project

harshali paralikar

A Balance Bike allows very young toddlers to start biking.

They also help toddlers and preschoolers to develop gross motor skills. The balance bike teaches children to balance and counter- steer. As a result, they are more prepared for an unexpected loss in balance and are much less likely to fall. As compared to training wheels, the bike teaches to ride while being self balanced. Bikes with training wheels could tilt to one side, creating a false sense of balance. In order to ride without the training wheels, a child must “unlearn” how to ride unbalanced and learn how to ride while balanced. The balance bike instills confidence and fearlessness of riding in the child, making them independent and exploratory at an early age.

A bicycle without pedals. This statement is enough to pique the interest of most people. Since MOCI intends to shift people’s paradigm by provoking them, a bicycle without pedals makes the audience ask questions

Sources Images on ‘How to Ride a Bike’ from WikiHow

b.des product design

A Study of Balance Bikes Balance Bikes have only recently gained attention for being a precursor to bicycles. They are most commonly used in countries where streets have been well developed with sidewalks and safety precautions or where there is access to open areas like gardens and trails.

Structure Balance Bikes are commonly made of a main frame, wheels, and handlebar. They do not have pedals, or slots for pedals, chain and gears, or brakes. The distance between the seat and the rear wheel is less so as to not make the seat sloping and provide flat footing on the ground.

Size For a bike that is going to be extensively used for riding, tire size and seat height are of primary consideration while choosing the right bike.

Weight As a general rule, the bike must not be more than 30% of the child’s weight. A heavy bike might be difficult to maneuver while a light bike might feel unsafe.

Geometry Riding a balance bike is about running and gliding. Kids naturally lean forward to run and need enough room to do so. Ample amount of space between the seat post and the handlebars provides plenty of space for a child to extend their legs properly to run comfortably and naturally. A smaller gap between the rear tire and the seat is ideal to create a low center-of-gravity for the rider, making the bike more easy to balance and control.

Ergonomics Physiologically, the balance bike must allow the rider to rest on the seat with just a slight bend in the knees so that they can run while being lightly seated on the bike. The handlebar must be optimum distance away from the saddle to as to allow the rider to extend their arms comfortably. The seat angle should not be sloping downwards or upwards. It should be parallel to the ground so as to allow the rider to rest comfortably without sliding off the seat.

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Wooden Vehicles Since the brief involved using wood and wood composites for the creation of a bike, a separate study of usability and form was conducted of the wooden bikes available in the market.

Insights A steel or an aluminum frame bike are better for aggressive biking on a dedicated cycle track. Nevertheless, for the majority of young riders, a wooden balance bike works perfectly well for riding on the sidewalk or in the driveway.

Since the bike was meant to be a tool for imagination, it was considered whether this could reflect through the structure and form of the bicycle as well. The study of vehicles for toddlers was further extended to other forms of vehicles for toddlers to see whether integration between the forms is possible.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Mood-board and Design Guidelines The Balance Bike through it’s form, had to convey that it was inviting the meandering imagination of a child. It had to be a stimulus for the flow of a child’s imagination and also a medium through which their imaginations could be expressed. For this purpose, it was decided that the form of the bike should be such that it would allow the child to make whatever it wished of the bike. Following are few guidelines drafted accordingly: 1. The Bike had to be like clay, molding to the imaginations of the child.

2. The Bike had to fit in the ecosystem of other play things the child already owned and easily play-able when combined with other toys 3. The Bike had to be child friendly. It must not contain any extremely sharp edges or small parts that could possibly harm the child.

4. The Bike had to be parent friendly. It should be easy to store when not in use, easy to clean.

5. The Bike should not become obsolete within just some months of it’s purchase. It should accommodate for the growth of the child.

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Form for Story Telling: Part 1 Approach The initial directions for ideating the form of the bike were made with an approach to break from the mold of looking and being a cycle.

Instead, the focus was on creating a form which is ‘a vehicle for a child’. With this in mind, attempts were made towards creating any kind of vehicular structure that has axles, wheels, and a plank on top of the wheel which on propelling will carry the rider ahead.

This approach was developed through sketches and carried forward to make iterative forms of vehicles which have been depicted all together in the next few pages.

Opposite page: A collection of initial idea sketches graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Form for Story Telling: Part 2 Apart from the overall visual form, the bike had to integrate subtle details that would cater to the intent of storytelling and curiosity generation.

The book ‘Guide to Invent Games’ was parallel-y in development, and was developing games and activities for parents and children to try together.

The bike therefore, had to compliment the games and be the tangible user interface (TUI) between the activities and the users.

Ideas were generated based on the outlines of child physiology and development guidelines studied for the creation of the games. For example: 1. Motor Skill development was supported by giving fixtures and provisions for grips like pinch grip, tip grip and cylindrical grasp 2. Exposure to texture and color by providing skins with different textures, skins which on application of motion provide color interaction.

3. Re-imagination of built form by making the bike easy to assemble and dissemble.

Form development of the bike and activity development for the users was a parallel process. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Left to Right: Form growth of the bike graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Curiosity Prompt for Adults Research Physical and Cognitive Development in Children 19 Through 23 Months These children are more confident and stable at walking, and are exploring other skills such as balancing, jumping, and running. They can pull a toy behind them while walking, climb on and off furniture without assistance, walk up and down stairs with assistance, and—by the end of this period—may be able to kick a ball. They can now pick up and manipulate much smaller objects due to their more developed pincer grasp. They like to sort objects, often grouping them into two categories, and can now fit together simple objects. These children can match angles, which 17 allows them to fit a square peg into a square hole. They can also start to use very simple coupling mechanisms like magnets, large hooks, and hook-and-loop or touch fasteners.

Representational and symbolic thinking emerges during this time-frame, and children understand that some toys represent other objects. Most of their artistic forays take the form of gestures, or a series of dots may represent, for example, a rabbit hopping. They can use simple phrases, a few active verbs, and directional words, such as “up,” “down,” and “in.” Social play also emerges because children of this age can now communicate with and play alongside each other.

Rudimentary pretend and role-play emerge; these toddlers can pretend to be asleep and can role-play a variety of commonly observed actions.

As they approach 2 years of age, they may make dolls or stuffed animals assume roles, expecting them to eat pretend food. Though they still use trial and error, these toddlers can mentally consider solutions to problems before taking any action. This means they can remember and work with mental representations of familiar objects, pictures, letters, and numbers as they ponder appropriate actions. They are more goal oriented and object permanence is more advanced.

These children can help dress or undress themselves. Toys with low to moderate cause-and-effect features—such as those with push buttons or pull cords that cause actions or sounds—are appealing to these children. Simple remote controls are also usable.

2 Years Now that pretend play is established, 2-year-olds can perform social roles like mommy, daddy, or baby. Role taking becomes a bigger part of social pretend play, and their pretend play becomes more elaborate as they use a variety of objects to carry out longer episodes. These children need the object to resemble the real item to some degree, so they might use a cloth rather than a shoe to represent a pillow.

Two-year-olds can engage in true construction play. They graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

understand that pictures can depict pretend objects, and scribbles gradually become more representational pictures during this period, though they are still more interested in the process than the product. They become increasingly interested in color variations and using simple art materials.

Children at this age begin to show an interest in television and television characters. They are drawn to familiar cartoon characters from television shows that they can incorporate into their play themes.

They often want to know “why,” and can start to use simple learning or educational toys. They understand the purpose of numbers in counting objects and have increasing control over basic gross- and fine-motor skills. Interest in grossmotor activity increases with newly found physical strength and basic coordination, and they especially enjoy balancing, climbing, running, jumping, throwing, catching, playing with sand, or pushing and pulling wheeled objects. They learn these skills separately during this period, and with each passing year they gradually combine them with other skills as coordinated movement. They can perform somersaults, and like to dance, twirl, and gallop to music. Although their control is uncertain, they can kick and throw a ball. They can manage simple screwing actions, and can use simple one- or two-turn wind-up mechanisms provided they are of low tension. Smaller buttons or snaps may be difficult for these children to manipulate, but they can use large hooks, buttons, and buckles. They prefer more realistic toys, so colors other than bright primary colors (for example, pastels) become attractive. However, these toys do not need to be elaborately detailed.

3 Years These children are entering the time of peak pretend play, and like to use replica objects as the actors in themes they sequence. A doll, for example, might be prepared to attend a birthday party with her doll friends, and they will drive in a car, eat food, and play chase or dance at the party. Realistic props, like a realistic toy telephone, enhance pretend play at this age, but these children also start to use objects that are unlike the real item, so they might use a shoe to represent a pillow. They show greater interest in structured games.

Television characters, especially gentle, cartoonish characters are important at this age because children use these characters as safe playmates. These children progress considerably in their gross-motor skills. They can tiptoe and balance on one foot, hop, climb and slide on play structures with ease, kick or catch a large ball thrown from a short distance, and throw and aim at short distances. For example, they can now put a ball in a basket or target from 4 to 5

feet away. They now have the fine-motor skills to take on the challenge of more complex construction play, piecing together smaller puzzle pieces, cutting, pasting, and other art activities. Children at this age are still interested in different ways of manipulating a given art medium and learning about its properties, rather than creating a finished product. They start using lines to represent boundaries; this fosters the ability to draw people.

4 Through 5 Years Drama and pretend play are at their zenith. These children like to invent complex and dramatic make-believe scenarios.

They can build upon each other’s play themes, create and coordinate several roles in an elaborate scenario, and better understand story lines. Many of these children still have difficulty understanding the differences between fantasy and reality. For example, children of this age may believe that monsters are real. They enjoy stepping into roles of power, like a parent, doctor, policeman, lion, or superhero, which helps them to better understand these roles, to make them less scary, or to fulfill wishes and express a broad range of emotions. Gentle television characters begin to lose their popularity as superheroes and other more action-oriented Characters begin to replace them. Toys that are based on popular programs let children share roles with other viewers of the same program to create a ready made play script. As their cognitive and fine-motor skills improve, they begin to desire objects with more realistic detail, yet they still are not very concerned about mirroring reality. These children further master gross- and fine-motor skills. They enjoy frequent trips outside to run, climb, hop, skip, and chase.

They are learning to ride small bicycles, first with and then without training wheels. They are much more able to cut with scissors, paste, trace, draw, color, and string beads than 3-year-olds. They also have enough dexterity and coordination to start using a computer keyboard

The next step was to design activities and games indulging these aspects of growth of the child. The targeted skills and senses to develop were: Observation Imitation Empathy Abstract Thinking General Motor Skills Fine Motor Skills Verbal Communication

Guide to Invent Games Since the aim of the entire bike ecosystem was to enable adults to talk in the same imagination wavelength as that of a child, the designing of a prompt for adults was inevitable.

