Thinktank2009

8/7/2019 Thinktank2009

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THE FUTURE OF

URBAN LIVINGNational In titute o De ign, India

Stockholm School o Entrepreneur hip in Sweden

Kon t ack, Te Univer ity College o Art , Cra t and De ign


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THE FUTURE OF

It i important to recognize that the title o thi econd annual Tinktank i not Te

City o the Future but Te Future of Urban Living becau e the primary objective o

thi Tinktank i to oreca t cenario o po ible change in citie and their territorial

context which will de ne li e in urban center in the next ten, twenty, and ty year .

Te e cenario will be interdi ciplinary and ba ed on the analy i o demographic,

economic, technological, and environmental phenomena which will be interpreted u ing

trend potting a a methodology in order to oreca t how the creative economy through

de ign, art, cra t, and architecture will hape the uture o urban li e.

Te Tinktank will pan two-week and include the following eminar and work hop :

Te Creative Economy // Seminar

Culture as a Driving Force in the Creative Economy // Seminar

Te Methodologies o rendspotting and rend-hunting // Seminar

Te Future o Urban Living // Seminar + Work hop


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AN INTERDISCIPLINARY THINKTANKON FORECASTING TRENDS AROUNDURBAN LIVING

THE GOAL

Apart rom being a re h, new, boundary-breaking approa hto problem olving, the goal i

to reate and pre ent vi ionary olution or urban living in 2019,

2029, and 2059. Te parti ipant will be required to reate anda tivate an online blog during theTinktank in order to portray andpre erve thi unique ollaborativepartner hip between SSES,Kon t a k and NID.

URBAN LIVING


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THEMETHODOLOGY:WHAT ISTRENDSPOTTING

AND WHAT HASIT DONE FOR YOULATELY?Tere i no con tant but change. We live in a world that

eem more and more unpredictable every day. Com ort,

certainty, and prediction have given way to a collective en e

o bewilderment. Yet the emerging global ociety and the

majority o nation that are it building block demand a

certain level o a urance and prediction to unction.

How will healthcare, education, culture, in ra tructure,

or the environment change; what can we do to oreca ttho e change ; and how will we manage them? Te e are

ju t ome o the area that require long-term planning

in order to unction e ciently and airly. Foreca ting i

an interdi ciplinary practice; a ingle individual or a one-

dimen ional kill et cannot and hould not determine how

the chool , bu ine e , and ho pital o tomorrow will

unction. Foreca ting today will help hape vital que tion

about tomorrow with ethical and moral implication ; not what

the price o clean air and water hould be, but hould there

be a price? Te an wer to the e ort o que tion are really

in ormed peculation ba ed on mapping trend , pa t and

pre ent, and u ing that to oreca t what the uture i likely to

hold or to et goal or what it hould be. Providing in ormed

an wer to the e que tion relie on the ability to pot trend .

rend potting i an emerging phenomenon re ecting the

drive and curio ity to nd out what going on in the world

around u . Te di cult bit i nt predicting the uture it

predicting the pre ent, a omeone o eloquently put it .Ti curio ity i what uni e di cipline acro boundarie

and border and i there ore a natural tarting point or any

interdi ciplinary undertaking. Being a bit o a buzzword,

rend potting run the ri k o being mi under tood. So a

quick yet preci e de nition i u e ul.

rend potting i the practice o identi ying and ollowing

pa t and current trend in order to make more in ormed

judgment about the pre ent and increa e the ucce rate in

predicting uture cenario .


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TODAY MORE THAN 50% OF THEPOPULATION IS LIVING IN CITIES ANDTHE WORLDS PROPORTION OF URBANPOPULATION IS PROJECTED TO REACH

61% IN 2030 (UN).

Ti i why trend potting and oreca ting are the driving

orce behind thi new initiative between NID, SSES, and

Kon t ack. Our undamental purpo e i to u e and blend

di erent per pective and di cipline in order to analyze

and predict, oreca ting trend in an attempt to anticipate,

addre , and olve tomorrow challenge while leveraging

opportunitie we may di cover.

oday more than 50% o the population i living in citie

and the world proportion o urban population i projected

to reach 61% in 2030 (UN). Ti megatrend i cau ing rapid

urbanization and 95% o the world urban population growth

in the next two decade will be ab orbed by citie in the

developing world. Tere ore, Ahmedabad i the per ect place

to tudy micro trend within the eld o urban living. Te

city o Ahmedabad could be regarded a an Urban Lab where

new way o living are con tantly emerging.

We will apply three tests to predicting uture trend .

Is the imagined world really only an allegory or some1.

aspect o the present time?

Does the predicted trend make the mistake that 2.

technology alone shapes the uture?

Is a prediction compelling enough to become sel -3. ulflling?

Con equently, we will al o di cu way o evaluating and

con rming trend in a more tructural manner and not rely

on gut eeling and intuition.


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Rohit Goyal come rom a mall town o Mahara htra and

want to explore creativity to no bound . He want to work

hard to achieve per ection in anything and everything he

doe .

Gauri Pandey come rom Lucknow, the city o Nawab . She

ha learnt to enjoy in whatever he doe in li e. She believe

in giving her be t to her work, amily, and riend .

Yuan Ye (Emily) hail rom China and ha tayed and tudied

in Singapore. She ha worked in Sweden with a tart-up

company and i preparing to tart one o her own.

Sanjay Kumar i quite mode t to de cribe him el . He eel

that he i a culptor at heart who can carve new experience

or him el .

Ananya Chatterjee i rom Jam hedpur. She ha done her

graduation in apparel de ign rom NIF and ha worked with

Pantaloon or ve month . Now he i doing her Strategic

De ign Management rom NID, Gandhinagar. She ha alway

been intere ted in adventurou port and i keen to do

everything in the be t po ible manner.

Alvaro Viega i an architecture graduate rom the School

o Architecture, Goa. Currently he i pur uing GraphicDe ign at NID. He nd Indian citie and li e in it to be very

a cinating. He nd it uniquene quite me merizing.

STUDENTS AT THINKTANK 2009

FORMALINTRODUCTION

Pra hi Chaudhari i a Graphic De ign tudent at NID. She

became o part o Tinktank09 becau e uture oreca ting

and trend potting eemed like a new and extremely

intere ting ubject to her.

Eray Cayli , a ter getting hi Bachelor Degree in Indu trial

De ign rom I tanbul echnical Univer ity, i now attending

the MA program o Experience De ign at Kon t ack in

Stockholm, Sweden. He al o write e ay on De ign or the

Icon De ign magazine urki h edition.

Dipti Kho la , rom Kolkatta, i a tudent o Product De ign

at NID. She cho e to become a part o Tinktank09 a he elt

that rend potting eemed like an intere ting ubject that

would change the way we approach de ign olution .

Saheb Ram udu i content being an Animation Film De igntudent. He ha done hi Ma ter o Fine Art in Sculpture

and ha al o done hi BFA in the ame. He love mu ic,

literature, dance, etc.

