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Shrikant Nivasarkar

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pg 16 | Photographed by Pradip Goswami

George Nakashima 02 Mira Nakashima 12 Rohan Sharad Dahotre 32 Rebecca Reubens 38 Yogesh Chaudhary 44 Pravinsinh Solanki 52 Manpreet Singh 58

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Editor in Chief | sudhir@indidesign.in

October 2016 | # 74

Sudhir at India’s Best Design Studio Awards 2016

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Mind the Gap Often the easiest way to problem-solve in a situation is to identify the current situation, determine the aspiration (what the situation should be), locate the gap, and then go about preparing how to fill that gap. Sounds very simple and logical.

Except that both ends are not definitive. The future is always debatable, and aspirations can get complex to decipher when we have too many stakeholders in that future. Dropping a pin on how far in the future you should think also becomes an issue.

Shrikant Nivsarkar pg 16 |

Photographed by Pradip Goswami

George Nakashima 02 Mira Nakashima 12 Rohan Sharad Dahotre 32 Rebecca Reubens 38 Yogesh Chaudhary 44 Pravinsinh Solanki 52 Manpreet Singh 58

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Designindia was founded in 2002. It was started as a platform for interaction for the design community in India and abroad.

Over the years it has grown into a forum spread over many social and professional networking domains, linking design professionals into an active, interactive and thought leading community.

On the other end, assessing a current scenario is a brutal job. Designers can be ruthless when looking at the reality of a current situation; they tend to present it as a mistake or a problem, very often pointing fingers in the process. So much so that such analysis brings about a lot of negativity in the current atmosphere. Presenting the current is always a political question, which many designers neglect.

The gap fulfillment is always a strategic decision. You would need much more than your design skills to be able to present a solution that truly fills the gap. Whether someone will agree with your solution depends on how much they trust you. This trust will depend on how aligned you are to how they see their current and aspired situations.

This is why I say every designer has to be a researcher and dreamer at the same time, with a super firm grip on design methods and skills.

Sudhir

http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/designindia

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FURNITURE DESIGN

The trees of life Though his name is synonymous with American art furniture, George Nakashima called himself a woodworker…it was the wood that moved him, more than what he created out of it!

A self proclaimed druid, he believed that the spirit of a tree lived on even after it had been cut down. George Nakashima, one of the leading names of 20th century furniture design, based his entire life’s work on the idea that he could ‘interrupt the sequence between the life and death of a tree’ by doing something that would enable it to continue on. “My job is to give the tree that has been cut down a www.indipool.com 3

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FURNITURE DESIGN

A legend lives on

POOL connects with Mira Nakashima, who has nurtured her famous father’s legacy with love and dedication

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COVER STORY

A Philosophy for Design Renowned furniture designer Shrikant Nivasarkar relives his forty-year design journey, glossing over the accolades to focus on the satisfaction that comes from a job well done

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Animal Prints

Rohan Sharad Dahotre’s illustrations are inspired by his wish to give something back to nature Goat

How did your tryst with illustration begin?

RS: As a child, I was fond of cartoon characters. Back in the day, there was only one channel, Doordarshan. I used to love watching the amazing animated series like Jungle Book, Disney's TaleSpin and Ducktales. I was quite lucky to have very liberal parents who let me watch all the television I wanted, and I would get engrossed in the few but amazing cartoon series that I still feel are unmatched. I would often sketch the characters, and that’s how my love for sketching developed. I pursued a Bachelor in Communication Design degree at Pune’s Symbiosis Institute 32 POOL #74

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SUSTAINABILITY

The ‘Crop Collection’ utilizes waste bamboo pieces from production

Being the Change Rebecca Reubens believes in creating systems that will bring sustainability into mainstream design What awakened your interest in sustainability?

RR: I studied Industrial Design at NID, majoring in Furniture and Interiors. For most of my time there, I wanted to be a mainstream industrial designer. Then MP Ranjan coerced me into working with bamboo and with craft-groups. I was astounded by the poverty in terms of money and infrastructure and the richness in terms of so much else – craft, technique, culture, producer-base, material palette, etc. I decided to work for people who most needed design, but couldn’t afford it. The obvious next

choice was working in the development sector, so I could do this, and still sustain myself. I joined INBAR and stayed with them for seven years.

During this time, I took a long hard look at the development sector and realized that the system didn’t make designers (or anybody else) accountable for the funds spent and for the outcome or even the output. I wanted to work in a system which was more real – where I was more accountable and more committed to doing better work because I had more skin in the game.

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FASHION

Shaping Choices Yogesh Chaudhary launched his fashion label Surendri to create designs to suit women with vastly different body types and lifestyles

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FURNITURE DESIGN

Learning to Fill Spaces Pravinsinh Solanki switched from a glitzy corporate career to a more fulfilling one in academics How did you become a designer?

PS: I was good at sketching and drawing in school, and liked to make models as a hobby, but I never wanted to become a designer. I come from a Rajput family and wanted to join the armed forces to serve my country, but my eyesight was not good enough for that. I joined the Institute of Environment Design at Vallabh Vidhyanagar, where I did a five-year Bachelor’s course in Interior Design. I worked with Karan Grover, one of India’s leading architects, for two years and then joined NID for Master’s in Furniture and Interior Design. I graduated from NID in 2007 and became an industrial designer.

Tell us about your Italian experience.

PS: I was shortlisted from NID to do a two-month internship with Grottini Srl in

Italy. I also completed my NID diploma project from Grottini and was later hired by the company. Grottini changed my life and my design thinking process. I learned hardcore retail store design from them: concept to design, design to prototype, and prototype to execution. Grottini gave us freedom to interact directly with the client which made us confident and taught us about communication.

It was great working in an advanced and developed country. I learned how to design things simply, the process, the finishing, the work culture, time management, work ethics, culture and much more. My responsibility started from design to final executions; I set up retail stores around the globe. I enjoyed working with professionals who respected one’s skills and intelligence in design.

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FURNITURE DESIGN

Wooden off-cut screen system 58 POOL #74

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