The brief to design the prompt and further guideline was as follows: 1. The prompt must be a toolkit wherein one can derive newer games everyday.

2. It must be simple and easy to read through and practice.

3. It must be accommodative of the other toys and play objects a child owns. This book will help you make your own stories with your toddler. The purpose of ‘Guide to Invent Games’ is to provide tidbits of starting points to trigger the wild curiosity of your little one and soar high in their imagination. Guide to Invent Games along with The Progressive Sketchbook and The Bike are a part of The Balance Bike Ecosystem. A reminder, that this book is not the end all be all of creating stories. Start here and let your journey take you to wonderful places!

Insights As a result of the readings on Child Developmental Physiology and Psychology, the aspects and areas onto which a child must be pro-actively engaged in order to have a whole-rounded growth were as follows: 1. Gross Motor Skills 2.Fine Motor Skills 3. Role-play 4. Object abstraction 5. Coordinated motion 6. Seeking new 7. Learning the medium instead of finishing the task

Source Smith, Timothy P., Jim A. Therrell, Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, and Candra D. Thornton. Age Determination Guidelines: Relating Children’s Ages to Toy Characteristics and Play Behavior. Place of publication not identified: Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2002. museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Game 1: Role Play

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Game 2: Spin the Tale

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Game 3: Rebuild

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

Game 4: Hunts and Searches

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Balance Bike Ecosystem

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

MOCI Terrariums The Mutant Plant of Pokhran

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Museum of Curious Imaginings: Terrarium Collection Aim To be able to evoke interest in issues of Science and Nature through terrariums that are design fiction artifacts.

Goal To create a diegetic prototype of a naturally occurring entity and the terrarium it will occupy , both of which are visually and conceptually curious.

Each piece must have it’s own compelling story that reflects through the design of the terrarium.

Overview Wicked problems and macro issues are often difficult to fathom by an individual and therefore are not indulged in on a personal level. For example, oil spills in the Pacific Ocean as a concept is easy to understand theoretically for layman, but to imagine it’s causes and consequences and the system around it is difficult. To visualize it is difficult. The MOCI terrariums intend to bring a slice of macro perspectives to people in the form of a tangible object, thus making it easily real and relatable. Employing Design Fiction practices in building the terrarium ensures that they retain the magnetic charm of fantastical story telling without loosing their rooting in reality.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Proposed Terrarium Stories Each terrarium is a diegetic prototype from a design fiction story. Therefore, to craft the terrarium, it was essential to fist craft the story. Of the five story log-lines mentioned on the right, ‘the Mutant Plant from Pokhran’ as per the client’s choice.

Smuggling of the Tea Plant Breaking of the Tea Monopoly in China by the East India Company by smuggling tea to India through Wardian Cases

History | Politics of Plants | Smuggling | Agriculture Set in: Hong Kong, Kolkata, Assam How were the stories devised?

Devising the storyline required going through immense amount of material on Indian news, history, and culture. The topics of study were restricted to some kind of Scientific breakthrough relating to or having taken place in India.

After combing through events and real life accounts found in books, on the Internet, or from people, five coherent narrations were formed.

After gaining a close to accurate account of the story, the next step was to add a layer of fiction to it so as to make it intentionally provoking. Each story was evolved into a three line design fiction. These are the five stories shown to the right.

Dormant WW2 Biochemical Weapon Recently found locked cased in a sunken ship from the World War two era contains flora that could cause slow, undetected destruction.

Biohazard | Next-Gen Warfare | Politics of Plants Set in: A sunken ship off Indian Ocean

Of the five, the Mutant Plant story in Pokhran was chosen to be taken forward. Parallel-y, work continued on the other stories.

Last Universal Common Ancestor Rebirth of LUCA, Last Universal Common Ancestor, gives us a peak into the last cell which made it through and sub-divided and started the process of evolution.

Eventually, all the sotrylines will be visualized by MOCI to form a collection of provocative terrariums. The design and production of the first terrarium, the Mutant Plant will make the process of designing collectors item terrariums clearer.

Evolutionary Biology | Cellular Stories | Set in: An undiscovered stream in the Himalayan ranges

Selected Terrarium Story: The Mutant Plant in Pokhran

Units of Five Connection between five emotions, five elements, five solids, five characters of personality, and five tastes.

The selected storyline is about the discovery of a new plant species found in the desert of Pokhran, Rajasthan.

The Museum of Curious Imaginings has acquired a limited number of the plant samples from the Botanical Survey of India and intends to display them.

Sacred Geometry Set in: Brahmaputra River

Of course, the plants are not real. They are but a diegetic prototype of a well crafted story. The creation and realization of this plant, its story, and it’s terrarium is the discursive design exercise.

Mutations in Pokhran The impact of the Pokhran Nuclear Testing on the Thar Desert have been immense and unnoticed. The residual nuclear fallout has taken a toll over the desert flora and fauna.

Botany | Plant Pathology | Radioactivity Set in: Pokhran, India museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

CRAFTING A DESIGN FICTION RESEARCH India’s Nuclear Program After Indian independence from the British Empire, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru authorized the development of a nuclear program headed by Homi Bhabha.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1948 focused on peaceful development. India was heavily involved in the development of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but ultimately opted not to sign it.

Mutations in Pokhran The impact of the Pokhran Nuclear Testing on the Thar Desert have been immense and unnoticed. The residual nuclear fallout has taken a toll over the desert flora and fauna.

India started its own nuclear program in 1944 when Homi Jehangir Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Physicist Raja Ramanna played an essential role in nuclear weapons technology research; he expanded and supervised scientific research on nuclear weapons and was the first directing officer of the small team of scientists that supervised and carried out the test.

Botany | Plant Pathology | Radioactivity Set in: Pokhran, India

Pokhran I Smiling Buddha (MEA designation: Pokhran-I) was the assigned code name of India’s first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974. With Pokharan, India became a Nuclear Weapon State outside the Treaty of Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The bomb was detonated an the army base, Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan by the Indian Army under the supervision of several key Indian generals. Pokhran-I was also the first confirmed nuclear weapons test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Officially, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) claimed this test was a “peaceful nuclear explosion”, but it was an accelerated nuclear program.

The crater produced by this detonation of a plutonium implosion device has been reported to have a radius of 47 meters with a crater depth of 10 meters. The shot was fired 1.5 km southwest of the abandoned village of Malka, but was 24.8 km northwest of the town of Pokhran.

The test was coincidentally conducted on the Buddhist festival day of Buddha Purnima, perhaps the reason that the association with the Buddha came about.

Top: The Pokhran I Test Crater Bottom: Indira Gandhi inspecting the blast site graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Aftermath Domestic reaction The test caused an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi’s popularity, which had flagged considerably from its high after the 1971 war. The overall popularity and image of the Congress Party was enhanced and the Congress Party was well received in the Indian Parliament. In 1975, Homi Sethna, a chemical engineer and the chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AECI), Raja Ramanna of BARC, and Basanti Nagchaudhuri of DRDO, all were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.

Five other project members received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award. India consistently maintained that this was a peaceful nuclear bomb test and that it had no intentions of militarizing its nuclear programme. However, according to independent monitors, this test was part of an accelerated Indian nuclear programme. In 1997 Raja Ramanna, speaking to the Press Trust of India, maintained: “The Pokhran test was a bomb, I can tell you now.... An explosion is an explosion, a gun is a gun, whether you shoot at someone or shoot at the ground.... I just want to make clear that the test was not all that peaceful.”

While India continued to state that the test was for peaceful purposes, it encountered opposition from many quarters. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was formed in reaction to the Indian tests to check international nuclear proliferation. The NSG decided in 1992 to require full-scope IAEA safeguards for any new nuclear export deals, which effectively ruled out nuclear exports to India, but in 2008 it waived this restriction on nuclear trade with India as part of the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.

Canada and United States The plutonium used in the test was created in the CIRUS reactor supplied by Canada and using heavy water supplied by the United States. Both countries reacted negatively, especially in light of then ongoing negotiations on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the economic aid both countries had provided to India. Canada concluded that the test violated a 1971 understanding between the two states, and froze nuclear energy assistance for the two heavy water reactors then under construction. The United States concluded that the test did not violate any agreement and proceeded with a June 1974 shipment of enriched uranium for the Tarapur reactor.

A Nuclear Terrarium The intent through the terrarium, was to spark a discussion about the social, cultural, and ethical implications of emerging technologies, in this case Nuclear Armament, through design and storytelling. The subtextual aim of the pilot terrarium was also to choose India centric topics and experiences to see how Indians react and reflect to Indian Alternative Futures

Pakistan Pakistan did not view the test as a “peaceful nuclear explosion”, and canceled talks scheduled for 10 June on normalization of relations. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto vowed in June 1974 that he would never succumb to “nuclear blackmail” or accept “Indian hegemony or domination over the subcontinent”. The chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Munir Ahmed Khan, said that the test would force Pakistan to test its own nuclear bomb. Pakistan’s leading nuclear physicist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, stated in 2011 that he believed the test “pushed [Pakistan] further into the nuclear arena”.

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

IDEATION First Draft Iterations of the Story and Mood-boards The first drafts was an attempt at making this piece of design fiction come alive by stating the existence of the primary elements that would carry the story ahead. These drafts are a culmination of the events and elements that need to be in the story. The first story was selected to be taken further.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Right: A compiled mood-board for the Mutated Flora of Pokhran Story

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Right: A compiled mood-board for shifting Shifting Sands of Thar and Salt Nuke Lake Bottom: Two other stories part of the four iterations

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Refinement Of The Story and Collage At this juncture, the tone and the narration of the story was refined and more details were added so as to be able to draw vivid visual queues from the text. A montage of the visual elements was a collateral client requirement.

Below is the story in it’s diegetic prototype form- a letter found about the discovery of mutations in Pokhran.

Left: A letter retrieved from the site in Pokhran. The letter was a source of great insight to understand the discovery of the mutant plant. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Right: A collage of all essential elements of the story. museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

A Design Fiction Story The Letter (same as the one on the previous page) is a diegetic prototype and also the primary source of conveying the design fiction story of mutation in Pokhran.

The story provides facts intelligently woven with fiction to make it look realistic and borrowed from daily life. The story and the terrarium together are a product, designed to be a comment on the ecological impact of nuclear fallout. It is upon the audience to discuss and develop whether they see it as desirable, undesirable, or anything else.