Anand Saboo , an architecture graduate and a Strategic

De ign Management tudent at NID nd it di cult to

de cribe hi clear role a a Strategic De ign Manager but

nd hi intere t to be di tinctly lying in Sy tem Tinking,

De ign Tinking, Neuro-Science and economic .

Suba h Chellamuthu completed hi architecture rom NI ,

richy. He ound the tep-by- tep proce o trend potting

and it conver ion into a real model to be very intere ting.

Hanne Dernehl i a Bu ine tudent at the Stockholm

School o Economic . He ha an entrepreneurial background

and i involved in a lot o entrepreneurial activitie uch a

Excitera mobile Cup, ie Nordic, and SSE Bu ine Lab.


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Malav Sanghvi i a Product De ign tudent at NID. He

ha a background in Science with Phy ic , Chemi try, and

Mathematic a hi ubject o pecialization. Hi hobbie

are collecting coin , playing che , ur ng, etc. He i looking

orward to open a de ign rm that deal with the de igning

o uture product .

Xavier Dayanandh i a Strategic De ign Management

tudent at NID. He ha done hi graduation in Vi ual

Communication rom Loyola College, Chennai and did hi

one-year Po t-graduation Diploma in Adverti ing and Public

Relation rom the Indian In titute o Ma Communication,

New Delhi. He ha worked a an Art Director with

adverti ing agencie like Grey Worldwide and BBDO

worldwide.

Karin Ahlin ha taken up torytelling or her Ma ter atKon t ack Univer ity, Stockholm. She work with top-

motion and graphic novel . She continuou ly trie to nd

the e ence o ituation , cenario and torie around her.

Vikram Sivakumar , having ni hed hi chooling rom

Chennai, moved to Singapore to pur ue hi bachelor

education. He i at pre ent an intern at Spoti y, a recently

launched mu ic treaming ervice, in Stockholm. Hi intere t

in Entrepreneur hip and Retail i quite evidently een inhi activitie . He i al o an enthu ia tic photographer and a

huge Formula 1 an. He enjoy playing the Indian percu ion

in trument like abla and Mridangam . Hi intere t in

traveling ha taken him to ome really exotic place .

Simran Dhaliwal i an independent lmmaker and a

conceptual arti t ba ed in Ahmedabad. She i currently

inve tigating how public art may intervene to reduce urban

oppre ivene in the Indian context.

Jing Jing , originally rom China, i an architect and an arti t.

She i currently doing her Urban Planning and De ign rom

K H Royal In titute o echnology, Sweden. She believe

in truth and appreciate the work o Rabindranath agore

and ay that it ha it own magic. For her the moment o

li e are pricele .

Kanika Bhardwaj i rom Chandigarh and i pur uing oy

and Game De ign at NID.

George K Antoney i a B ech textile graduate rom

Mumbai. He i currently pur uing Film and VideoCommunication de ign at NID.

Farva h Razavi i Per ian born but ha been living in

Sweden ince 1989. Having done her chooling in Chemi try,

he pur ued her BA in Interior Architecture and Furniture

and i currently doing her MA in Experience De ign

at Kon t ack. She i al o working or variou re earch

companie or the development o uture material .


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VIEWPOINT

SWEDISHIMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Te Swedi h Immer ive experience wa real urpri e or

everyone at NID. Who could have imagined that the tudent

could have brought an entire day o Sweden packed in their

baggage! When the door o the eminar hall ung open

or the NID tudent and aculty to enter, one could mell

the aroma o the ingredient brewed in the drink. Te

NIDian were guided through the experience o an entire

day in Sweden by de cription provided by the tudent o

Kon t ack a the other plodded around the table.

Te r t top wa the break a t. For break a t there were

edible like Fruko t , which i a kind o cracker eaten with

cream pread on it, and Fika, which i made o the remnant

o all kind o cookie . A ter having ta ted what a particular

Swedi h break a t ta te like, they moved on to lunch. For

lunch they have Fi h Bullar , which i ma hed potatoe ,

au age , and ome other item wrapped in a kind o bread.Tey al o have Mellanmal , a kind o cardamom bread,

or lunch. A everyone moved along, a captivating aroma

pulled them toward the next top, which wa o Julglgg .

It i a drink which ha almond , ome amount o alcohol,

and pice . It i a popular Chri tma drink in Sweden but i

aid to be a good remedy or cold and cough. Along with it

everal Chri tma decoration , ginger bread, and a ron roll

were placed on the table. Te la t top wa o Barnkala , a

ood item erved at children birthday party. Te tudent o NID were al o given a weet treat in the orm o candy bag

through a game o hing.

Te end o thi Swedi h experience wa top notch. Everyone

rom NID wa e corted out o the eminar hall into the open

pace and wa made to gather around a can. Eagerne wa

clearly evident in the eye o all till they were in ormed that

what the can beheld wa not a treat or the eye but the

ear . So everyone clo ed their eye a Karin cut open the

can. But oon a mell trong enough to make people cough,

orced everybody to open their eye . Everyone backed o

rom the pot they were at to move a ar a they could rom

the can. A anticipated by everyone it wa no prank. It wa

Sur trmming , a h that people eat during autumn. Tough

very ew had the courage to ta te it, it indeed made everyone

hare a good laugh.

Swedi h immer ive experien e: A Swedi h treat

Indian immer ive experien e: A ta te o India


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VIEWPOINT

INDIANIMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Wel ome to India

Te Indian Immer ive experience turned out to be an

ab olutely thrilling one. Te entrance o the eminar hall wa

decorated with rangoli . Colour ul toran adorned the place.

Te Swedi h tudent were welcomed by the Indian tudent ,

who garlanded the ormer. Atula clad in a aree and Rohit in

dhoti-kurta welcomed them with aarti and tika . Curio ity

aro e among the tudent rom Stockholm on eeing the

tika being applied di erently on the orehead o men and

women. Naada Chadi , the au piciou red thread were tied

on the wri t o the e gue t .Gamcha were draped around

the neck o the boy , while the gajra adorned the lock o

the girl .

Te Au pi iou Start

A praying to God be ore beginning omething i con idered

to be au piciou in India, the immer ive experience beganwith an aarti o Lord Gane h. Te tudent and aculty

rom Kon t ack came orward and lit the lamp and even

participated in the aarti .

Creativity at work

Te tudent rom Sweden were lured by the beauti ul

henna de ign that the NID tudent Sanjay, Rohit and

Saheb were creating. Sometime later, tea wa erved in

earthen cup , locally known a kulhad . Some o the Swedi htudent ound the rangoli de ign very intere ting and added

to the beauty o the de ign by lling in colour and drawing

arti tic pattern . Farva h wa potted experimenting with the

rangoli and oon he wa een churning out her own de ign .

A Light a Smoke

In order to create an authentic Indian experience, a variety

o pice wa arranged on table , along with other thing like

andalwood, goo eberry, betel nut, etc. Something among t

the e thing o di play a packet o beedi drew the

attention o the entire crowd. Te entire group rom Sweden

wa ound trying it hand at moking beedi .

ime or Bhangra

How could an Indian experience be complete without dance!

