| | 8 October 2017HIGHERReviewIN MY VIEWDesign, as the word suggests, is about DE - SIGN-ING. To detach, dissect, distil, discern, analyse, interpret and articulate the eventual outcome. It is an intense and involved process. Design is not about finding one answer to one question. It is about asking manifold questions, finding many answers to each of these questions and picking one answer that answers most to all questions. Thus Design is a holistic phenome-non. Utilitas (function), Firmitas (strength) and Venustas (beauty) being the three dictums of any design, as spelt out by Vitruvius, the space design remains holistic and bal-anced resolution of Culture, Climate and Construction. As an ancient Indian treatise, Samrangan sutradhar, artic-ulates, the Architect as Sthapati should have right knowl-edge, should be well versed with the traditional sciences, should be skilful, as well as should develop an ingrained and intuitive sense of the value judgement to discern the appropriate. Design is about discretion. It is about values. About abilities to discern between appropriate and in-ap-propriate. It is about appropriateness to the given milieu of the place as well as its people.What has then design education ought to be?One story perhaps says it all. A pupil went to a Master to learn architecture. The master said to pupil that he needs first to learn Sculpting (Shilp Shastra) before he learns ar-chitecture because architecture is all about dynamic form, composition, visual balance, mass and materiality. So the pupil goes to another master to learn sculpting. The sculp-tor asks pupil to learn dance before learning sculpting as sculpting requires understanding of body forms, gestures, emotions, as well as visual dynamics. The pupil approach-es now the dance master. Even dance master refers him to the music teacher as music being the pre requisite to dance because it entails compositions, rhythm, pauses, moods, emotions as well as atonement of senses. When pupil approaches music teacher he asks him to learn po-etry prior to learning music. One needs to know lyrics, rhyming, stanzas, syntax structure, grammar, semantics, communications and emotions. The pupil finally reaches out to the poetry master. The poetry master has philo-sophical reply. He says how can one teach poetry? For po-etry one has to live life. Poetry emerges from life and the day to day encounters.Thus space making is mother of all arts. More impor-tantly it is an all encompassing phenomenon. It is about people, ways of life and the environment we live in.We have had various models of ideal learning from Indian mythology, which refers to attributes of and ap-proaches to healthy education. Abhimanyu: The Garbh SamskarThe belief that learning begins right in the womb essen-tially refers to the clues within the environment around us. How our surrounding environment influences us and that we pick up things from the same, even subconscious-ly. So learning environment has to be healthy, informative and most importantly inspiring.Sandipani Ashram: Holistic Learning by LivingEven Lord Krishna had to undertake full apprenticeship at Master's ashram, in the Gurukul mode, and had to learn DESIGNING THE DESIGN EDUCATION TO ADD VALUES THROUGH DESIGNBy Yatin Pandya, Founder, Footprints E.A.R.T.H
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