This document discusses designing for culturally diverse contexts in India. It proposes researching the influence of designers' and users' cultures on the design process and outcomes. The research would develop a framework to facilitate cross-cultural collaboration through effective communication and empathy. It would also formulate a vision for sustainable collective futures reflecting local cultures. The document outlines study areas, research questions, methodology including case studies and a virtual platform, and a 3-year time plan to develop deliverables and publications. The goal is a culture-centered approach to design that bridges designers and users.

1. KALAA
design
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craft
Teja Siva Srinivas Payapalle
PhD Proposal | Department of Design | IIT Delhi
The Influence of the designer’s culture and user’s culture
on the design and design process for Indian context

3. Culture & Design

4. KALAA
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craft
The Interaction of
Designer, Culture and User
01

5. Mapping of areas on cultural diversity and design
Based on GLOBALIZATION AND CROSS CULTURAL PRODUCT DESIGN
J.C. Diehl and H.H.C.M. Christiaans
Aspects of
Cultural Diversity
and Design
Designers
Strategic
Design
Education
Design
Process
Aesthetics
Semantics
Human-product
Interaction
What methods suit cultural design research?
How is knowledge transferred to other cultures?
How to deal with cultural blending?
How does culture reflect on designers products?
Designer Related Which designs are appreciated by which culture?
How do people interpret products?
How do people use products?
User Related
Globalised
Localised

6. Design Process
The design process in general consists of four
main phases or stages, according
to Honold, P. (2000). Culture and context:
1. Product initiation
2. Concept design
3. Embodiment design
4. Detail design
Miller, W. R. (2005). Definition of design, the
design process can be defined as the
sequence of activities a designer performs to
create his entity.
Purcell & Gero (1998) describe
the design process as constantly concerned with generating
and exploring ideas and interpretations;
reinterpretation can occur during both the generation and
exploration phases and
hence can be viewed as a process of synthesis.
End-Product oriented
Influence of designer’s culture
Designer centric

7. Pahl and Beitz design model (1984)
The different phases of the phase-based
model must be qualified with two disclaimers:
a clear distinction cannot always be drawn
between these phases and it is not possible to
avoid backtracking. Pahl, G., & Beitz, W. from
Tate, D., & Nordlund, M. (1996). A Design
Process Roadmap as a General Tool for
Structuring and Supporting Design Activities.
Buergel & Zeller (1997) note that up to 90% of
a product’s properties and price range are
fixed at the moment a concept is decided.
This early stage of the design process
provides an opportunity for designers to be
more creative and innovative in their thinking.
Conceptual Design Phase

9. Significance
1. The rapid development of culturally diverse emerging markets.
2. Increasing cross-cultural design practices in design fields with the effect of globalization. And
addressing xenophobic concerns. Maintenance and durability of low cultural contexts.
3. Research explicitly connects theory to real-world practice in designing for diverse cultures.
Purpose
1. To develop a framework that describes the process of designing for diverse cultures where
designers and users can transact and benefit from each other through effective communication
& empathy. Reducing POWER DISTANCE and Avoiding UNCERTAINTY & RISK.
2. To formulate a vision for a sustainable collective future that reflects the identity and culture of
the context. Investigating individualism and collectivism, Time Orientation Concerns towards
past, present and future. Long term vs Short term

10. Making (Design)
in indian context

11. KALAA
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The idea of CHANGE/
TRANSFORMATION in Indian context
02

12. Jajmani system/Gift exchange
Traditional Flexible Manufacturing
Dadni System/Guilds
Proto Industry
Made of ‘Hand’ to Made of ‘Machine’
Deindustrialization
Conflict
Khatbandi
Modernization of Markets
Foreign Investments
Dualism
Segmented Markets
Service oriented Development
Accepting that it is generally the
‘past’ of an economy that
determines its present.
‘Making’ in Indian Context
Agrarian economy to
Manufacturing nation

13. Making
in indian context
Understanding of the process of economic development in historical perspective
reveals that only those economies that have achieved industrial revolution have
been able to maintain high rates of growth, sustained over a longer period.
It is because revolution in the manufacturing sector brings higher growth
rates in all other sectors of the economy.
However, scholars who have been studying the pattern of economic development
of the Indian economy have observed that under the compulsions of its
socio-economic and political circumstances, it has deviated from the historically
known path of development.
It has followed a path of economic development in which an economy skips
the stage where the manufacturing sector dominates in terms of its
contribution to income and employment.
Source: The story of Indian manufacturing, Vijay K.Seth

14. India is the largest democracy and the second-most-populous nation in the world. Out of the 1.3 billion
people, 69 per cent live in rural areas and 31 per cent of the population live in thriving urban areas. A
brief look at India’s international rankings in various fields and topics reveals that India ranks:
● 139/156 in the world happiness report by UN-SDSN, 20 March 2020 report.
● 131/189 in UN Human Development Index, 2020 report.
● 117/128 in Social Progress Index by Social Progress Imperative, 2020 report.
● 72/80 in Where to be born Index by Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020.
● 134/183 in Global Youth Development Index, 2016.
● 8/52 in the List of countries by the homeless population, Business Standard, 2011 -
1,770,000 homeless.
● 2/219 in Intentional homicides by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2015.
● 1/132 in GDP Growth rate by World Bank, 2021-2022.
● 42/47 in the Employment rate by OECD, 2020.
The Current Scenario