Due to lack o time to prepare a dance, Dipti had to pitch in

to give an impromptu per ormance o Bhangra . It wa nice to

ee the Kon t ack tudent hake a leg to the lively tune o

popular Bhangra number .

A Spi y reat

It eemed everyone wanted to re t or a while a ter a pirited

round o dancing. So a platter o picy pani puri were

erved to enliven the mood o everyone around. Some o

the tudent rom Stockholm tried their hand at making thi

popular Indian nack.

Memorie o the Pa t

Avina h Rajagopal, who participated in Tinktank08 had

documented the experience in a book entitled Local become

Global . Sha hank Mehta congratulated Avina h, who

o cially relea ed the book by handing over the r t copy o

the ame to Ronald Jone .

India on a Platter

Lunch compri ed o a lavi h Kathiawadi pread, wherein thedelicacie were erved on plate made o leave . Paan wa

erved at the end o the lunch. Many o them aid that they

had never ta ted a avour like that be ore.

A ter re ting or almo t an hour, the r t eminar o

Tinktank09 began at 3:00 in the a ternoon. ruly, it wa an

experience to remember.


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Ronald Jone began the e ion by introducing the concept o

o t power to the participant . Te term power i generally

a ociated with the concept o exerting dominance over

group that are characteri ed by ub ervience and docility.

A again t thi , o t power wa a matter o per ua ion, in

that it moved beyond in uence and coercion. Rather than

orcing other to accept one belie , o t power wa all about

attracting other toward the legitimacy o one belie and

the value that upported tho e belie . An ob ervation made

in thi context pointed out that cultural worker , culturalpolicy maker and de igner had the potential to produce

o t power, but they rarely made igni cant u e o the ame.

Intere tingly, monarch , pre ident and government ; the

very element a ociated with exploitation o power or the

grati cation o their el h motive , u ed o t power with

great ne e and appreciation. Jone elucidated the potential

o art a o t power by re erring to Loui -Philippe a cen ion

to power ollowing the July Revolution in France. Soon a ter

he wa re tored to power, Loui -Philippe bani hed the publicexhibition o Eugne Delacroix painting La libert guidant

le people (Liberty Leading the People), a he elt that it would

rekindle eeling o rebellion among hi ubject .

Once the di cu ion on o t power concluded, the concept

o creative economy wa elaborated upon. Jone mentioned

that creative economy re erred to a et o interlocking

indu try ector that had a major role to play in the global

economy. Creative economy wa ba ed on the exploitation

o intellectual property that wa expre ed in the orm o

a hion, lm , de ign and theatre. Adverti ing and touri m

al o con tituted intellectual property that helped in the

creation o a creative economy. In thi context, he added

that dark touri m wa the a te t growing touri m market

a een in the popularity o trip that were organi ed to the

lum area o India and Nazi concentration camp in Europe.

Jone al o pre ented a couple o ca e tudie that helped the

participant gain a wider per pective on creative economie .

Te r t ca e tudy ocu ed on SoHo, a town in Manhattan,New York. Once a thriving indu trial centre, SoHo witne ed

tagnation on a large cale owing to the clo ure o indu trial

unit and teep e calation in real e tate price . However,

rom an architectural point o view, the town wa very

important a the building there were een a precur or o

modern architectural trend . In 1962, Ada Loui e Huxtable

book, Te Wa teland of New York City propounded that

SoHo wa a commercial lum area and an epicenter o

criminal activitie . A time pa ed arti t , writer , de ignerand mu ician began to ettle down in SoHo becau e they

ound that living there wa le expen ive and arti t al o et

up tudio in the building there. In 1971, a group o arti t

ucceeded in getting work and re idence permit rom the

City Planning Commi ion. Te commi ion elt that the area

could not be put into better u e and would eventually have

to be pulled down, o in tead o doing thi it elt that it wa

better to allow people to live there. Initial re triction called

AIR (Arti t in Re idence) were placed upon the building

and arti t had to apply to a committee and end their art

RONALD JONES

THE CONCEPT OFSOFT POWER, CREATIVE

ECONOMY, LIBERALISMAND INTERDISCIPLINARYAPPROACH


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work to it or it approval. Later on, the e re triction were

removed. Te arti t , having ound a ecure place to live

in began to et up their own gallerie , thu enabling SoHo

to metamorpho e rom a tate o decadence into a city o

cultural and arti tic pro perity. Bu ine venture uch a

bakerie and pharmacie added to the nancial pro perity

o the place. Nobody predicted that uch a tran ormationwould take place in SoHo. Te city managed to create a

myth o bohemian li e around it el . Gradually, it became a

brand. SoHo became the r t example o branding a city, it

neighbourhood and the li e tyle o the people living there.

Since then citie all over the world began to ollow thi trend

o giving an identity to their citie a een in term like the

intelligent city, the creative city, the green city and everal

other . Te e marketing logan created a city identity and

al o helped clo e the gap between hype and reality. Tat i ,

it helped people gain an in ight into what wa re pon ible

or making a city cultural or educated in the actual en e.

Owing to it afuent community that wa both liberal and

creative, SoHo ucceeded in depicting o t power that helped

in making it a creative economy. In the nal analy i o thi

ca e tudy, Jone mentioned that creative individual could

make a creative economy by getting together, taking over a

neighbourhood and creating a low requency economy.

Te econd ca e tudy wa that o Bilbao, a city in northernSpain. Te Nervin River that run through the city wa

heavily polluted on account o the rampant indu triali ation

on it bank . Indu triali ation brought in a rapid in ux o

immigrant to Bilbao, thu contributing to the haphazard

development o the city. Toma Kren , the ormer director

o the Guggenheim Mu eum in Bilbao elt that creative

economie could be u ed a a tool or uture oreca ting.

He elt that the etting up o a tate-o -the-art mu eum in

Bilbao would tran orm it into a culturally rich and vibrantcity. In it r t year it el , the mu eum managed to get more

than hundred thou and vi itor a month. Te vi itor were

ready to bear the expen e o touring the mu eum, without

bothering about the poor in ra tructure in the re t o Bilbao.

Ti ca e tudy al o howed how creative economy a o t

power could erve a an important tool or citie to think

what their uture might look like.

Jone al o explored the true meaning o the term liberal.

He pointed out that there were two kind o liberal : the

one who believed in negative liberty and the other who

believed in po itive liberty. Freedom from hunger denote

negative liberty, while reedom for di ent denote po itive

liberty. While re erring to Lionel rilling book Liberal

Imagination , Jone mentioned that a liberal per on wa onewho believed that the right economic y tem and political

economy; coupled with the right undergraduate curriculum

and the right p ychotherapy; would ucceed in doing away

with un airne , nobbery, neuro i and tragedy. Jone

pointed out that, a a liberal, one mu t ponder over whether

creative economy wa the right economy, a it involved a lot

o re idual e ect . Te oremo t among tho e e ect being

gentri cation, that eventually re ulted in di placement.

He al o peci ed that rilling believed that liberal were

not ideologue . Tey were exible enough to modi y their

attitude and opinion i they were deemed appropriate. For

in tance, their political view might be rigid, but not rigorou .

