design

BBMP likes to create regular, small contracts. This system is informally known as 'hale kallu, hosa billu', and is well understood by all the stakeholders !! Take the example of shoulder drains. To begin with, it is common sense that a drain that collects rain water from the road should be built adjacent to the road and not to the property walls. But what we do is the exact opposite. Thereafter, to connect utilities like water and sewage to the properties, we run pipes across the drains, and these pipes becomes obstacles that collect various things thrown into the drain. As…

Recently, at my monthly quiz meet, I was intrigued by this "green" container for chai, from Chai Point.  The container seemed made of cardboard, an ecologically friendly material. But when I visited the website of Chai Point You can visit it here. I found that it was made of "food grade PET" - PET is polyethylene terephthalate, which is, in their own words, "use and throw".  Only  the outside cover is cardboard! Surely, using thermos flasks that were properly cleaned would have been a better solution, especially when we now have metal flasks which retain heat for a long time and are…

The City authorities have decided to redesign and redevelop some of the historic markets in Bangalore. In an article in the Bangalore Mirror, 'Is this the end of the road for the city's iconic markets?', we read that the government believes that a joint venture model will give the markets a facelift and help get higher revenues. I can't help thinking about who has been "designing" our Bazaars? I'm thinking of 'bazaars' as not just the market buildings, but the cluster of push cart vendors at the street corner, the street bazaars, the market precincts that sometimes spread over much…

This article begins with understanding the new mall culture in India. It then explores from the past the bazaar culture that has always been a part of life in India. Thereafter, it turns to the world of form and design, arguing that a clearer understanding of and deliberate choice of certain designs and patterns can more suitably engage the Indian consumer, offering both social anchor and a lively consumer experience. A Mall Culture In India, as elsewhere in the developing  world, malls are being constructed in small and big cities, and retail shopping is taking on a whole new direction.…

A touch of imagination, to match the hat!   I saw this traffic police shelter at the island near Windsor Manor, and was tickled to find that the roof was a "folded hat" to match the hats that the traffic constables wear! Nice touch by whoever has designed the shelter!   Bangalore, 16 November 2013  

I got introduced to Rohan Chakravarty some time ago, when he moved from Nagpur to Bangalore. He was also with us in this year's Bangalore Bird Race (an involved debate about some waterfowl made their tally about 50 species less than ours, though we were mostly going around together!)I don't know him very well yet. We've met for a couple of cartoon exhibitions, and I asked him to contribute a cartoon for the write-up I did for the Bird Race website In person, he comes across as rather quiet, and I suspect this is because I do not know him…