Following is a full version of the text:

February 2012 This is a diary entry of P.Raghunath, an ethnographic mapper who was on an assignment in Kheda, Rajasthan when the deadly virus of 1982 broke out. P.Raghunath passed away soon after having written this entry. The diary was found and submitted to his organization, who decided to publish for public knowledge of the events that lead to the virus epidemic in Kheda.

Kheda, a village 20 km west from the Pokhran Test Site, had a population of around 2,000. The main occupation of the people was agriculture and animal husbandry. When the bomb tests were conducted in May of 1974, the villagers were asked to abandon the village. They did, but due to lack of rehabilitation they soon returned and resettled.

The underground nuclear test formed a crater of about 45 m in diameter and yielded about 12kt of TNT. Pokhran I was declared a peaceful weapon testing by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The then government released no statement on the situation. The outbreak created a small sensation in the local news but did not receive any attention of the national media channels and has ever since been forgotten. It is believed that the Atomic Energy Commission of India, the Botanical Survey of India and the Office of the Prime Minister herself carried out an internal, top secret investigation. Soon after, the Prime Minister’s office declared the Kheda epidemic a highly confidential matter and that was the end to anything that could be found about it.

This published diary entry is the first ever public insight into the mysterious events that unfolded at Kheda, almost 30 years from now. Kheda is now untraceable on the map, a village lost in time, just like its residents.

15th June 1982 Kheda, Rajasthan The stillness of the arid, quiet village of Kheda has, since last few months, been deeply disturbed. It all started when Malti the cow, belonging to the Bagri family, gave birth to a calf with six legs, a twisted mouth, and a deformed eyeball.

The poor calf entered the world to gasps and screams of the Bagri women. Malti disowned the baby at first, naturally out of fear and suspension, but later embraced it. As if this shock wasn’t enough, the family discovered that Malti, despite having accepted her calf, could not feed it any milk. A healthy cow of six years, she started bleeding while being milked, and soon ran dry.

If you bear any knowledge about animal husbandry in Rajasthan,

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

you’d know that a healthy cow has two major purposes: providing milk, and birthing calves. Failing at both, Malti overnight became a terrible living loss to the Banjar family.

The village of Kheda brushed aside Malti’s story as an ugly happenstance and carried on with their lives- only to find more such stories springing up from different households. The Bhil family’s goats ran dry, the Garasia’s buffaloes gave discolored milk, and the Kathodi family’s cattle mysteriously fell sick. These events created some distress in the village and the matter was brought to the notice of the village panchayat elders. A small investigation began, but soon enough, fizzled out.

It wasn’t until a week later that the true horrors started unfolding. A child from one the families had developed a rash around the time this cattle menace began. Over days the rash grew and spread to other children of the village. I noticed it first when Abhay had come over to my residence for his weekly English lesson. He seemed to be in his regular jovial mood, distracted a little by the itch on his bony limbs. He’d told me how everyone at the school had this itch, and how they’d jump in the local talab (fresh water embankment) to seek some relief.

village thronged to see it. I went too. It looks like any other plant of the desert, and I see why the shepherds were not alarmed by it.

But after having observed closely there’s something about it that makes me feels weary. It has a bulbous, scaly stem with weird eye-like nodes. The stem is the same color as the sandy soil- a muddy, dirty yellowish brown. Its skin is charred almost like it’s been roasted by the harsh Thar desert sun. Most disturbing of all are the flaked-out parts, where the inside of the stem is visible. It’s inside is a web of small hexagonal cells, tightly packed together, sticky straw yellow sap oozing out of it. This sap has an extremely strong, pungent odor- of something rotten, or dead. The nodes give rise to scrawny pines, like dry, grass blades growing out of a ginger like head. This outcrop is dirty green in color and has a layer of thin white hair growing at its base. The whole plant is an obnoxious, ugly sight.

Last night, some officials from the Botanical Survey of India came to collect samples of these plants. Being the only academic in the village, I was asked to guide them around. They came in the dead of the night and left within no time! This whole episode is taking unexpected turns, and I wonder if it is even safe to stay in Kheda anymore.

It was a peculiar skin irritation, iconic due to the mild itch it caused on skin and scalp, which soon developed into a more aggressive burning. Little children all around were itching away with no relief in sight. In a week’s time this ‘rash’ had grown into a full blown nasty skin infection, an uninvited guest in every house of the village. It had manifested into a crisscross blistered hexagonal pattern filled with pus and plasma, and the inflammation around the infected area made it a particularly ugly sight. Abhay had come over the week after, miserable at the hands of this skin disaster. Of course, we canceled that week’s lesson. In the following days, more people caught onto the infection.

Meanwhile, the investigation team had buckled up and tried to reach the root of the matter. They’d found that earlier that month, some shepherds had taken their cattle to graze further than their usual course in search of better pastures. The cattle grazed on the new lands everyday since then. The panchayat elders visited these pastures to find an unknown variety of wild grass rampantly covering up the lands.

The villagers suspect that the mysterious wild grass that the cattle fed on is the source of this medical disaster. The local health center has been working overtime to diagnose this skin infection. They claim to have never encountered an outbreak like this before. A delay in treatment means more infected patients and an extremely toxic village environment.

Some samples of the wild grass have been brought to the village by the panchayat. Despite the havoc it has caused, half the

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

DESIGNING A DIEGETIC PROTOTYPE Part 1: A Mutant Plant RESEARCH Study of Plant Physiology In order to design a plant it is essential to study it, visually and scientifically.

Plant Physiology is a sub-discipline of botany concerned with the function, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (biochemistry of plants), cell biology, and molecular biology.

Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tropisms, nastic movements, photoperiodism, photomorphogenesis, circadian rhythms, environmental stress physiology, seed germination, dormancy and stomata function and transpiration, both part of plant water relations, are studied by plant physiologists.

Plant physiology encompasses all the internal chemical and physical activities of plants associated with life. Chemicals obtained from the air, soil and water form the basis of all plant metabolism. Cellular Respiration, photosynthesis and metabolism, reproduction.

Plant anatomy is the study of the structure of plant cells and tissues, whereas plant morphology is the study of their external form.

Factors Affecting Plant Growth Factors affecting plant growth can be categorized into internal and external factors, that is genes and growth regulators and biotic and abiotic environmental factors. 1 &2 For the purpose of this project, a design intervention was required from all factors to make the plant a convincing specimen of mutation.

https://www.sahapedia.org/the-vegetation-of-the-thar-desert-geography-historyculture-and-conservation graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Thar Desert Flora Desert Habitat The state of Rajasthan has four major physiographic divisions: the western desert, the Aravalli hills, the eastern plains, and the south-eastern (Hadoti) plateau. The Aravalli range lies diagonally across the state, and acts as the climatic and geomorphic boundary of the desert.

Water, or the lack of it, defines the Thar. Seasonal rain comes at the tail end of the monsoons and from occasional western disturbances in winter. The amount of precipitation varies 100 to 400 mm annually, the average being 250 m. High daytime temperatures, high evaporation levels and low groundwater recharge make this a water deficient region.

There is only one natural drainage system of the river Luni, and a few seasonal lakes and reservoirs. The fairly recent Indira Gandhi Canal in the north, operative since 1983, has revived agriculture in the Hanumangarh and Ganganagar districts.

Desert Plants/ Xerophytes The harsh landscape of the Thar Desert supports a surprisingly large number of hardy, drought-resistant plant species. The plants that have adapted to the desert conditions of sandy soil, scarce water and long hours of strong sunlight are called Xerophytes. Xerophytes are classified into four types: a. Ephemeral Annuals: These plants are also called as drought evaders or drought escapers. They are annuals and complete their life cycle within a very short period. They do not withstand dry seasons but actually avoid them. Argemone mexicana, Solatium xanthocarpum. b. Succulent: These plants grow in habitats with less or no water. They store water whenever it is available. They have succulent and fleshy organs like stems, leaves and roots which serve as water storage organs and accumulate large amounts of water during the brief rainy seasons. Euphorbia and Opuntia. c. Non-Succulent Perennials: These are drought resistant and called as true Xerophytes.

They possess a number of morphological, anatomical and physiological characteristics which enable them to withstand critical dry conditions. Calotropis, Acacia, Casuarina and Nerium

Sources biocyclopedia.com biologydiscussion.com

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

d. Succulent Plants: Succulent plants typically store water in stems or leaves.

They include the Cactaceae families which typically have stems that are round and store a lot of water. Often, as in cacti where the leaves are reduced to spines, their leaves are vestigial, or they do not have leaves.

Characteristics of Xerophytes: The root system is extensively developed, penetrating very deep. The leaves are reduced in area to check transpiration (Casuarina). The leaves may be modified into phyllodes (Acacia melanoxylon) or succulent (Aloe, Agave, Yucca).

The leaves show various features like gray or light green coloration, rolling, wilting, leaf fall, leathery glandular outgrowth, leaf spines, a coating of hairs, wax etc.

The stems are usually stunted, hard, rigid and covered with thick bark. The stems may be modified into phylloclades (Opuntia, Euphorbia) or cladodes (Ruscus, Asparagus).

The stem may show coating of hairs or wax, or spines etc.

Where the leaves are absent or caducous, the stem performs the function of photosynthesis (Capparis aphylla). The lamina of the leaf may be very much segmented (Acacia, Prosopis) or long, narrow and needle-like (Pinus). Some plants have underground stems to tide over the unfavorable conditions (Saccharum).

The structure of the various plants forming the desert’s vegetation shows great variations usually either in stem, root, or leaf characters adopting various methods like succulence, densely hairy, thorny, spiny, cuticular and waxy coatings, sunken stoma, tuberous or bulbous enlargement, deeply embedded and widely extended root system and various other adaptations, all to store as much water as possible and to protect themselves from the scorching heat and rapid evaporation in the desert regions During the short rainy season, the barren visage of sand and rock changes dramatically as masses of ephemerals sprout forth, changing the brown landscape to a vivid green. These are plants that sprout flowers, fruits and seeds within a short span, and then lie dormant till the next rains.

The vegetation of the desert remains crucial to the survival of the nomadic pastoral and agricultural communities, providing them with food, fodder, fuel, traditional medicines and a host of other derivatives.

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Study of Geometry in Nature When Charles Darwin first proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, it encouraged science enthusiasts to find reasons for the natural patterns seen in beasts of the land, birds of the air and creatures of the sea.

And patterns they did find.

In the year 1917 D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson published a book called Growth and Form, which led the way for the scientific explanation of morphogenesis, the process by which patterns and body structures are formed in plants and animals. Thompson’s work lead to the understanding of Prophylaxis the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem.