Finally, Jone di cu ed interdi ciplinarity. In thi context,

our type o interdi ciplinary approache were di cu ed.

Monodi ciplinarity re erred to the application o one creative

di cipline; while multidiciplinarity re erred to a ituation

where two di cipline were given the ame problem without

any expectation that they were going to work together tocome up with a olution. An example given in thi context

wa about the di cipline o urban planning and game theory.

Te people involved in the two di cipline might hare a

common theme, but there wa no cro ing o boundarie

between the two di cipline . Multidi ciplinary project

could become a plat orm or exchanging innovative idea .

Interdi ciplinarity wa the collaboration between two or

more di cipline where concept , methodologie , practice

and tactic were con ciou ly engaged. ran di ciplinarity wa a rare occurrence where one originally worked in an

interdi ciplinary environment, and uddenly reali ed that the

methodology, the epi temology and language one wa u ing

did not belong to either o the interdi ciplinary ubject that

were di cu ed. Te ituation tran cended interdi ciplinarity

and re ulted in the creation o a totally new di cipline.


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PETER MAJANEN

INTRODUCTION TOTHE METHODOLOGIES

OF TRENDSPOTTINGAND TREND HUNTING

oday trend potting i becoming a trend in it el . Many

big name in the market are eeking accurate oreca ting o

what their cu tomer would actually pre er, en uring that

they dont end up with a tack o un old good . Foreca ting

trend , which wa once re tricted to de igner and ome

other ector , i now becoming wide pread and i being

adopted by one and all. We brought thi trend home with

Tinktank09.

From Teory to Pra ti eTe goal behind the e interdi ciplinary eminar and

work hop wa to oreca t trend around the city o

Ahmedabad and to create vi ionary olution or urban living

in 2019, 2029, and 2059. For thi the tudent were divided

into three group one or the year 2019, econd or 2029,

and third or 2059. Each group had to go trend hunting in

three eparate ection o Ahmedabad city, with the old

city in common. Te tudent had to collect trend keeping

in mind all the a pect like architecture, in ra tructureand communication, urban de ign, li e tyle, bu ine and

economic , public wel are, culture, and politic . Tey had to

analy e the trend , which could be anything ranging rom

object , ob ervation , behaviour, to a new kind o living.

Te next tep wa to con rm the trend to ee whether they

actually mean omething. Every group had to nally come

up with a model ba ed on what the city will look like in the

year a igned to them. Ti model when put together would

complete the jig aw and reveal the uture ace o Ahmedabad

a potted by the Tinktank09 participant . Later on they

had to create a city narrative in the orm o a hort movie

de cribing the trength or opportunitie and weakne e or

ri k o the city.

Te Key to the Future Lie in the Pa t

In order to under tand the di erence that would mark the

coming year 2019, 2029, and 2059, one can go back in time

and ee how the cho en place wa 10, 20, and 50 year ago.

In the year 1999, which Peter call the Millenium Bug, there

u ed to be imilar problem and po ibilitie a exi t today,but the cale and per pective were new. Te e per pective ,

however, were the harde t yet the mo t valuable one . 1989,

which he call Gla no t, wa a time when the problem

and po ibilitie were di erent rom tho e that exi t today.

Te idea and norm were comparatively newer. Some

megatrend and ocietal trend that exi ted then can be

ound even today. Even microtrend were important. Ti

per pective wa o ten undere timated. Te year 1959 wa

the year o Cold War. Te problem and po ibilitie weredi erent even then. A ew megatrend o that time can be

ound even today. Microtrend continued to be important.

Te e per pective were con idered to be Utopian but they

can create a per pective or the re t o the city.

Spotting a rend while rend potting

o recognize a trend look or an unexpected trend; a trend

looking at which one would exclaim Ti hould not be really

happening! Secondly one can look or omething that eem

Utopic. One can even earch or the breaking o di ruptive


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PETER MAJANEN

CONFIRMATION OFTRENDS 2009

Why trend potting and uture ore a ting?

o nd right olution or the uture like tran portation

y tem o the uture, uture new paper , a hion, and

de ign.

o avoid evere ailure in the uture.

o create vi ion and trategie or the uture. Ti i

nece ary a i you know the po ible path or the

uture, then you know where to go.

Purpo e o onfrmation

o con rm hypothe i : I thi trend emerging or i it a

co-incidence?

What type o trend? I it a microtrend or a developed

one?

I thi trend emerging?

Method o onfrmationStructural actor and trend character i it really a1.

trend?

Have to be on line with value

Te more the better

At lea t one trend character ha to be ul lled

What type o trend i it?2.

I it a ect all part o the ociety then it i a Megatrend.

I it a ect many part o the ociety then it i a Societal

trend.

I it a ect our way o living then it i a Con umption

trend.

I it a ect the way an individual i creating a product

then it i an Indu trial trend.

I it a microtrend?3.

Recognized only by the Avantgardi t or people like

arti t or celebritie

Emergence in trend citie

No media coverage or coverage in main tream pre

Few or no hit on the internet

At lea t two o the e condition need to be ul lled to

con rm it a a microtrend

Stru tural Fa tor

Scarcity (there i a hortage o omething that

the ociety o market want )

Newne (old trend become main tream)

Hieararchy o need /development (next level o

need /development)

Indu try driven (indu try or major actor pu he

out a new trend)

In line with uture value (a prerequi ite ha to be

ul lled)

rend Chara ter

Unexpected (thi houldnt be happening)

Utopic

Di ruptive (rule are broken)

Hybrid ( trange combination )

Repul ive (the le you like, the better it will be)


16/40

What te hnique to u e?

Quantitative urvey

Qualitative interview like per onal interview o

ocu ed group

Stati tical ource

Media analy i

Sur ngReading Blog

Reading trend ite

Te Future a a Field

A ter ubjecting the trend to variou method and

technique , one hould map the trend a demon trated in

Fig 1.

Ten the trend and uture oreca ting can be li ted under

wider per pective a done in Fig 2.

What remain in hand a ter thi proce can be een a a

con rmed trend that can a ect at micro a well a macro

level .

Future Concept Lab

20&20

Li Edelkoort

Club o Rome

Alvin ofer

John Nai bitt

Peter Shwatz

Shell

Millenium Group

Manuel Ca tell

Te Long Now Gartner Group

Gallup

2012 20072100

Fig 1. Mapping o trend

Fig 2. A wider divi ion o trend

S ien e

Intuition and eeling

Future De ign

Vi ionarie

Stru turali t

rend potting

Market Re ear h


17/40

CONCEPTUALIZE

From idea to me age

Create

Con ru

Build

Visualize

Verbalize

Communicate

Re ult

Building

Policy

Produ

Business Plan/Idea

Book

Exhibition

Peters r presentation introduced the udents to the

concept of trend otting, painting a general pi ure of what

is expe ed from them. It seemed to be quite a rosy pi ure

then. But their r day out on the reets hunting for trends,

clouded their mind with a lot o con u ion and chao .