15. Areas of Study
● Role of design in building the identity of a culture/vice versa
● Decoding the Identity of culture: Indian context image and actual
image global scenario.
● Factors shaping the culture of India: with a parallel of the current
scenario. High vs Low contexts.
● Design and Role of the designer in contributing to these factors and
building an actual image.

16. Research Questions
● What is the design process like when designers develop products for cultures
significantly different than their own?
● What are the stages in this process and how do they relate to each other?
● What are the methods of this process at different stages?
● What are the challenges of this process at different stages?
● What are the strategies that address challenges at different stages?
● What are the factors that need to be considered in the design process to achieve
cultural sustainability?

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Premise: The role of crafts in design and design processes for
culturally sustainable built environments in the Indian context.
DESIGN as CRAFT
Or CRAFT as DESIGN

18. Design
in indian context

19. “LOTA”
Design
in indian context

20. “LOTA”
Design
in indian context
Of course, no one man could have possibly
designed the Lota.The number of
combinations of factors to be considered
gets to be astronomical – no one man
designed the Lota but many men over many
generations.

21. India stands to face the change with three great advantages :
1. She has a tradition and a philosophy familiar with the meaning of
creative destruction.
2. She need not make all the mistakes others have made in the
transition.
3. Her immediate problems are well defined : FOOD, SHELTER,
DISTRIBUTION, POPULATION.
” They should put consciousness of quality – selection of first
things first – (investigation into what are the first things) on the basis of
survival not caprice. “
” It is not a self conscious effort to develop an aesthetic – it is a
relentless search for quality that must be maintained if this new Republic
is to survive.“

22. Design
in indian context
kala
art, craft, technique,
skill, design
‘Kalayati kalate kalyate vaa iti kalaa’ which
means
That which can be perceived in order to
understand is Kalaa
Based on Design the International Movement : With Indian Parallel, H.C Kumar Vyas 2009.

23. Concept of Kala
● Self sufficient system
within the society
● Maker and user were
well connected
● Family practiced craft
traditions
● Knowledge of
resources, tools,
materials, techniques
● Craft as a way of life
Concept of Kala
https://www.beontheroad.com/2014/01/medar-community-bamboo-crafts-people-of.html#
https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Andhra-Pradesh/2017-12-30/Potters-lead-miserable
-lives/348901
Kanchipuram Silk Saree Weaving

24. Functional
Physical
Visual
Technological
Production
Environmental
Social
Cultural
Economical
Political
Politics
Economy
Technology
Climate
Craft in traditional societies
Culture
Community
Society
Region
Myths
religion
material

25. Concept of Kala
Craft Maps: Dastkaari Haat Samiti

26. Argument
Craft as kala be
considered an
indian equivalent
of design.

27. craft ?
Products that are produced by artisans, either completely by hand or with the
help of hand-tools or even mechanical means, as long as the direct manual
contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the
finished product… The special nature of artisanal products derives from their
distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative, culturally
attached, decorative, functional, traditional, religiously and socially symbolic and
significant”.
- UNESCO’s definition of Craft

28. Scales of craft
and the idea of craft in India transverse scales

29. KALAA
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Design outside craft
04

30. Change in Ideals of
design practices
Collaborative practices
Design practices with collaboration ideals
Decentralisation of design process
A new relationship between user and maker
Collaborative
practices
Human being as a creator
Community driven practices
Close relationship of user and maker
Individual Practices
Rise of Designer
Individualisation of practices
Gap between the user and maker
Intuitive Era Craft Era Design Era Towards a new era
Context Contemporary Material Techniques and Detailing Production and processes

31. Pre-Independence
Post-Independence
Swadeshi
Modernity
Transplanting Design in a third world country
To look within our social and cultural context for problems and solutions of living
New dynamic in an international modern exploration with design

32. Past Future
Dichotomy

33. Traditional craft Studio craft
Industrial craft
Craft
THE POSITION
Of contemporary crafts in relation to other crafts
Digital craft
Design - Products - Installation
Contemporary craft

34. Local trade/tactile
connections
Environmentally
conscious
Microeconomy
Resourced oriented
distribution
outsourcing
Institutionalised
Anachronistic
characterised
exploitation
What is
contemporary?
Handicraft/low
paid piecework
Craft procedures and
critical concerns
Craft
influence/modernism
Alternative
Driver/Influence
on technology
Connection to past,
knowledge, production
passed down
handmade
Tied to
traditions
Embodied histories in
materials
irrelevant
Kitsch
Old fashioned
Outmoded
Redefining the idea
of making
Digital futures
Computer technology/
digital interfaces
Galleries,
museums
Criticism and
curation
Academy, design
as a field,
Contemporary
craft design
practices
Progressive

35. https://pxhere.com/en/photo/603983 Rooshad Shroff
Changing
position
of craft
Sagrada familia, Antonio Gaudi

36. https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/curating-a-new-future-1625392-2019-12-05 everwideningcircles.com
Method of Craft
Hand ? Technology?