Other types of patterns that were identified inspired by Thompson’s study are: Symmetry Symmetry in biology is the balanced distribution of duplicate body parts or shapes within the body of an organism. In nature and biology, symmetry is always approximate. The body plans of most multicellular organisms exhibit some form of symmetry, whether radial, bilateral, or spherical.

Bilateral or Reflection Symmetry (also called plane symmetry) is where only one plane, called the sagittal plane, divides an organism into roughly mirror image halves can be found in humans, echinoderms (starfish) and peacocks.

Spherical symmetry occurs in an organism if it is able to be cut into two identical halves through any cut that runs through the organism’s center. Organisms which show approximate spherical symmetry include the freshwater green alga Volvox Radial Symmetry occurs when organisms resemble a pie where several cutting planes produce roughly identical pieces. Such an organism exhibits no left or right sides.

They have a top and a bottom surface, or a front and a back for example a snowflake, orb web spider. Forms of Radial Symmetry include Pentamerism, Hexamerism, Octamerism.

Spirals Spirals are common in plants and in some animals, notably molluscs. For example, in the nautilus, a cephalopod mollusc, each chamber of its shell is an approximate copy of the next one, scaled by a constant factor and arranged in a logarithmic spiral. Fibonacci Sequence can be seen followed in many spirals like the sunflower pollens, tree branches, root systems pineapples,artichokes, pine cones

Sources www.planetdolan.com www.wired.com www.smithsonianmag.com www.scholarpedia.org

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Fractals In fractal symmetry, each unit is a replica of the entire piece.

Fractals are infinitely self-similar, iterated mathematical constructs having fractal dimension. Fractals can be seen in geologic fault lines, mountains, coastlines, animal coloration, snow flakes, crystals, blood vessel branching, actin cytoskeleton, and ocean waves.

Bubbles and Foam A soap bubble forms a sphere, a surface with minimal area — the smallest possible surface area for the volume enclosed.

Two bubbles together form a more complex shape: the outer surfaces of both bubbles are spherical; these surfaces are joined by a third spherical surface as the smaller bubble bulges slightly into the larger one. A foam is a mass of bubbles; foams of different materials occur in nature. At the scale of living cells, foam patterns are common; radiolarians, sponge spicules, silicoflagellate exoskeletons and the calcite skeleton of a sea urchin, Cidaris rugosa, all resemble mineral casts of Plateau foam boundaries.

Tessellations Tessellations are patterns formed by repeating tiles all over a flat surface. The cells in the paper nests of social wasps, and the wax cells in honeycomb built by honey bees are wellknown examples.

The Science of Pattern Formation Alan Turing, and later the mathematical biologist James Murray, described a mechanism that spontaneously creates spotted or striped patterns: a reaction-diffusion system. Turing’s landmark paper, “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis,” published in 1952, theorized a system of two different interacting molecules, called morphogens, which could establish chemical gradients through a “reaction-diffusion system.”

The central idea behind the theory is that two homogeneously distributed substances within a certain space, one “locally activated” and the other capable of “longrange inhibition,” can produce novel shapes and gradients.

Turing’s explanation provided an explanation for all possible patterns in found in nature.

Right: Bilateral Symmetry in Starfish, Peacocks, Snowflakes Fibonacci Series and Spirals in Nautilus, Sunflower, Romanesque Broccoli, a House Fly’s eyes Stripes of a Zebra Voronoi Cells on the underside of a leaf

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Nature and Form: An Observation Study Before moving any further into a more detailed and layered form exercise, two shortcomings were observed.

1. The illustrations of the plant lack a mathematical touch that nature showcases in all its creations. The illustrations developed thus far were too random to be taken seriously as botanical drawings. For this purpose, a break was given to the development of the mutant plant. Instead, a visual study of a studio plant, the Ming Aralia was conducted. This study helped in developing a geometrical outlook to the work done thus forth.

2. The plant thus forth needed biological reasons to justify it’s form. A sound reasoning for the phenotype would only occur if the internal mechanisms of the plant occurring due to it’s genotype were resolved. It was agreed that the next step would be to work on the plant inside out and bring the plant processes at par with the work done on it’s exterior.

Top: Leaves of Ming AraliaPolyscias Fruticosa (an indoor household plant) Left: A flattened profile of a leaf graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Top-Left, Mid-Center, Top-Right, Right: A study of the stem Left: A silhouette of a branch and it’s leaves museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Form Study of Plants In The Immediate Vicinity This brief study was conducted around the studio in order to gain a visual language of plant forms. As compared to what is often associated to be ‘commonly plant-like’ a lot of plants in the immediate vicinity of the studio in village Quitla, Aldona, North Goa were oddly shaped and colored. These forms were a starting point into what could plants also look like without loosing their plantlike character.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Form Study of Designed Plants Designing a plant is a task often tackled by game designers and illustrators. In video games, plants act as characters which aid or prevent the game-play, much like a character of a sub-plot int he story. In both the cases, designing a plant could take deep or shallow plunges depending upon the interaction with the plant. This exercise helped in the understanding of a plant as a character, with a profile and dominant traits. To design a plant, one must think of it as an independent personality, a privileged plants don’t often receive.

Physiological Characteristics of ‘Unusual’ Plants Through group discussion and collective experience of studio colleagues, the characteristics traits of an ‘unusual plant’ were boiled down to the following: Touch: Gelatinous, hairy, Smooth. Smell: Like that of something rotting or decaying, like that of fecal matter. Sight: Plants that resemble human form, plants that have colors that are often found to be made synthetically only. It was taken into consideration that these perceptions are highly subjective. Nevertheless, they were a starting point to explore the possibilities that a mutant plant can be.

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

IDEATION Round 1 The process of designing a plant was absolutely alien to all the parties involved int he project. Therefore, the first immediate step was to start with the form of the plant by iterating on it’s silhouettes.

The criteria while making the silhouettes was to make 2d forms which look almost like plants and could belong to the desert. Many forms have also been heavily inspired by the story and have elements from the same.

All silhouettes from this exercise were rejected.

This exercise facilitated first ray of clarity for the client about what they want the form of the plant to portray. It was decided that the forms should look unimaginable and strange yet uncannily plantlike and natural.

A quick group study of forms that are not associated to plants Parellely, a exercise was conducted amongst colleagues the intent of which was to find out ‘What does a plant not look like?’. This lead to a variety of shapes that are usually associated to inanimate objects. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

IDEATION Round 2 Designed plants had to look like they were from a desert region while also looking unusual to the eye. The concept behind the plant had to be compelling yet sound mundane enough to easily fit into the desert. Every idea sketch therefore, is supported by an explanation of how the plant works and it’s special features, much like the plant profiles on the previous page. At the end of this exercise, the concept on the center top (next page)was chosen by the client to proceed forward. Keywords referred during the exercise were ‘Shock, Provoke, Other-Worldly, Unimaginable”.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT: Form (plant morphology) The chosen concept was explored further by detailing out the form at a larger scale and at the same time developing the physiological mechanisms of the plant so as to represent them through physical form.

The Concept: This is a one foot tall perineal plant found in large masses spread on the desert floor. It is a geometrically intricate plant that weaves a web of slime around itself to catch particles from the air for nutrition. The nodes on it’s body grow in a Fibonacci spiral and the seeds on the apical bud are known to cause skin irritation to humans.

Selected Concept

Top Left: Selected concept Top Right: Development sketches graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Left and Right: Development sketches museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Form development on the concept proceeded with more structure and surface details. According to further inputs from the client, root bulb and texture iterations were tried out. At this stage, attention needed to be turned towards the physiological processes of the plant. It was important to decipher the plant inside out so as to get a clearer picture of the morphological manifestations of the plant’s anatomy.

Right: Iteration depicting leaf adaptation and root structure, with a hint at the reproductive system at the apical buds. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Right: Iteration depicting leaf adaptation and root structure. The plant seems to be spewing particles, the function of which are yet unknown. museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Top: Iteration depicting leaf adaptations and threads structure. Experimenting with the scale of the texture. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Top: Iteration depicting whorl distribution and form of the plant at one foot distance. museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH Study of Mutations It is clear through the story that the mutation was a result of adaptation to radioactive environment as a result of Nuclear Armament Testing. The next step was to figure out how did the mutation manifest? For this purpose, a study of mutations had to be conducted.

Definition Mutations include all heritable changes, which alter the phenotype of an individual. Hugo de Vries is credited to have differentiated between heritable and environmental variations. However, the term mutation is now used in a rather strict sense to cover only those changes which alter the chemical structure of the gene at the molecular level. These are commonly called gene mutations or point mutations.

Types of Mutation based on the Stage of Occurance Germinal Mutation I If mutation occurs in a germinal cell, before differentiation of gametes, it would influence several gametes and will thus influence all the individuals derived from these affected.

Germinal Mutation II If mutation occurs in a gamete or a zygote, a single individual will carry the mutation.

Somatic Mutation If mutation occurs in a cell after the zygote has undergone one or more divisions, only a part of the body will show the mutant character.

Types of Mutations based on the Mutagens Used to Artificially Induce Mutation Physical Mutagens- Radiations Physical mutagens are mainly radiations, although change in pH value (acidity) or temperature shocks may also induce mutations.

Chemical Mutagens Chemicals can also be used for inducing mutations.

C. Auerbach was the first to find that mutations can also be induced due to certain chemicals. She made this important discovery during World War II. The chemicals used for inducing mutations were mustard gas, ethyl urethan, phenol, formaldehyde. Mustard gas was found to be highly mutagenic, and it was found to have a delayed effect graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Types of Mutations based on the Method of Detection of Mutations Morphological mutations They involve alterations in external form including color, shape, size. Examples include albino ascospores in Neurospora, kernel color in corn, curly wings in Drosophila and dwarfism in pea.

Lethal mutations They involve genotype changes leading to death of an individual. These are perhaps the easiest to score for a study of mutation frequencies for example albino mutations resulting from chlorophyll deficiency Biochemical Mutations They are identified by a deficiency, so that the defect can be overcome by supplying the nutrient or any other chemical compound, for which the mutant is deficient. Such mutations have been studied mainly in prokaryotes like bacteria and fungi, but sometimes also in eukaryotes like Drosophila and humans.