Te next morning e ion however, erved a an an wer to

these u ered udents as Peter had a sigh of relief bottled

up in the orm o a pre entation on Te Methodologie

o rendsotting and rend Hunting. He pre ented the

conceptual model for futuri ic thinking a ep-by- ep

explanation o how to deal with trend .

Types of future foreca method:

quantitative

qualitative

narrative

exploratory

in combination

Fig 1: Con eptual Model or Futurisi Tinking

PETER MAJANEN

TRENDSPOT

Collec Mi rotrend

Observing

Colle ing

Method

Scan current

academic re earch

Media canning

Sur ng

rend a ari

Photo

rend corresondent

CONFIRM

Confrm Mi rotrend

Measuring

Colle ing

Discussing

Method

Media analysis

Polling

Qualitative interviews

Semiotics

Ethnography

SYNTHESIZE

Un over srucure

pattern and path

Relate

Correlate

Associate

Generalize

Juxtapose

Decon ru

Method

Stati ical modelling

Future methods

Con ru ivi

method

REALIZE

From on ept to

reali ation

Persuasion

Method

PR

Lobbying

Internal

Communication

Strategic leadership

TECHNIQUES OFFUTURE FORECASTING


18/40

rendsotting i a mammoth ta k that can require a

airly large amount o time or execution. But ince the

Tinktank09 participant only had two week in hand, Peter

did not mother them with all the method o trendsotting.

He explained only two imple method Scenario Method,

and Future Wheel Method. He then advised them to subje

the trends that they colle to the Future Wheel Methodalone or r to the Scenario Method and then the Future

Wheel Method.

SCENARIO METHOD

Created in the early 1950 at RAND, big innovator in uture

foreca ing

Ba i Idea

Tere are everal po ible uture

Organizes many atements about the future

Narrative de cription o the uture

How to onduc

Decide on the key que ion to be answered by the

analy i

Te time and cope o the analy i

Identi ying important trend

Rank the driving orce and trend by two dimen ion :importance and probability

e udents were shu ed to gather into their re e ive

group. ey were given po -it notes and markers. Each

group was asked to brain orm and write every trend on

each po -it note. Where one group could be seen discussing

and recounting their experience, the other group wa een

brooding over in olitude.

Once they all looked ready, each group was asked to ick

their po -it notes on the importance and probability graph.

ose trends which seemed too probable or lea important

according to the importance and probability graph had to

be excluded. Te remaining trend had to be eparated into

theme . Ten the group had to nd out two driving orce

behind the trend , which were then put onto an XY chart,

where the two pole o the X and Y axi would orm the two

driving forces and their opposites re e ively. en the four

quadrant ormed by the two axe had to be dotted by the

various trends subje ed to the importance and probability

graph earlier.

FUTURE WHEEL METHOD

Created in the early 1971 by Jerome C Glenn. It i a method

o identi ying and packaging con equence o trend andevent .

Ba i Idea

Scenario and trend will have primary con equence and the

con equence are al o trend .

How to onduc

Ask the que ion, What will be the consequence of

the cho en trend? For example: I Urbanization i the

cho en trend then it con equence will be den er citie ,

which will in turn re ult into vertical citie . Vertical citie

will create the need or ying car , and o on.

Urbanization

Den er citie

Vertical citie

Flying car

Locate the trend and it con equence by egregating

them according to the eight a e s of future foreca ing.

Te pre entation indeed coured the con u ion that

shrouded the minds of the udents before Peter delivered

the le ure. But then it was time to put the theory into

pra ice. e day ended with an announcement for all the

groups to subje their colle ed trends to the methods

taught and pre ent it the next day.

Archite ure

Urban de ign

Life yleBu ine and

economy

Politic

Public wel are

Culture Infra ru ure,communicationand economy


19/40

An in ormative glimp e into the Indian de ign experience-

would be the be way to describe Shashank Mehtas

pre entation. He began the e ion by empha i ing that

the fruition of design concepts in a country was dire ly

a ociated with it inherent de ign heritage. Be ore

narrating the Indian design ory, Mehta mentioned thatIndia wa enormou in ize rom the geographical point o

view, with each ate having di erent climatic and physical

chara eri ics. Fathoming the range of diversity and

complexity that exi s in various ates of India would be

a really challenging ta k or any individual. It wa a reality

that within a ate itself, the diale s and cultural pra ices

changed every ew kilometer . Apart orm the language

recognised by the Indian Con itution, there were certain

language that did not have a written cript and the oraltradition wa the only manner in which they urvive, not

to mention the plethora of diale s in our country. Hindi

and English were the mo favoured languages for mass

communication.

Mehta opined that tradition wa an integral part o the

Indian etho . All evolution and change that took place in

Indian ociety, and a majority o attitude and belie could

be linked to the rong presence of tradition in all walks of

li e. Indian ociety dislayed a democratic temperament, on

SHASHANK MEHTA

POINT-COUNTERPOINT

account o which debate and argument were encouraged inorder to arrive at appropriate olution to variou problem .

Mehta drew attention to the fa that the concept of service

wa al o deeply rooted in Indian culture. Te pre entation

elaborated on how creativity wa deeply en hrined in the

Indian p yche, a a re ult o which, each individual wa

expe ed to di lay creativity in every a e of his/her

li e. In the Indian context, creativity wa not een a a trait

con ned only to de igner .

Coexi ence of opposites is a phenomenon typical to India.

Te new and the old, the traditional and the modern, blend

into one another to uch an extent that the line o di erence

almo get blurred. In this context Mehta pointed out that

Indian road were traver ed upon by a Mercede Benz a well

as a bullock cart on a daily basis. It was this coexi ence of

oppo ite that added to the complexity o India.

e presentation referred to the crafts se or, the second

large employment generating se or in India. e rich craftheritage o India had helped in nurturing everal art orm . It

wa mentioned that India had a large middle income egment

for which life was always a ruggle for acquiring good

employment opportunitie . Tu , it wa only natural or thi

group to adopt a pragmatic approach to li e and thi surred

it to explore indigenou way to earn it living by etting

up bu ine venture and ervice . Ti en e o initiative

created opportunitie where bu ine e and ervice could

be improved upon or even metamorpho e into independententerpri e .

Mehta talked about the ocial parameter and mentioned

that the Indian society was not chara erised by the simple

divi ion between the rich and the poor. Tere were everal

ocial layer between thi huge divide, and each ocial layer

was interdependent on the other for its exi ence. It was

ob erved that within each ocial layer, the people were

el - u cient and had their own et o value . Here, it wa

reiterated that the middle cla wa po itive in temperament,


20/40

but wa very con ervative when it came to deci ion about

ending money. is a e was said to have a rong

in uence on the Indian de ign concept.

