New Delhi: IVS School of Design, one of the fastest growing design schools in India, recently announced its decision to start one of South Asia’s biggest design and innovation platform, the Centre for Design and Innovation (CDI) in Gurugram.
The school is planning to tie up with a major realty company to set up the CDI as a vertical campus city with two campuses in Gurugram and Manesar. This mega infrastructure aimed at building common platform for entrepreneurs, start-ups and existing businesses will be built over an area of more than 7 lakh square feet. The vertical cities project is likely to generate employment for more than 5,000 people in areas such as design and technology. The announcement was made at an event held by the organisation in Delhi in the presence of the Hungarian Ambassador, Mr Gyula Petho and other luminaries from the design, architecture, fashion and related creative fields.
According to the promoters of IVS School of Design, Gurugram which over the years has become a major centre of attraction for real estate, construction, technology, start-ups, apart from manufacturing industry, was a natural choice to set up the Centre to cater to these industries.
“With emergence and growth of industry and commerce in Gurgaon, the city has become a top attraction for experts from various forms of design. It had become pertinent to establish a platform which could bring together these experts to meet the evolving demands of various industries. The Centre will be aimed at designing and promoting innovating products and services for the future,” said, Ms. Tulika Puri Katyal, Founder, Centre for Design and Innovation.
Awarded as the best design school in North India, the IVS School of Design was set up by industry professionals and offers specializations in Interior Architecture and Design. The design school, which was set up in 2008, currently has more than 1000 students across five centres – four in Delhi and one in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. It is aiming to expand to 40 centres across the country with a target of teaching 10,000 students within the next 5 years. The School is also uniquely placed in the design industry as one of the few institutes which have got placements for more than 3,000 students in the design industry over the last decade.
“By establishing Centre for Design and Innovation, we hope to make Gurgaon a hub for design innovation not just for India, but also the entire South Asian region,” said Ms. Tulika Puri Katyal. “We expect CDI to become a platform to promote D2B (design to business) and B2D (business to design) ideology. CDI aims to guide and mentor not just young entrepreneurs with bright ideas, but also seasoned professionals to improve their skill sets to develop products and services of future,” she added.
CDI is the first and only platform in India to connect design to business and business to design. Since innovation is the key in today’s business environment, design thinking and creativity needs to be taught and be made accessible to entrepreneurs. The academic component includes courses for freshers, mid- as well as senior- level professionals in design thinking, innovation, strategy and management. As a platform, it will build entrepreneurial skills in designers and enable a connect to the opportunities in global markets. It will also be an accreditation body for design institutes and firms.
“India needs to be a leader in every sphere and developing the country as a design hub will help strengthen the growth targets,” said Dr Sambit Patra, BJP Leader and Official Party Spokesperson. “India already has a National Design Policy which I am told is among the most advanced in the world. Initiatives such as the Centre for Design and Innovation will help India reap the demographic dividend and solve youth employment problems,” added Dr Patra.
“In as little as 5-7 years, many of the world’s best-known professions will become redundant. This event, for us, is the beginning of advocacy on design thinking as a solution to growing and maintaining India’s leadership in human resources with skills that are focussed on the markets of the future. It is our vision to make India a centre of design in Asia competing with Singapore directly,” said Mr Darpan Katyal, co-Founder of the Centre for Design and Innovation.
The launch event in Delhi also witnessed many industry captains from sectors such as design, information technology, media, and architecture; discuss key sectoral themes such as Design Thinking for Businesses, Indian-ness in Design, and Future Technologies in Design in a series of panel discussions.
Senior professionals and industry stalwarts who took part include Mr. Raghu Rai, legendary photo journalist; Mr. Pablo Castells, CEO, Indsight Consulting; Ms. Aditi Khurana, International Regional Coordinator, NYSchool of Visual Art; Ms. Mrinalini Ghadiok, Architect Editor, Mondo Arc India and Ritesh Malik Managing Director, Innov8, among others.
Key issues discussed included the importance of design training for management and technology professionals and the importance of introducing design thinking and creative education at the school level. But the most crucial topic discussed was how future technologies such as AI, IoT, Robotics, AR/VR are transforming the design world.
The riveting panel discussions were followed by a unique fashion walk curated by the students of the IVS School of Design. Acid attack victims walked the ramp in support of the theme of the event, ‘Redesigning Design.’
“Acid attack survivors, who are walking the ramp for us today, are showing us that we, as a society, need to take a stand against violence, especially gender-based violence,” said Tulika Puri Katyal
