Demonstrating the power of design

Hyderabad is gearing up to host the first edition of Hyderabad Design Week from October 9-13. The event is being held in tandem with the World Design Assembly (WDA), which is scheduled to be held on October 11-12. The city of Hyderabad has seen industrial innovation and manufacturing zeal for over a century. From home-based manufacturing units to public sector industries to electronic production and the IT industry, Hyderabad has arrived at a gradual recognition of design as an important component of growth. Today the city is counted among the forerunners in the field of manufacturing and design hubs in the country.

With the theme of 'Humanizing Design', the conference will consider how design innovation can be used to address pressing humanitarian issues such as poverty, pollution, and the rapid depletion of natural resources.

As a part of Hyderabad Design Week, Takbir Fatima from DesignAware is doing a series of workshops and installations leading up to the event. "DesignAware is an interdisciplinary design and experimental architecture studio born of a desire to create awareness through design. We recognise that the design process more impactful when is a collaborative one and not the product of a single mind. We're experimenting with crowdsourcing the design process to bring together many minds to create something collectively. Under the theme of 'Humanizing Design' for Hyderabad Design Week, we are crowdsourcing design through multiple activations leading up to the event, involving students, young designers, architects and children in designing installations and public art for Hyderabad. Being a homegrown Hyderabadi studio, we take ownership over our city and invite other citizens to reclaim the public space of the city," said Takbir.

Deepak John Mathew, professor and head of Design department at IIT Hyderabad is doing a series of workshops and installations leading up to the event. The installations can be found at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Hyderabad International Convention Centre on October 8-9 and October 11-12 respectively. "Hyderabad is becoming a hub of designers and design activities. More than 1100 designers are practicing in the city. The people of Hyderabad also get an opportunity to witness the latest design practices as a part of Hyderabad Design Week," said Deepak.

Artist Beatrice De Fays and her partner Mathieu Constans are putting up an installation called VIA - Multimedia Creative Installation. This multimedia installation is offering an interactive immersive environment generated in real time from the presence and the movements of the visitors. Participants become aware of 'entering the process of creation' of a world of constantly evolving images and sounds, which are revealed by their own presence.

Whereas IndieFolio Network (IFN), which is India's largest network for creative professionals has helped curate artists to create bespoke artworks related to Hyderabad Design Week, which imbibe the spirit of the first ever weeklong design festival in Hyderabad. Six artworks were created by IndieFolio which will be adorning the city streets through the local "Rickshaws/Autos". These beautiful works of display will surprise the passer by and grab their attention towards HDW," said Avirup Kanjilal, Community Manager, Indiefolio.