Tere wa a re erence to Mahatma Gandhi, who believed

that it was essential to have produ ion by the masses rather

than mass produ ion. He was again the setting up ofheavy indu ries. He advocated indu ries that were low

on capital inve ment. It was expe ed that such indu ries

would harne the kill o the people and promi e them a

better andard of living. Such a scenario would also open

up ma ive opportunitie or de igner to work in variou

segments. In this conne ion, Mehta said that a majority of

NID graduate continued to work in India and they provided

in ight into ituation demanding de ign intervention .

alking seci cally about de ign in the Indian context,

Mehta said that India had a very rong tradition of crafts

and the cra tser on had a thorough knowledge o material

a well a u er . What India lacked wa a ound de ign

concept. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru elt the need or developing

a rong design consciousness in India. us, in 1958, a udy

wa undertaken by Charle and Ray Eame , who travelled

all over the country, identi ying variou cra t tradition .

Tey were completely a cinated with Indian culture and

felt that Indian craft produ s were perfe and did notrequire improvisations. e udy was documented as Te

India Report , wherein it wa mentioned that de ign wa all

about value , and not merely about providing olution to

indu ries.

It wa mentioned that NID not only imparted de ign

education, but al o provided de ign ervice, thereby

attempting to create the right awarene about de ign

concepts among masses. Design requirements of the indu ryand craft and social se ors came within the ambit of NID.

During each academic year, teaching a ivities at NID were

invigorated by the thought and idea brought in by more

than three hundred vi iting aculty member . Adopting a

tran diciplinary approach to education, NID o ered cour e

ranging rom de ign management to technology.

Mehta a erted that India o ered a variegated palette or

de igner to work upon. He gave example o how Indian

cultural cues in ired faculty and udents to undertake

various proje s. A udent of Apparel Design was awarded

or creating a garment that could be worn rom both ide .

e udent had taken in iration from the textile traditions

and the cenic beauty o Kerala to create hi award winning

colle ion. One of the faculty members had taken up a

con ultancy a ignment with an NGO that worked or

women empowerment and the logo or the organi ationwa insired by the bindi . Te identity or the BrahMo

mi ile, a collaborative venture between India and Ru ia

was created keeping mind Lord Shiva, the god of de ru ion

in the Hindu pantheon. Two short lms made by udents

of Animation Design were shown. e udents had drawn

in iration from the Navratri fe ival of Gujarat. Each of the

lms exhibited how udents experimented with their ideas

in order to create individual theme and image urrounding

this fe ival.

Te pre entation gave an in ight into the unique teaching

methodology adopted at NID. Social communication wa a

major area of focus for udents. Under a programme called

Environmental Perception, all the udents were expe ed

to live in a village or two to three week and thoroughly

document village life. NID possessed a va corpus of craft

documentations done by udents. In order to present an

accurate documentation of the craft, the udents were

expe ed to intera with craft ersons, identify the socialand hi orical a e s surrounding a craft and sugge market

opportunities for the craft being pra iced. It was mentioned

that the In itute condu ed transcreativity workshops.

Fun ioning as a design clinic, the In itute called for the

ervice o pro e ional de igner and engineer ; who would

sugge design solutions to nancially weak artisans and

small scale indu ries.

Mehta concluded his presentation by saying that the udentsin NID had a profound under anding of cultural heritage

and the In itute was only providing them a platform

to explore innovative idea . He al o mentioned that the

udents should have a clear under anding about the

problem in ociety, and they hould incerely attempt to

provide appropriate olution or the e problem by adopting

a creative approach.


21/40


22/40

GROUP TWO

IN 2029FUTURE FORECASTINGGauri Pandey

Dipti Kho la

Yuan Ye

Suba h Chellamuthu

Amrita Sen

Pra urjya Phukan

Hanne Dernehl

Rohit Goyal

Nata ha Lloren

Ti group ocu ed on the NRI culture, the auto rick haw

culture, manufa uring of the Tata Nano, branding of

handicra t , youth pop culture, the river ront and lake ront

proje s, hybrid houses, mall culture and we ernisation.

ese a e s were analysed on the importance versus

probability criteria. Tey were divided into our cenario :

(1) Economy: Ti included branding o Indian good and

handicra t , mall culture and their identity and a ordablemarket places that are ill preferred; (2) Technology:

is included the manufa uring of the Tata Nano car,

internet and mobile conne ivity; (3) Policy: Gujarat

ri ly enforced Prohibition. It was likely that this might

change in the uture and al o create upheaval in the ocial

fabric; (4) Infra ru ure: is included hybrid houses, the

riverfront and lakefront proje s, yovers and re oration of

archite ure in old cities. is group pointed out that if the

scenarios predi ed by Group 1 were completely eliminated,there would be no city twenty year hence. Ti wa becau e

the trend they were analy ing were an o hoot o the trend

ob erved by Group 1 ten year ago and the probability that

they would materialise would get limited by the very fa that

they would be eliminated. Due to thi , the group altered it

de nition o probability.

Te two cenario ocu ed upon were modern ver u

traditional and materiali m ver u ideali m. It wa pointed

out that modernity was all about access to infra ru ure

facilities, and this was often confused with we ernisation.

In religiou ocietie ba ed on moral and democratic ideal ,

people would requent traditional market a the good were

available at a ordable rates. In the context of infra ru ure

trend it wa ob erved that, the building in the old city

would be re ored to their old glory. Some of them might be

converted into hybrid hou e that would contain modern

amenities, while ill preserving their traditional ethos. It was

observed that every hutment outside the In itute had an

ele ric meter. is revealed that the authorities knew that

people there were in a position to a ord ele ricity. is also

repre ented an attempt at ocial equality. Regarding policy

matters, it was observed that India had an ideal inve ment

in culture and li ting the ban on prohibition might re ult

in the etting up o pub and di cotheque , but incident

o drunken driving could increa e. Relaxing the ban on

prohibition would not contribute to any kind of con ru ive

qualitative growth. Be ide , the ocial abric o the city might

al o come under evere threat. echnological trend wereseen in improved mobile and internet conne ivity. Also, it

was predi ed that the auto rickshaw, a traditional icon in

India could get more sophi icated from the technological

point of view. An intere ing predi ion was made in the

context o technology when it wa aid that networking

would be o rampant that any event happening in any

pilgrimage centre o India would be conveyed to the people

in antly, and this would bring people closer to their roots.

Shilpa Da mentioned that the huge hopping mall in the

city old international brand and the up urge o materiali m

had occurred only a ter the liberali ation o the Indian

economy teen year ago. Shopping in mall wa a lei ure

a ivity for the people of higher income groups and not the

middle cla .


23/40

GROUP THREE

IN 2059FUTURE FORECASTING Jing Jing

Atula Jadhav

Kanika Bhardwaj

Farva h Razavi

Saheb Ram udu

Vikram Sivakumar

Simran Dhaliwal

George K. Antoney

is group observed that we ernisation was getting a lot

of acceptance in the city and this was the dire outcome of

globali ation. A vi it to the ISCON mall howed how villager

were brought rom ar o area and o ered employment

opportunitie and ree accommodation by the authoritie .

ranslantation o tree pointed out to a progre ive eco

trend. Old hou e were being purcha ed by oreigner , who

would refurnish these ru ures as hotels or heritage homes.

It was predi ed that the ordinary reet vendor would be ina position to sell branded produ s with attra ive packaging.