Resistant mutations They are identified by their ability to grow in the presence of an antibiotic (e.g. streptomycin, ampicillin, cycloheximide) or a pathogen, to which wild type is susceptible. These are very easy to score and therefore have been extensively studied Conditional mutations They are those which allow the mutant phenotype (including lethality) to be expressed only under certain condition (e.g. high temperature) called restrictive condition. Under other or normal condition described as permissive condition, the mutant expresses normal phenotype. These mutants, if lethal or semi-lethal can be multiplied under permissive conditions and shifted to restrictive conditions for specific study. They have been extensively used for study of cell cycle or for a study of DNA replication

Sources www.celkau.in -Factors Affecting Plant Growth agrikhalsa.bizhat.com -Plant Growth

Bottom left: Earnest Haeckel Bottom Right: Alan Turning

Theoretical Biology Theoretical biology is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development and behavior of the systems.

Extreme Bottom: ‘Cnidarians’ from Haeckel’s book Art Forms in Nature, 1899–1904

Theoretical Biology is the opposite of Experimental Biology which deals with the conduction of experiments to prove and validate the scientific theories. The field is sometimes called mathematical biology or Biomathematics to stress the Mathematical side, or Theoretical Biology to stress the Biological side.

Theoretical biology focuses more on the development of theoretical principles for biology while mathematical biology focuses on the use of mathematical tools to study biological systems, even though the two terms are sometimes interchanged.

Mathematical biology aims at the Mathematical representation and modeling of biological processes, using techniques and tools of applied mathematics. It has both theoretical and practical applications in biological, biomedical and biotechnology research. Describing systems in a quantitative manner means their behavior can be better simulated, and hence properties can be predicted that might not be evident to the experimenter. This requires precise mathematical models.

Mathematical biology employs many components of mathematics,and has contributed to the development of new techniques.

Ernst Haeckel a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, artist, and Alan Turing, an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist have been a major source of inspiration for the project.

References www. biocyclopedia.com www.journals.plos.org www.riken.jp

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

IDEATION Function: Plant Physiology Radiosynthesis for Energy Production Radiosynthesis is the theorized capture and metabolism, by living organisms, of energy from ionizing radiation, analogously to photosynthesis. Beginning in the 1990s, researchers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant uncovered some 200 species of apparently radio-trophic fungi containing the pigment melanin on the walls of the reactor room and in the surrounding soil. Such “melanized” fungi have also been discovered in nutrient-poor, highaltitude areas which are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet radiation.

How does it translate into the concept?

The plant metabolizes the free isotopes in the air and converts them into starchy matter.

Radiomorphogenesis for Shape Development Morphogenesis is the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape. Morphogenetic responses may be induced in organisms by hormones, by environmental chemicals ranging from substances produced by other organisms to toxic chemicals or radionuclides released as pollutants, and other plants, or by mechanical stresses induced by spatial patterning of the cells How does it translate into the concept?

The plant growth is affected by the increasing and decreasing amount of radioactive isotopes in the air. The whorls of the plant grow out radially depending on the radio-intake, which is why plants may appear to have a waveform silhouette.

Respiration Cellular respiration is a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and then release waste products.

Respiration in plants is the use of the sugars produced during photosynthesis plus oxygen to produce energy for plant growth.

How does it translate into the concept?

The mutant plant respires normally by taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide. The plant respires using stomatal adaptation on the underside of the adaptation of its leaves.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Plant Nutrition There are seventeen most important nutrients for plant which they must obtain from their growing medium. The elements stay beneath soil as salts, so plants consume these elements as ions. They are: Macro-nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Sulfur (S), Magnesium (Mg), carbon (C), oxygen(O), hydrogen (H) Micro-nutrients (or trace minerals: Iron (Fe), Boron (B), Chlorine (Cl), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), Nickel (Ni) How does it translate into the concept?

The mutant plant derives it’s nutrition from the soil like all other plants. The nuclear fallout rich soil has proven to be extremely fertile for the plant.

Tropism Tropisms are directional movement responses that occur in response to a directional stimulus. Plants are not able to relocated if they happen to start growing where conditions are suboptimal. However, they can alter their growth so they can grow into more favorable conditions, To do so requires the ability to detect where the conditions are better and then alter their growth so they can “move” in the appropriate direction. One of the most commonly observed tropic responses in plants is photo-tropism, in which plant stems grow towards light.

How does it translate into the concept?

Gusts of wind in the desert also dictate the movement of the nuclear fallout matter. Reacting to the stimuli of the wind, the mutant plant sways in its direction so that more isotopes can get trapped in the plant.

Reproduction Plant reproduction is the production of new individuals or offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from the parent or parents How does it translate into the concept?

The mutant plant practices vegetative reproduction by spreading its roots, but it still displays an apical bud as a vestigial organ.

Top: Ideations of form for Plant Anatomy

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT: Function (Plant Life Cycle) Approach

Shallow Research then Conceptualization

The approach to designing the life cycle was different from that of designing the plant.

For design purposes, this situation translates into a first Shallow Research, then Conceptualization process.

According to the scenario, the plant was discovered and some specimen were collected by the Botanical Survey of India for study. That is how some information about the plant’s physiology is known and available.

That means, a quick study of existing plant life cycles was conducted. Every layman’s undertaking of plant reproduction and life-cycle is in the domains of sexual and a sexual reproduction.

The scenario only states that the plant was spotted in the desert by the villagers at different intervals of time. It does not state that the plant was observed and studied in its natural habitat by the researchers at Botanical Survey of India. Hence, it is deduced that no scientific information is available on the growth, development, and life cycle of the plant. A study of that kind requires a longer time period for in-situ research which the researchers could not attain.

Hence the scientific information available the plant is limited to whatever could be found through its physiology and anatomy. The life cycle diagrams are a deduction of whatever could be understood from first hand account of eye witnesses.

Therefore, a first, sexual reproduction cycle was drafted for the mutant plant which represented the common understanding of the villagers of Kheda (the people in the scenario who spot the plant in the desert). In the scenario it translates to: Most villagers thought the rapid outburst of the plant on the desert bed was a result of rampant seed dispersal by the desert winds. Some even reported to having seen the seeds fly around in the air.

Iterating on the first life-cycle, a second life-cycle of asexual reproduction was drafted based on a deeper understanding of few people of the village. That means, in the scenario it translates to: A few curious villagers sneaked around the publicly shunned plants to understand what they exactly were. Equipped with their sickles, when they hacked on the stems of the plants and yanked some out, they found an extensive network of roots underground, which connected with and gave rise to other plants. Appalled,they realized that the plants were actually growing and spreading through their roots.

Top: Shallow Research at it’s best

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

The Life Cycle had to be desinged imagining that an eyewitneess is narrating their observations of the plant over a period of time and the designer is only a visualizer and illustrator of this narration.

Top: The Life Cycle Sketch of the Mutant Plant based on the initially reported account.

Right: The Life Cycle Sketch of the Mutant Plant based on the updated account museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

DESIGNING A DIEGETIC PROTOTYPE Part 2: The Terrarium Case Ideation The terrarium case had to be supportive of the narration of the plant, but unusual and provocative at the same time.

For this purpose, fetching from the world of the Nuclear, the form of the nuclear cloud was selected to house the plant.

The nuclear mushroom form would compliment the form of the plant by providing a narrow neck to hold the plant in place and a wide, round viewing top to observe the intricate whorls of the plant.

Opposite page: A study of the changing form of the cloud to be able to identify an optium form (Clockwise) Bottom Left: One of the inspiration images Top Right: The Selected form Right: A collection of iterations

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Iterations The form of the terrarium was refined over many trials, and finally produced to a stage where it was coherent in it’s narrative and refined to be able to send of prototyping.

From Top: Iteration 1 using only primitives Iteration 2- visualizing selected forms in the form evolution of a mushroom cloud Iteration 3- building the entire product Iteration 4- closer to envisioned visualization Opposite page- A close to real visualization of the terrarium

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

A Diegetic Prototype: A published research paper on the discovery of a new plant. Published by the Botanical Survey of India.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

A Diegetic Prototype: The paper talks about the events that lead to the discovery of a new plant and what happened after.

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Post Apoclyptic Educational Toolkits Geomagnetic Pole Reversal Kit World of Intelligence Augmentation Kit

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Post Apocalyptic Educational Toolkits Aim To be able to create playful educational experiences out of speculative scenarios/ design fictions for 10-13 year olds.

To make independent, imaginative, creative problem solvers who have discovered the joy of learning out of children.

Goal To Create a guideline for building one kit, which can then be loosely followed for the other kits Is a set of playful probes and tools that can be used to inculcate everlasting curiosity in whoever who tries it. It’s designed to make the users become discoverers/ explorers.

In the story, it is a collection of learning and teaching aids on creative problem solving skills applied in an alternative world.

Overview The client wanted a range of products to exist int he space of Dystopia and New world as it suited the brand narrative well and had immense potential in curiosity exercise. This topic has already garnered a world wide following through futuristic sci fi movies like star wars star trek and black panther back to the future etc. To equip children with the skill of learning by doing. To push scenarios/ narrative based learning makes lessons more imaginative and engaging through stories. TO explore more domains of learning through the various intelligences and flex all possible muscles of a learner. Introduce complex topics and wicked problems in an easier way. And to inculcate the habit of asking more questions of how to, how might we.

Right: An index page from the Guide to Post Apocalyptic Educational Toolkits which summaries all the evolving toolkits. graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

RESEARCH EDUCATION Meaning of Education Education means implies the process of facilitating, learning, and acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may also educate themselves Purpose of Education Largely, the purpose of education for an individual is to gain positive influence for personal development, promote autonomy in self, forming a cultural identity, and establishing a career or occupation for self.

Through education, a society gains good citizen who are productive members of the society, who promote societies general economic development, and who preserve cultural values therefore ensuring smooth functioning of the social body.

Education as largely understood and practiced today Traditionally, formal education is commonly divided formally into such stages as preschool or kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and then college, university, or apprenticeship Other forms of education include alternative schools, self learning, home schooling, unschooling, indigenous education, informal learning, self directed learning, open education and electronic teaching.

The curriculum in education usually involves Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Applied Sciences and Computer Science, Fine arts. The Instruction of Education is the facilitation of another learning, and practitioners are often called teachers or faculty members.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Future of Education Education is meant to prepare us for the future that we cant yet see. Therefore, it is essential teach pupil how to fish, rather than the importance of fishing. Simply put, education should teach values to pupils that act as toolkits in any given scenario. Education should teach the primary skill of learning.

Finnish schools are a good example of this practice.

They have moved away from subject focused teaching to phenomenon based learning. In other cases, situational lessons and hands on learning have proven to give lasting lessons to pupils which prove more effective in the longer run.