37. Design
Designer
Value addition
Design outcomes
Value subtraction
craft
User???

38. KALAA
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DESIGN and CRAFT
05

39. collaboration
Co creation
innovation
Design development
Product
diversification
intervention
Technology
upgradation
market
sensitization
amalgamation
Crafts+
Design

40. Continuity of
the Past
Stone Carving
Thikri Work
http://www.abhikram.com/projects_details.php?Code=80
The Oberoi
Udaivilas

41. http://www.hamstech.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/interior-design-course1.jpg
Craft with
reuse
Jhoolas, khaat,
paintings
Irfan Khan’s
Residence
Shabnam Gupta

42. Design in an indian context
https://studiolotus.in/whitepapers/evolution-of-the-jaali-at-raas-jodhpur/24
Use of Modern
Technology
Handcut+
Industrial Assembly
Cafe Lota
Studio Lotus

43. http://www.turbulences-deco.fr/doshi-levien-un-design-hybride-et-multiculturel/2015/03/
Design in an indian context
Reimagining
classics
Charpoy
reinterpreted for
wider audiences
Doshi and Levien
Designs

44. Design in an indian context
http://www.bar-palladio.com/about
Fusion of two
Cultures
Traditional Motifs
+ Italian Decor
Cafe Palladio
Marie-Anne
Oudejans

45. Design in an indian context
http://www.rawmango.in
Contemporary
fusion with
Traditional
Techniques
Traditional
Weaving and
Embroidery +
Contemporary
Styles
Raw Mango
Collection

46. Design in an indian context
Innovation
through
design
Wood carving +
french knot
embroidery
Rooshad Shroff
https://rooshadshroff.com/objects/c-chair-embroidered/

47. Design in an indian context
http://www.sangaru.com
Material
Exploration
Bamboo, Cane
Carpentry
Sandeep Sangaru

48. Design in an indian context
Technique
Exploration
Ceramics +
Weaving Patterns
Contemporary
Craft Museum
USA

49. http://www.amitz.co/projects.html
Hybrid Craft
Ceramic and 3D
printing
Amit Zoran &
Leah Buechley

50. https://www.michael-hansmeyer.com/subdivided-columns
Man and
Machine
Collaboration
CNC Milled ABS
Columns`
Subdivided Columns
Michael Hansmeyer

51. ACADEMIC
WORK
Craft+Future
Hyperlocal
Teja Payapalle

52. ACADEMIC
WORK
The Festival of India,
Idea of celebration
and participation in
building future
together.
Teja Payapalle

53. ACADEMIC
WORK
Virtual prototyping,
Creating Platform to
Create and access
future content.
Teja Payapalle

54. 1. Ethnographic Approach - Qualitative Data Collection - Cultural phenomenon
of human knowledge and behaviours in a particular cultural and natural
setting, e.g. attitudes, beliefs and practices.
2. Experimental approach, grounded theory, Case studies and Scenario - Based
on Theoretical studies and linked with practical design related activities.
3. 1:1 Design Studies - Practical testing of design processes and outcomes
developed cross culturally.
4. Digital Media platforms (AR/VR) as tools to understand the influence of
both designer’s and user’s culture on design process.
Research Methodology

55. 1. Concepts of culture and design processes, Role of culture in the design process, Existing research on
design processes and methods, comparison and literature review - Identification of research and analysis
methods. - Year 1. Draft 1 of deliverables and research paper.
2. Intercultural design studies, setting up and making design briefs and designs for prototyping and open
source sharing(AR/VR/Physical prototypes) for experiments, and Measures of analysis. Evaluation in
stages (peer reviews, experts, user groups), Results and summary - Year 2. Draft 2 of Final deliverables
and research paper.
3. Learnings from the results of the design studies, Modifications and explanations of the design processes
and explanations of perception from studies, Developing framework for cross-cultural collaboration
between designers and users, Development of the open source platform for content creation and sharing,
setting up a physical exhibition, discussion of results. Year 3. Final List of Deliverables and paper.
Time-Plan(Gantt Chart)

56. Gantt Chart

57. 1. The development of a culture-centred framework for design would help in
cross-cultural collaboration, and effective communication between designers, users
and the craftspeople.
2. The development of an open source AR/VR/XR platform for sharing design inputs
and critique.
3. Exhibition of prototypes as a manifestation of the framework to welcome design
discussions on systems integration, design drivers, criteria for evaluation and
parameters to manipulate for further generation.
Possible outcomes

58. Thank you