Ele ricity supply in hutments showed that the people living

there no longer had to eal ele ricity, but had progressed

enough to pay or the ervice. Te out kirt o the city

witnessed large scale con ru ion of malls. It was predi ed

that adverti ing trend would al o undergo a ea change in

the uture.


24/40

PETER MAJANEN

PUB, DEPARTMENT STOREA CASE STUDY

A ter day o theoretical di cour e, nally came the day

when one could hear the ma er of trend otting himself

demon rate his own ways and means of future foreca ing.

To exhibit a concrete example for the udents to follow,

Peter presented a case udy of an assignment taken up by h

company Quattroporte.

Quattroporte i a uture agency that develop uture or

market place, city, culture, and communication. It wa

arted in Autumn 2005. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Ericsson

are ome o it client .

ype o a ignment they deal with are

departmental ores of future

elderly li e o tomorrow

city o the uture

de en e o tomorrow

retail chain o tomorrow

healthcare o uturemobile phone ervice o tomorrow

e various eps of future foreca ing take a considerable

amount o time:

rensotting take about 13 month

Con rmation take about 12 month

Synthe izing take about one month

Conceptuali ation take about one month

Reali ation take about three month to three year

Te three quesion to a k:

1) Where are the ociety and the market heading in ve,

teen, and ty year time?

2) What doe your organization need to develop the need o

the ociety a well a the market need o tomorrow?

3) How doe the organization manage the nece ary change

and how do you implement it?


25/40

PUB, a department ore of Stockholm, was opened in 1882

and it name i derived rom the name o it ounder Paul U.

Berg rom. In late 20th century the upper four oreys of the

department ore were converted into a hotel. Once a major

department ore, PUB became a department ore that had

been long orgotten by the con umer o Stockholm. Te

aim was to create the department ore of the future. It had

to be tran ormed into a a hion temple rom an ob olete

hardware ore. e target group was the young who are yle

con ciou .

Te trend hunting wa done in London, Copenhagen, and

Stockholm. A quantitative urvey o 700 individual living in

Stockholm wa done.

rend ound were:

e traditional department ore typology was hi ory

Secondhand trend continued

Heart o a hion i ituated at SderStronge shopping experience abroad

Japan and A ian trend that insire young con umer

Internet a retail and training channel

Flow; complex and challenging experience can be very

rewarding. Such experience create ow

In iring a like yli s and trend hunters who can

give a hion advice

Cra t

Te uniqueAuthentic

De ign experience

Ruggedne that give a eeling o being le commercial

Once the trend were ound the proce e that ollowed

were con rmation of trends, con ru ion of concepts, and

combination o qualitative and quantitative technique .

Next ep was to create a grid with two driving forces

1) Security eeking V . Openne to change

2) Ideali m V . Materiali m

wo crucial experience were derived rom the above

proce :1) Uniquene

2) Authenticity

Te e experience echoed the need or thing which could

not be ound anywhere el e, thing clo er to heritage, and

which were anti-commercial. Te olution given wa the

inclu ion o econdhand and ound de ign, vintage and hot

couture. Such an inclusion was seen as an e e ive ep

towards making PUB, the department ore of the future.

Ideali m

Departmentore as a design

colle ive

Department oreas a concept ore

Department orea a club

Department orea a window to

the world

Materiali m

Se urity eeking

Openneto hange


26/40

DAY OUT

HERITAGEWALK

e Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad is condu ed by the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with NGO, CRU A

Foundation, as a part of its cherished proje Getting the

City to the People. Te Heritage Walk o Ahmedabad i a

guided walk o two and a hal hour . Tere i al o a hal hour

ecial slide show running through pages of the citys hi ory

un olding back it birth rom a 10th century AD ancient

ite known a A haval to the pre ent walled city re- ounded

during the period o Ahmed hah and onward .

e walk begins from the pi uresque Swaminarayan Mandir

in Kalupur and ends in the mo glorious archite ural

legacie , the Jumma Ma jid, covering in between the

numerou pol , haveli , ornamental acade , workplace o

arti an and number o magni cent Hindu and Jain temple .

Te walk proceed rom Kavi Dalpatram Chowk, which

hou ed the great 19th century Gujarati poet, in Lambe hwar

ni Pol, to the cla ic remini ce o the city textile era - the

Calico Dome. It then lead to the century old Kala RamjiMandir in the Haja Patel ni Pol with a unique idol o Lord

Rama in dark colour and in a sitting po ure.

Te walk move through Do hiwada ni Pol, Zaveri Vad

to Chaumukhji ni Pol where ornate temple with their

a cinating wooden carving are hidden under plain exterior

and camou aged beneath the aura o Mughal rule. Te lane

are pun uated with intriguing chabutra (bird eeder ) to a

three- oot wide alley leading into the 110-year old HarkunvarShethani ni Haveli.

From Manek Chowk to Rani no Hajiro and Bad hah no

Hajiro, the walk nally culminate at the magnanimou Jama

Ma jid.

Student Experien e

Te walk wa mainly included in the chedule to make the

udents from Sweden familiar with the city of Ahmedabad,

its archite ure, and life. For the NID udents accompanying

them it wasnt new to walk along the reets that they had

trodden all their live . Te walk wa certainly an experience

worth remembering for the udents from Stockholm. For

Karin the walk conjure everal image o women bru hing

teeth, too riendly dog , cow with necklace , a very miling

guide, secret paths, the mo quiet place in Ahmedabad, the

mosque, owers, the archite ure of the temple, etc. It was a

walk that encompa ed everal dimen ion o the entire city

o Ahmedabad in ew hour .


27/40


28/40

A que ion was put to the participants: Are mass produced

original o uture value? Jone pointed out that the term

mass produced originals was self-contradi ory. While

howing the de ign o the Breeding able, Jone mentioned

that there could be machine or producing table that could

be programmed into manufa uring the same. A computer

could al o be u ed to produce everal de ign ba ed on

variations in the original. us, the manufa uring machines

could be programmed to change the cutting and olding

po ition to create a unique table everytime. A cla ic hi t

occurred in thi ca e a it wa the o tware and the algorithm

that became the intelle ual property and not the design of

the table. In this conne ion, Jones mentioned that a que ion

asked by Rosalind Kraus, an art hi orian, revealed the

complexity o the entire ituation. She a ked, Imagine what a

culture would look like i there were no copie becau e there

are no original ?

In hi concluding remark , Jone reiterated that it wae ential or one to identi y what attitude to adopt toward

intelle ual property. Con dentiality needed to be ressed

upon if designers were really serious about intelle ual

property. Finally, it wa to be acknowledged that a a de igner

one wa not merely into the de ign bu ine , but into the

knowledge bu ine that demanded money. A generou

amount o money wa required to create a receptacle o

authentic knowledge and hence it had to be prote ed.

Jones mentioned that intelle ual property theft was on

the rise in contemporary times and it was a dire result of

globali ation. Tere ore, it wa imperative or de igner to

determine whether their designs were to be prote ed, or

imply get treated a open ource . I univer itie and de ign

chool believed in doing genuine and valuable re earch, they

were entitled to put price tag on their creation . In order

to determine how one would use future foreca ing in ones

design pra ice, one had to analyse ones relationship with

intelle ual property issues and the manner in which one

decided to pre ent one work.