Critique on Current Approach to Education

Education Through Designed Speculation

A dwindling love for learning is widely evident in school going children all over India. The Indian Education System has been known internationally to produce hardworking scholars with a keen aptitude for the sciences and math. At the same time, it is notorious for not upholding other intelligence portfolios like the languages, humanities, arts, and sports.

Schools are meant to prepare learners for the future but they are quite often robbed of that until they leave high school. With the speculative learning method, the idea is to try and have learners invent the future by employing and, in doing so, immediately contextualizing the variety of things they have learned to shape their speculation.

Any school going child knows that the school tests his or her memory of lessons which results in rote learning. Rote learning fails to integrate the lessons integrate lessons in long term memory and restricts the to short term memory which is why it is often found that within a month of the examination, pupil have already forgotten the lesson.

The goal is to answer the question every student has ever asked which is “why are we learning this?”

Another approach to education that hampers with the learning is that of its medium. Education is largely textual, and is imparted with the use of tools like text books. Recall of the lessons is tested through workbooks and oral and verbal examinations. This often works against effective learning of pupils as not everyone is comfortable in reading,speaking and writing. To simply put, it is asking a fish, monkey, duck, and a giraffe to climb a tree. The parameter of success is in the timely completion of the activity but the activity itself disrespectful of each individuals skills and capabilities.

Currently the model of learning is all about feeding the learners some facts and then asking them to repeat the facts back. It may be possible to combine the engaging elements from a “can you imagine if ______” question with a fictional future scenario and a strong history linking mechanism, a good conversation can be created that reveals a lot about how learners think and what they want to dive into more deeply as a subject.

A possibility is that students might question how this could help them improve their grades. The point was never to boost grades, but this just goes to show how institutionalized these things are in our minds.

Theory of Multiple Intelligences The theory of multiple intelligences differentiates human intelligence into specific ‘modalities’, rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. Howard Gardner proposed this model in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Gardner proposed eight abilities that he held to meet these criteria: musical-rhythmic, Visual-spatial, Verbal-linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Bodily-kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intra-personal, and Naturalistic.

Although the distinction between intelligences has been set out in great detail, Gardner opposes the idea of labeling learners to a specific intelligence. Gardner maintains that his theory should “empower learners”, not restrict them to one modality of learning.[4] According to Gardner, an intelligence is “a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.

Sources medium.com- Charlie Gedeon, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

GLOBAL DYSTOPIAS Meaning of Apocalypse

Global Catastrophic Risks

Historically, Apocalypse means ‘an uncovering’ or ‘a disclosure of knowledge or some sort of a revelation. Today we associate apocalypse to any large scale event which is catastrophic in nature, or a chain of events detrimental to humanity and nature.

Today, the term is commonly used in reference to any largerscale catastrophic event, or chain of detrimental events to humanity or nature. In all contexts, the revealed events usually entail some form of an end time scenario or the end of the world or revelations into divine, heavenly, or spiritual realms.

But Apocalypse as a word largely stems from religion. In the Abraham Religions, that is Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Apocalypse is viewed as a linier event wherein at the end of ones time lies redemption. In the Non Abrahamic religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, the event of an apocalypse is a part of a cyclic chain of event involving decay, redemption, rebirth.

Scientifically, the term revolves around Deep Time, the concept of Geologic Time James Hutton) and the age of earth calculations. Science says that Apocalypse is much bigger than just tend of the world, its the end of universe.

Some theories developed around this are the Big Rip (Cosmic Matter torn apart due to the expansion of the universe), Big Crunch (expansion of space reverses ad the universe collapses triggering another Big Bang Big Bounce : a stage of the cycle of big bang big crunch and big bounce And finally Big Freeze Expansion of Universe causing temperature drop.

Global catastrophes are events or processes that would inflict serious damage to humanity on a global scale, such as all-out nuclear war or a pandemic killing hundreds of millions. The severity of a risk is a function of its scope (the size of the population at risk), intensity (how badly this population would be affected), and probability (how likely the disaster is to occur).A fatal car crash is a personal catastrophe: a small number of unfortunate victims suffer a severe harm. Most genocides are examples of local catastrophes: thousands or millions of people within a country or region lose their lives. Global catastrophe as a possible event or process that, were it to occur, would end the lives of approximately 10% or more of the global population, or do comparable damage. Extinction risks are a subset of global catastrophic risks, which would end the human race.

SO which apocalypse are we exactly referring to?

But the toolkit does not intend to address universal breakdown. It aims to envision an earth where all paradigms as we know them to be have changed. Such n event would therefore not be called apocalypse, but rather ‘global catastrophic risks’

History of Global Catastrophes Limited historical evidence makes it very difficult to provide a definitive list of past global catastrophes. There have been at least two in the past two millennium – the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death. Some scholars have argued that more than 10% of the world population lost their lives in per-industrial wars, though this is heavily disputed.7 Why do the risks matter Although the chance of dying in a car crash is small, we each take steps to mitigate the risk such as wearing seat belts and driving safely. National governments take steps to mitigate the risk of rare natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Similarly, it is important that the global community works to reduce the risk of catastrophic events which would have a global scope. Now more than ever before, global catastrophic risks deserve attention. Prior to the 20th century, the main global catastrophic risks that humankind faced were natural pandemics and conventional warfare. However, economic and technological development have brought a range of new anthropogenic risks.

Global Priorities Project, and The Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford. “Global Catastrophic Risks 2016,”.

Global Priorities Project, and The Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford. “Global Catastrophic Risks 2017,”.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Types of Global Catastrophes Two broad categories of Global Catastrophes exist: Anthropogenic Risks

Non Anthropogenic Risks

1. Artificial Intelligence Robots out-compete humanity, technological singularity achieved

1. Asteroid Impact

2. Biotechnology Bioengineering organisms become pathogens resulting in Bioterrorism and biowarfare

3. Natural Climate Change

3. Cyber Attack Threats arising from IOT personal data and electric grids

5. Geomagnetic Pole reversal

2. Extra terrestrial Invasion

4. Cosmic Threats

6. Global Pandemic 4. Global Warming Crop failure and deforestation 5. Environmental Disaster Desertification and flooding

7. Naturally Arising Pathogens and New- Biota 8. Mega-tsunami 9. Volcanism

6. Mineral Resource Exhaustion Carrying capacity of earth gets exhausted 7. Experimental Tech Accidents Nuclear/ High energy might accidentally ignite the atmosphere 8. Nanotechnology Molecular manufacturing mishaps 9. Warfare and Mass Destruction Nuclear Holocaust 10. World Population and Agri Crisis Malthusian catastrophe and return to basics

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

CRAFTING RESILIENT SPECULATIVE SCENARIOS Kit 1: Geomagnetic Pole Reversal Research What is it?

Earth has settled in the last 20 million years into a pattern of a pole reversal about every 200,000 to 300,000 years, although it has been more than twice that long since the last reversal. A reversal happens over hundreds or thousands of years, and it is not exactly a clean back flip. Magnetic fields morph and push and pull at one another, with multiple poles emerging at odd latitudes throughout the process. Scientists estimate reversals have happened at least hundreds of times over the past three billion years. And while reversals have happened more frequently in “recent” years, when dinosaurs walked Earth a reversal was more likely to happen only about every one million years.

Sediment cores taken from deep ocean floors can tell scientists about magnetic polarity shifts, providing a direct link between magnetic field activity and the fossil record.

The Earth’s magnetic field determines the magnetization of lava as it is laid down on the ocean floor on either side of the Mid-Atlantic Rift where the North American and European continental plates are spreading apart. As the lava solidifies, it creates a record of the orientation of past magnetic fields much like a tape recorder records sound. The last time that Earth’s poles flipped in a major reversal was about 780,000 years ago, in what scientists call the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal.

from an absolute super-storm that the sun let loose. This massive, once-in-150-years event happened to be released when the sun was facing away from our Earth. Had it been a week or two earlier, it would have been directly facing our planet and the forensic analysis suggests that we would have been sent back to the Victorian age in terms of our electrical systems had that happened.

If geologic history repeats itself, Earth’s magnetic poles should eventually swap places. This much is undeniable.

Based on the magnetic fingerprints locked into ancient rocks, we know that over the last 20 million years, magnetic north and south have flipped roughly every 200,000 to 300,000 years (this rate has not been constant over the planet’s lifetime, though). The last of these major reversals occurred about 780,000 years ago, although the Poles do wander around in between these larger flips. (What’s more, climate change seems to be shifting Earth’s geographic poles.)

How does it affect us? How is the geomagnetic switch realistically going to affect humanity?

While the impact of the magnetic reversals can’t accurately be predicted, it is certain that the reversal will cause Electromagnetic Disruptions in the Our electronic grids are very tightly interconnected, so a failure in one part of it can cascade across the planet. There was a near miss in 2012

Right: The magnetic shield protecting Planet Earth from Sun’s radiations.

Sources www.nasa.go nationalgeographic.com

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Ideation (Story Building) What does it mean to be living in a world where the poles are messed up? Which privileges will we loose and which ones will we gain?

The ideation phase is about building a fictional story based on facts. The story is responsible for converting the clinical facts into a narration that is believable and could, to a certain extent, be experienced.

Imagining a world where...

Bottom: Scenario Introductory Cards

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Kit 2: Artificial Intelligence Dominance RESEARCH Humans and Tools Since prehistoric times, humans have been augmenting their incapabilities by inventing tools to fill in where they fall short. Think knives to compensate the absence of sharp incisors, slates and pencils to document- to compensate the lack of short term recall memory.

But tools are more than just fillers for human incapacities.

They in fact push human capability even further. We don’t have claws or fangs, so our ancestors augmented their physical abilities with spears and arrows. We don’t have large working memories, so our ancestors augmented their cognitive abilities with abacuses and writing. And these tools didn’t just make human lives easier — they completely changed how humans lived. Writing especially: it wasn’t “just” a way to record things, it led to the creation of mathematics, science, history, literary arts, and other pillars of modern civilization.

Doug Engelbert was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction. Of all the tools we’ve created to augment our intelligence, writing may be the most important. But when he “de-augmented” the pencil, by tying a brick to it became much harder to even write a single word. And when you make it hard to do the low-level parts of writing, it becomes near impossible to do the higher-level parts of writing: organizing your thoughts, exploring new ideas and expressions, cutting it all down to what’s essential. That was Doug’s message: a tool doesn’t “just” make something easier — it allows for new, previously-impossible ways of thinking, of living, of being.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Evolution of Tools Doug Engelbert chased his dream of intelligence augmentation for several years, and on December 9th, 1968, showed the world a new computer system that brought the idea of intelligence amplification to life.

