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Furniture as expression
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Though design today is a reflection of the style that is currently in vogue, it is time to come out with ideas that are uniquely ours, which reflect the rich and diverse expressions that make up India.
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BY AND large, design education in India is based on the principles of the Bauhaus movement in Europe that followed the Industrial Revolution.
The rise and spread of industrial methods of production allowed the possibility of making multiple versions of any product, an idea, which is now commonplace but which at that point of time was revolutionary.
But these methods were being used to replicate decorative sculptural elements that were based on craft skills and transferred a carving, for example, into a pattern, which could be cast in iron.
The Bauhaus manifesto called for a break with tradition, leading to the development of abstract forms purged of all ornament. Functions should be readily apparent, leading to a utilitarian beauty consistent with a machine aesthetic. Pure forms that used the properties of materials and the industrial processes were preferred to the decorative forms that craftsmen used to make.
The influence of this thinking has been profound and has lasted to this day. Although there have been many other movements that veered away from such a rigid logic, design education has not.
It is independent of cultural influences and deals with pure abstract principles. After the Bauhaus, the schools at Ulm in Germany and Basle in Switzerland wrote the definitive methods to impart this education.
The American designers, Charles and Ray Eames, are generally credited with laying the foundations of design education in India.
The Eames Report still strikes a chord, especially in its call for a sober introspection of Indian values. It held up the lota as an example of how objects have evolved in Indian culture and how perfectly they do so many things.
While we still have a strong craft tradition in India, it is not part of design education and it is left to the designer to learn by himself. He discovers that there is more to design than pure principles, more to graphics than clean symbols, more to furniture than perfect geometries. That is when the enrichment happens within, making each person create his particular expression, especially in the field of furniture. Furniture is a very personal thing, both for the designer and the person who buys and uses it. Our tradition, upbringing, education and exposure make each of us have definite preferences in terms of taste, both as designers and as users. But as practising designers, we are also subjected to and influenced by the visuals we see in designer magazines and books. The influence could be subliminal but it is always there. So there is always a reflection of the style that is currently in vogue, especially in the use of certain materials and forms that become endemic. Then you have a confusion of everybody's work having the same look and feel.
However, in a country like Japan, for instance, you have furniture that is extremely contemporary yet with an aesthetic appeal that is very Japanese in the use of line, form and material. I feel, it is in this direction we, designers, should be looking towards, to let learning activate an expression, and to use our skills and education to give reality to this expression that is very much contemporary. And then, instead of making this object a high-priced icon that is affordable by a few, we should look at materials and processes that can make it into an affordable product for many.
This sort of deliberate and sober introspection could, if done by a lot of designers in India, perhaps result in the discovery of new idioms and styles that come from within and are refreshingly different from whatever the current international look is.
And if there is an equally enthusiastic response from the people who buy the furniture, then you could generate more employment that allows the contemporary technician to be a craftsman, making furniture that infuses technology with manual skill.
Sometimes, all this sounds like wishful thinking. The voice of reason says that you must do what is marketable, and what is marketable is what people want, and what they want is the current style. But then, on the other hand, how does something new happen? I do believe that design has matured as a profession in India and there is a certain confidence in our approach.
It is time to dig deep and come out with ideas that are uniquely ours and reflect the rich and diverse expressions that make up India.
SUBRAMANIAM SUNDAR
(Subramaniam Sundar is an industrial designer who
can be reached at
designstorechn@vsnl.net
and at tessaract@vsnl.com)
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