Design application can empower commoner
Pune, February 17, 2018: Design is defined as a plan produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is made. But today its is widely recognised as having decorative appeal. To change this perception and imbibe the true sense of Design, Neils Peter Flint, owner, NPFlint Consultancy and Swapnil Chaturvedi, Founder, Samagra spoke on how application of Design can trigger change and empower commoner during Prof. M P Ranjan Memorial Lecture at Day 2 of Pune Design Festival (PDF) on Saturday.
Organised by the Association of Designers of India (ADI), the theme of 12th edition was ‘Designism’ Ashish Deshpande – President, ADI; Balkrishna (Bala) Mahajan – President, ADI, Pune; Darpana Athalye – Vice-President, ADI, Pune, Ashwini Deshpande – GS, ADI, Pune, Siddharth Kabra – Treasurer, ADI, Pune, Rugwed Deshpande and Nachiket Thakur – Members, Managing Committee, ADI, were present on the occasion.
“Instead of being the change, we must design the change we want to see in the world. I believe people can themselves be agents of change if they are taught optimum usage of technology,” expressed Chaturvedi, famously known as The Poop Guy while speaking on Urban Public Sanitation.
Flint who is from Denmark spoke on concept of ‘Social Design’ and ‘Sustainability’ in the lecture. He said, “Design is not about smart packaging, but it is about improving life in truly sustainable way. The need of the hour demands making of things that can sustain atleast for coming 1000 years on this planet. Any material even plastic can be used forever if designed well. We must not keep the goal of going plastic free but to be more plastic conscious,especially in India .”
Chaturvedi who proudly calls himself as Chief Toilet Cleaner affirmed that sanitation as a problem won’t be solved merely by building toilets. “To push people towards healthy sanitation it is important to develop a complete toilet experience for users. We have made sure to transform design in such a way that entire perception towards toilet is uplifted. Along with clean, well-lit and ventilated toilets, introduction of various facilities like providing banking services, easy access to pure drinking water and even low-cost insurance have increased the use to Public toilets by 50% with 95% public satisfaction,” he added.
Samagra aims to provide awesome sanitation and value-added services (Health & Finance) to 20 million Urban poor in next 5 years.
Flint stated that the modern lifestyle requires massive resources and hence we must collaborate with nature and deliver back to nature in appropriate ways by practicing sustainability. He is currently working on ‘Micro Macro Housing’ (MMH) which involves designing cluster living for people. “Through MMH the aim is to develop global villages which are self-sufficient and sustainable. Provisions to utilise organic waste, faeces and urine for developing energy will be inculcated.” Flint further said that technology like robotics are certainly futuristic and one must welcome it.