Over the next few decades, the personal computer gave ordinary people the power of computing, something only governments and big corporations could afford previously.

A particle physics lab in Switzerland released a little thing called the “World Wide Web”, which let people share knowledge using things called “web pages”, and people could even create connections between pieces of knowledge using something called a “hyper link”.

Steve Jobs once called the computer a bicycle for the mind.

Note the metaphor of a bicycle, instead of a something like a car — a bicycle lets you go faster than the human body ever can, and yet, unlike the car, the bicycle is human-powered.

(Also, the bicycle is healthier for you.) The strength of metal, with a human at its heart. A collaboration — a centaur.

The Centaur Model (Humans augmented by AI) Human nature, for better or worse, doesn’t change much from millennia to millennia. To see the strengths that are unique and universal to all humans look at children.

Children, even at a young age, are already proficient at: intuition, analogy, creativity, empathy, social skills. Some may scoff at these for being “soft skills”, but the fact that we can make an AI that plays chess but not hold a normal five-minute conversation, is proof that these skills only seem “soft” to us because evolution’s already put in the 3.5 billion years of hard work for us.

To see the weaknesses of humans, go to school. This is the stuff that’s hard for human intelligences, and requires years of training to gain even a basic competency: arithmetic, computation, memory, logic, numeracy. Note that these are all things a phone can do better and faster than the smartest human alive.

Now, those are the strengths & weaknesses of humans — what about the strengths & weaknesses of AI? Computers are, obviously, best at computing. They’re good at crunching trillions of numbers, scanning billions of data points, considering millions of possibilities. Numbers may be AI’s greatest strength — but numbers are also their greatest weakness. Right now, you can only train an AI if you have a “cost function”, that is, if there are quantitatively better or worse answers. This is why AIs have bested grandmasters at chess and Go — where it’s clear that win > draw > lose — but are awkward at best at having conversation, creating inventions, making art, negotiating business, formulating scientific hypotheses — where you can’t simply rank all your answers on a single dimension from best to worst. In those kinds of tasks, you’d want a human being, who can step back from a single answer and ask, “why?” or “how?” or “what if?”

Right: Doug Engelbert Bottom: De-augmenting a pencil

In other words: AIs are best at choosing answers. Humans are best at choosing questions.

Sources: Journal of Design and Science, MIT Media LabsHow to Become a Centaur, Nicky Case

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Ideation (Story Building) What does it mean to be living in a world where all human incapabilities are overcome by Artificial Intelligence Augmentation? What kind of dreams and aspirations would people have? What would children play with, adults desire, and elderly be content of?

Bottom: Scenario Introductory Cards

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

Framework: Post Apocalyptic Educational Toolkit The Post apocalyptic Educational Toolkits will be a set of evolving toolkits. Each kit will be based in a scenario where one global catastrophe has been realized. Therefore, each kit would be a portal into a future trajectory where the world has changed owing to events of the catastrophe.

That being said, the experience of the toolkit would not be in tone of threat or warning. It would rather be that of resilience and rebuilding, thriving in a new world The Kit functions as: For Adults To remind the truly important and timeless knowledge and skills that are necessary to impart.

To make them envision the skills/ knowledge that might be required in the future and retrace their steps back to today and begin teaching them to their children. To help adults see the needs of tomorrow and prepare for today.

To share/ teach/ develop these skills with the children and spend more time with them in the process.

For children To make learning fun and hands on. To run their imagination wild, and experience education through story telling.

Develop creative problem solving skills and independence.

For Society As a critique of the current approach to learning. To foster acceptance and respect towards pursuit of interest in non conventional topics. To bring more focus on imbibed learning not rote learning. To develop fluid perspectives flexibility in perceptions and awareness of paradigms

Contents of each kit On the bases of the outlines drafted on how to design an experience around an imaginary paradigm, furthermore how to get people to build a world there The proposed contents of the Kits would be AMBIANCE CREATION TOOLS To transport the user into this world of geomagnetic pole reversal. Departure from this reality into another reality / in a room setting ACCESSORIES A LAD/Apparel set of things, merchandise almost, which are objects from a story, to enable role-play.

SCENARIO VISUALIZATION TOOL A storytelling device, visually compelling. A mat full of figures, objects, intertwined to tell stories PHENOMENON VISUALIZATION TOOLS These are objects to experience the phenomenon of the story e.g. Magnetic field tail of a planet, Circular rotation of the planet and its impact on the field, magnetism from home to cosmic scale, cosmic scale visualization of the phenomenon involved. Selection of content here based on how visually rich it is. Magnetic Anomalies PROBLEM SOLVING 10 puzzles on Navigation in Geomagnetism 10 Puzzles on Migration patterns of Species after the event Reorganize solar system based on magnetic strengths of planets Gravity Electricity and Magnetism 10 Experiments on life without electricity n This kit is about the visual / sensory experience of the invisible phenomenon n To reach a scale we don’t think of n The Kit should correspond to the syllabus of kid’s school, i.e. 5th grade sciences geography n Appeal to the child in their language n Design language of the kit look and feel should appeal to a fifth grader –check out archaic game packaging

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Right: First visualization of the kit. museum of curious imaginings

MOCI Terrariums

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Dymaxion Map A Merchandise Product

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

Dymaxion Map Overview The MOCI Dymaxion Map is a merchandise product which is a flat-pack info-graphic providing trivia on the product it goes with. This particular Dymaxion map is a merchandise spin-off of the Mushroom Cloud Terrarium.

While the main product delves deep into the chosen subject matter of the product, the map is an accessory which gives factual, macro information. In this case while the terrarium talks about one instance of Nuclear Fallout and it’s resultant impacts, the Dymaxion gives a world-view of all the Nuclear Fallouts so far.

The map is a development of Icosahedron. This particular map projection was chosen as a medium to confuse the audience and present an alternative view of looking at the world, quite literally.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Bucky Fuller’s Dymaxion The Fuller Projection Map is the only flat map of the entire surface of the Earth which reveals our planet as one island in one ocean, without any visually obvious distortion of the relative shapes and sizes of the land areas, and without splitting any continents. It was developed by R. Buckminster Fuller who “By 1954, after working on the map for several decades,” finally realized a “satisfactory deck plan of the six and one half sextillion tons Spaceship Earth.”

Traditional world maps reinforce the elements that separate humanity and fail to highlight the patterns and relationships emerging from the ever evolving and accelerating process of globalization. Instead of serving as “a precise means for seeing the world from the dynamic, cosmic and comprehensive viewpoint,” the maps we use still cause humanity to “appear inherently disassociated, remote, selfinterestedly preoccupied with the political concept of its got to be you or me; there is not enough for both.”

All flat world map representations of the spherical globe contain some amount of distortion either in shape, area, distance or direction measurements. On the well-known Mercator world map, Greenland appears to be three times its relative globe size and Antarctica appears as a long thin white strip along the bottom edge of the map. Even the popular Robinson Projection, now used in many schools, still contains a large amount of area distortion with Greenland appearing 60 percent larger than its relative globe size.

Fuller’s view was that given a way to visualize the whole planet with greater accuracy, we humans will be better equipped to address challenges as we face our common future aboard Spaceship Earth.

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

The Master Dymaxion Since the Dymaxion Map is a merchandise product of the brand MOCI and will be replicated in different themes to suit the products it accompanies, the primary task in creation of the map was to make a master Dymaxion Map which would serve as a base for the rest. The creation of the base map is narrated below.

Abstraction The client envisioned the map to visually not be as accurate in continent depiction as the original dymaxion map.

The landmass had to be a mere representation of its real counterpart, and not an accurate depiction. For this purpose, the first task was abstraction of the map.

The intent was to abstract the map lines to keep them simpler yet recognizable.

Chosen Design Direction The chosen direction was that of edge angular lines created keeping in mind control points on the map. It was decided that a grid must be derived from these maps so as to chart the dymaxion maps produced in the future.

Top: A mood-board compiled to refer to the design language.

Bottom: The chosen design directions and the map derived from it.

Right: Final Dymaxion for the A4 size Bottom: Final Dymaxion for the A3 size

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

Mutant Plant Terrarium Dymaxion Iteration 1

An attempt at a themed Dymaxion was made through the Mutant Plant Terrarium. The brief was to compile trivia and tid-bits of information about nuclear blasts and fallouts around the world and present it along with the terrarium as a specimen of the macro world-view of the topic.

The first iteration was an attempt at visualization of the information and what it meant for the Dymaxion given its unique projection style.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Iteration 2 The inputs before the second iteration were to make the map more ‘nuclear’. Information was collected and compiled for the map to have tidbits.

The composition was asked to be made simpler like that of a n architectural plan and the color scheme was asked to be kept close to earthy colors and tones

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

Iteration 3

Of the three, the map in the brown was the most preferred.

More information was to be added to the map to make it a heavily info-graphical. The map could also come in more earthy colors. The production process was decided to be screen printing, with buff colored papers for the base.

Iteration 4

Experiments on the portrayal of information on the map were carried out, experiments on how information would sit in the negative area and in the positive area, and what it would look like once it was folded.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

Finalized Map The final map was made to suit the production requirement.

The hierarchy of information was carefully designed and yet the map was made to look like and overload of information to have ample amount of curiosity touch points to attract the viewer.

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

Prototyping

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Dymaxion Map

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Website Development An Initial Exercise to Kickstart the MOCI Website

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

MOCI Website Development Aim

To understand and identify the brand’s niche

Goal

To create a website that would make the user believe that they were navigating through a popular, reputed museum on discoveries and inventions, which regularly held galleries and exhibitions, and displayed curious exhibits. The web presence was to be much like that of the Guggenheim, MOMA, or MET. The keywords attributed to the brand and the first impression of the website were Niche, Cult, Clique, Collectible.

Overview

The Brand Museum of Curious Imaginings will primarily function out of the museum website and its corresponding e-shop website and Instagram handle. The museum website is the landing page through which the user will discover the shop page. The Instagram feed is more of a curiosity feed which predominantly showcases intriguing content interlaced with MOCI products (which of course, are also intriguing content). Referring to the online presence and related e-commerce website of museums like the MET, MoMA, Guggenheim, Museum di Galileo Florence, The Indian Museum Kolkata, The Museum de Galileo lost The first step was to define the broad audience to whom the website would cater. This defined of anyone of any age group with a curious mind and a keen eye for. People who subscribed to other channels of knowledge and geographical, cross-cultural, content for example the fan-base of National Geographic or Discovery Channel, or Insider.

The second step was to figure out how products and artifacts would fit into the above defined domain, for the sake of convenience termed here as ‘the domain of ‘Knowledge Sharing’.

