Reflecting on the Future of Design Education in 21st Century India: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Design Foundation

Abstract

Design Fundamentals or Basic Design, as it was referred to in early design education has come a long way since its origins at Bauhaus and its further evolution at Ulm. In the nascent period of industrial design, the work primarily focused on physical products. Today, however, designers need to deal with complex issues. 21st century design education needs to be able to design and develop strategies for all and not just look at ‘Good Form’. There is a visible shift from client-driven projects towards a more reflective ‘Issue Based’ design education that strives for more socially inclusive, locally/glocally/globally relevant solutions - from ‘Human Centric Design’ to ‘Life Centric Design’. There are no universal design solutions available that can address the unique problems of the Indian people such as healthcare, rural and urban sanitation, quality education at the primary and secondary levels, transportation, rural housing, agricultural support, safe water and many other sectors of the Indian economy that provide opportunities for design intervention. It is becoming very important in design education to include political, social and ecological discourses in a collaborative, inter/multidisciplinary way thus enabling a conceptual understanding of ‘intangibles’ like values, social responsibilities, empathy, humility and local/global relevance and perhaps then participate actively towards nation building. This in-progress research attempts to establish that there is a need for a paradigm shift in design education in 21st century India and scope aspects that need to be rooted and nurtured in design foundation.