Lastly, these artifacts come together on the website in the form of a museum. The products will be woven together through a narrative tethering on the edge of fact and fiction.

Apart from the artifacts, the other items the website would display would be Artworks, Posters, Wallpapers, Stickers, Print Artworks, Posters, Catalogue, Product Look-books (All content on one product), Postcards, Publications, (compilation of all stories/ artworks)

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Case studies Brands with similar models were studied to understand how they position themselves on the world wide web platform.

Aspects to look out were how much information to they provide, how do they narrate through the website and how do stories lead to the shop.

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

Website Mock Iteration 1

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Iteration 2

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

Product Panel Mock

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Museum Space Mock

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

Webliography

Bibliography

https://www.huffingtonpost https://www.nytimes.com https://www.theguardian.com https://www.theverge.com https://www.wired.com https://www.fastcompany.com https://www.brainpickings.org https://scroll.in

Books For Discursive Design Study Dunne, Anthony, and Fiona Raby. Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. S.l.: MIT, 2014.

Dunne, Anthony. Hertzian Tales: Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2008.

http://www.historydiscussion http://www.in.undp.org

Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. S.l.: Vintage, 2018.

http://826la.org https://www.atlasobscura.com https://www.nasa.gov https://www.isro.gov.in

For Product Research Ardalan, Ziba, and Nicolas Bourriaud. The Islanders an Introduction. Londen: Koenig Books, 2010.

https://www.europeana.eu https://en.wikipedia.org https://www.sahapedia.org https://www.ted.com https://99percentinvisible.org https://medium.com

Dixon, Dougal. After Man: A Zoology of The Future. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 2003.

Emergency: What to Do in an Emergency: Readers Digest Action Guide. Pleasantville, NY: Readers Digest Association, 1988.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com https://www.nationalgeographic.com https://www.core77.com http://www.yankodesign.com https://www.dezeen.com https://www.domusweb.it

Lal, Pranay G. Indica: a Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent. Gurgaon, Haryana, India: Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books, 2016.

https://futurism.com https://factordaily.com https://www.futurity.org https://www.futuristspeaker.com http://futurearchitectureplatform.org https://io9.gizmodo.com https://sciencing.com https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu https://www.technologyreview.com

graduation project

harshali paralikar

Haeckel, Ernst, and Maike Biederstädt. Creatures of the Deep: The Pop-Up Book. Munich: Prestel, 2018.

b.des product design

Smith, Keri. The Guerilla Art Kit. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.

Smil, Vaclav. Global Catastrophes and Trends: the next 50 Years. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2012.

Papers

Television Series

For Discursive Design Study

Brooker, Charlie, Barney Reisz, Annabel Jones, Otto Bathurst, Konnie Huq, Euros Lyn, Jesse Armstrong, et al.

2012. Black mirror.

Malpass, Matt. “Between Wit and Reason: Defining Associative, Speculative, and Critical Design in Practice.” Design and Culture 5, no. 3 (2013): 333–56. doi:10.2752/17547081 3x13705953612200.

Inayatullah, Sohail. “Listening to Non-Western Perspectives.”

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. doi:10.4324/978 0415249126-f083-1.

For Product Research Freeman, Lindsey A. “Catastrophic Snow Globes as Oneiric and Mnemonic Gadgets.” Space and Culture 19, no. 2 (December 2016): 116–26. doi:10.1177/1206331215621001.

Smith, Timothy P., Jim A. Therrell, Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, and Candra D. Thornton. Age Determination Guidelines: Relating Childrens Ages to Toy Characteristics and Play Behavior. Place of publication not identified: Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2002.

Berk, Laura E. Development through the Lifespan. Boston: Pearson, 2014.

Miller, Bruce, Elizabeth Moss, et al. 2017. Handmaid’s Tale.

Films Coogler, Ryan, Joe Robert Cole, Kevin Feige, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, et al. 2018. Black Panther.

Garland, Alex. Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, et al. 2014. Ex Machina Nolan, Christopher, Jonathan Nolan, Emma Thomas, Lynda Rosen Obst, Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, et al. 2015. Interstellar.

Scott, Ridley, Run Run Shaw, Jerry Perenchio, Bud Yorkin, Hampton Fancher, David Webb Peoples, Michael Deeley, et al. 2007. Blade Runner

World Economic Forum. “White Paper Eight Futures of Work Scenarios and Their Implications,” n.d.

Global Prioritites Project, and The Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford. “Global Catastrophic Risks 2016,”.

Global Prioritites Project, and The Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford. “Global Catastrophic Risks 2017,”.

Ruff, Tilman A. “The Humanitarian Impact and Implications of Nuclear Test Explosions in the Pacific Region.” International Review of the Red Cross 97, no. 899 (2015): 775–813. doi:10.1017/s1816383116000163.

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Acknowledgments I have waited my entire life of 22 years and 11 months to write an acknowledgment section in a book that I have written. It’s been my equivalent of standing on a stage with a trophy in hand saying…

I am grateful to Salil Parekh without whose faith in my ability and lack of acquaintances in my product design batch, I would never have landed this project. His recommendation of my name for MOCI brought to me a dream graduation project.

I am deeply, profoundly, almost burstingly grateful to Tarangini Jindal and Ayaz Basrai. Their faith and unending patience throughout the course of the project kept me going even in the hopelessly discombobulated days Their constant support topped with boundless enthusiasm (along with the playtimes with Yohaan) have made this project a joy to have worked on!

A big bow of gratitude to Yatharth, for taking time out to read through the first manuscript of my document, and to Vishwanath, to go through the last one.

Everyone at the Greenhouse, Goa, for their kindness and cooperation. It was an honor to be working out of the studio.

Thank you Ketki and Kaaki for taking such good care of me.

A big hug to all the friends near and far, who’ve been with me throughout this project- that’s you Aidan, Utkarsh, Sooraj, Archana, Prakruthi, Binayak, Sneha, Saloni, Pragya, and Jyoti.

My girls, Aboli, Gaurika, Anushka, and Ushashi always there to hold me in my falls.

A giant hug and heartfelt thank you to Shefali, Supreetha, Kamal, Vohra, Aishwarya and Aishwarya, Swayam, Vaidehi, and Pankaj for helping pull this feat of a jury within two days!

A shoutout to PDUG’14- we made it guys, it feels unreal!

Thank you Praveen Nahar, for being the most amazing head of the department- Product Design, NID; for being a mindbogglingly confusing mentor- ambiguity is a gift you gave in every interaction; and for being a living breathing system of knowledge that you are.

Take a bow the Critters WhatsApp group- Madhu, Ajitesh, Aarushi, Uttisht and Yatharth. You have been the brainmate (intellectual equivalent of a soul-mate) that any brain would vye for. I owe many a moments of inspiration to you.

Thanking everyone who helped in countless ways, direct and indirect, and all the friends and well wishers. I’m humbly grateful for everything.

And finally, thank you Aai, Baba, and Deep, for putting up with the whims of this designer in the making and loving her ardently all along.

And to you, fellow NIDian, if you’ve read my doc this far.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to narrate my story.

I hope you find what you’re looking for. Wishing you buckets full of inspiration, and dedication to see it through.

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

graduation project

harshali paralikar

b.des product design

Postscript The Graduation Jury Overview The Graduation jury is usually an anticlimactic event to a buildup of many months of blood, sweat, and tears. It is looked upon as that moment when the students labour finally comes to fruition. I had very little time- a total of two and a half days perhaps- to internalize what it means to ge giving this jury. I experienced it more as a milestone in the project, and it left me with the bigger question of ‘what next for discursive design in India?’

I was extremely fortunate to have an exceptionally amazing panel for my jury. It came at the cost less time, as my jury date was spontaneously decided and i got three days to submit my document and prepare for the presentation.

Consequently, I ask the reader to pardon all the mistakes and lapses in this document and know that it comes nothing close to being a specimen of a well designed doc.On behest of the panels, the highlights of the jury and concluding thoughts have been captured as follows: Reflective Practise Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one’s actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning. It involves paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This in turn leads to developmental insight. A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.

Reflective practice can be an important tool in practicebased professional learning settings where people learn from their own professional experiences, rather than from formal learning or knowledge transfer. It may be the most important source of personal/ professional development and improvement.

It is also an important way to bring together theory and practice; through reflection a person is able to see and label forms of thought and theory within the context of his or her work. A person who reflects throughout his or her practice is not just looking back on past actions and events, but is taking a conscious look at emotions, experiences, actions, and responses, and using that information to add to his or her existing knowledge base and reach a higher level of understanding.

Knowing in Action is behaving on the tacit knowledge you’ve gained based on doing things. In this case, the more the experience, more the gained tacit knowledge.

Eg. Once you’ve learnt how to ride a bike, one just has to sit on it and know what they have to do.

Reflection in Action is reflecting cautiously and quickly of an action. It involves taking a minute and thinking what one is going to do.

Reflection on Action is thinking after the event- reflecting back on what and how things happened Reflective Journals A reflective journal is a medium to reflect on one’s actions and experiences to improve personally and professionally.

In the reflective journal, one has to identify critical learning events that took place and then alayze them. Below you will find some guidelines to help you through the process. The activity involves paying attention to the following: 1. Situation: What actually happened?

2. Affect: What was its impact on you personally?

3. Interpretation: What did you learn from the experience?

4. Decision: What did you decide to do so as to become a better engineer?

Bill Gaver Bill Gaver is Professor of Design and co-director of the Interaction Research Studio at Goldsmiths, University of London. His research on design-led methodologies and innovative technologies for everyday life led him to develop an internationally recognised studio bringing the skills of designers together with expertise in ubiquitous computing and sociology. In his paper Designing Cultural probes, co-authored with Anthony Dunne and Elena Pacenti, he addresses the problem of design research in a foreign, unknown group. The paper puts forward Cultural probes. a collection of tools, artifacts and tasks intended to provoke the user to look and think about their environment in new ways.

Ludic Design Ludic means showing spontaneous and undirected playfulness. Ludic design focuses on playful curiosity based engagement.

Indian Futures The Nesta Article on Speculaive Design explains the practise and questions whether Discursive Design is a design niche or a new tool for government innovation. The article features the cones of future mental model represented as a torch light. Curiosuly enough, the hand holding the torch is of a white skin complexion.

This raises a question of who is driving our future,what is included and not included in their idea of present as of now.

My project has channeled indian discursive storytelling to some extent, the real challenge henceforth would be to identify where in the cone of future these products like and if they can provocatively impact the society at large.

museum of curious imaginings

Website Development

harshaliparalikar@gmail.com