Jone talked about the collaborative e ort between the

Experience Design department at Kon fack and Brio Toys,

Sweden. Brio core value were: o be, to go and to play.

For the company, toy were tool or parent , toy were

supposed to possess mobility and also fo er the parent-child

relationship. Based on the technique of future foreca ing,

Kon facks que ions to the toy company were a littlerange. What were the future values of play? What were

the uture experience o play? What wa the uture o play

in child culture? All these que ions were based on future

foreca ing and design rategy. e aim was to analyse

how Brio could improve it po ition in uture market .

e company was convinced that designing a sy em was

paramount and it was this a e that brought together

experience designers, cognitive scienti s, psychologi s,

sociologi s, cognitive neuroscienti s and intelle ualproperty lawyer to evaluate the uture o play.


29/40

Mo days of inktank09 arted with a le ure on

trend otting and future foreca ing and led to a eld trip,

where the three groups of udents had to visit the city

of Ahmedabad and look for trends that would a e the

uture o the city in 10, 20, and 50 year . Tey had to put

the learning into pra ice by applying the techniques and

method they learnt during the e ion on what they came

across when they made their eld trips. It was intere ing to

ee how each group, having vi ited the ame place a vi ited

by other group , came up with di erent et o trend .

Group 1 made three ub-group and carried out their earch

in three dire ions. Some went to a lower middle class and

ome to a below lower middle cla chool. Tey ound that

unlike the pre-conceived notion about uch chool , the

ratio of girls was more than that of boys. A dra ic di erence

in their life yle was also observed. Some also visited an art

cla requented by children o upper middle cla . Here

too, the ratio of girls was more and a change in the life ylewa een even here. One o their eld trip al o made them

realize that the people o Ahmedabad had become more

iritual as well as money oriented. However, attra ion of

the cu omers towards novel things with a di in feel was

een to be quite a trend. Te new city wa een a a potential

hub or developing road ide economy with chaiwala and

reet vendors on the rise.

Te eld trip o Group 2 made them di cover everal thingon everal level . Tey vi ited the local market in the Old

city, which is ill a happening place for shopping goers in

ite of the e ablishment of grand malls. It is a place where

people can buy produ s at a much cheaper rate than the

rate at which it i old in a uper market. Te ob erved

the chaos that outlines the reets of these local markets.

Conver ation with the hopkeeper revealed the multi-

purpo e u e o the old city. Tey explored it night and day

life. e old buildings and the archite ure of the mosques

indeed a cinated them. Quite contrary to the e building

ood a glass building, a modern con ru ion, which caught

the attention o the e trendsotter . Tey al o vi ited the

Iscon Mall, at SG Highway. It was an absolute contra from

the old city. eir next op was the National Handloom

Hou e which had Indian yet contemporary item on dislay.

ey discovered how a place like this provides a satisfa ory

hopping experience to the middle cla people o the city.

ey even went to CG Road, which was once the mo

favourite hangout place for young ers. Today, however,

it don a comparatively de erted look. Te ale a well a

marketing o international brand eemed to be low. Te

chance o growing road ide economy were more with the

ri e in the number o road ide vendor . Tey al o vi ited

the residential areas here to know the level of intera ion

between the people living there and the vendor . Tey ound

the auto rick haw to be the major mode o transort.

During the many eld trip , Group 3 vi ited the Paldi Gam,

een Darwaja, and I con Mall. Ahmedabad though being abusiness driven city, the process and the way of condu ing

business seemed to be an absolute contra at all three places

Tey ound that everal upwardly mobile amilie live in the

Paldi village, which was surprising and unexpe ed. Iscon

mall eemed like a hangout place or many. Te atmoshere

there was like that of a fair. ey also went to Va rapur.

ey saw many new and multifun ional buildings being

con ru ed. New ru ures are being built keeping in mind

the i ue o sace. Vertical de ign or a temple wa een therea an example o uch a utilization o sace.

TREND HUNTING

EXPERIENCES OFTHE GROUPS


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PETER MAJANEN

FUTURE OFTHE CITIESA ter managing to et layer o in ormation and knowledge

regarding urban planning and future foreca ing in the minds

of the udents, Peters la presentation served as an icing on

the cake. As a nale to the series of le ures delivered during

the la week, this presentation made the concept of city

trends concrete enough for the udents to under and.

A number o city trend , ome which have already been

con rmed and ome not con rmed yet, were pre ented

through slides with attra ive visuals.

1) Urban Biodiver ity

Parks are turned into city farms where people grow food

Vertical farms, gardens in di erent layers

2) ran ormation

Using old ru ures and transforming them into friendly,

more sociable, and diverse ru ures

is trend has been con rmed in the we ern world

3) Parti ipation

Reversal of power from politicians to the citizens

rough digital solutions or by appointing a representative

4) Parametri i m

Creating complex ru ures out of small areas or from

imple and very ew parameter

ese parameters can a ually run by individuals usingdigital sy ems

5) Geniu Lo i

In the contemporary context it refers to a location with a

di in atmo here or irit

6) Urban Vitali

Conne ed to participation in the development of the city

Creating a rong, livelier and exible living

Psychological approach towards city planning

7) Flying itie

When cities grow denser, ying cities can be an apt solutio

Powered by hydrogen gas and driven by solar power

It would oat at about 300-1000 metres above the ground

An interdisciplinary process involving engineers, archite s,

and city planner

8) City Sysem rend

A trend that would give them a sy em that would ful ll

need when wanted

It would encourage the sense of sharing among people

9) Susainability

Cultural and Social su ainability

Health and economic su ainability

Environmental su ainability

A combined application of the above may result into

con i ing situations

10) Sanitation

A sy em of sanitation and di osal that can lead to a

cleaner city

is may have negative consequences on economy

generated rom junk and diso ed item

11) Sprawl

Spreading of the city over rural land

is of course has many evidently negative consequences

12) New Pedesriani m

More pavements discouraging use of car

No car ace will be available in the city

13) Junk Spa e

A fun ional place without any use like railway tracks, power

plant , etc.


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THE EXHIBITION

THE MODUSOPERANDI

e exhibition required the con ru ion of a model which

was of course a vision, a produ ion of an imaginary concept,

yet had to be pra ically applicable to the city of Ahmedabad

in the year 2019, 2029, and 2059. Having applied their

nding to the Importance V . Probability chart and to the

Future Wheel, the udents prioritized some of the exi ing

trend in the city and eamed out olution to tackle them or

improve them in the year allotted to each group.

Group 1 had to deal with trend that could be executed in

a mere san o ten year . Tough they could not pre ent

grand changes in the exi ing condition of the city, they came

up with innovative idea that can ea ily be implemented

by 2019 . o cover a wider area and to uncomplicated

thing they divided their group into maller unit and went

trendsotting in di erent part o the city. Next they put

their head together to map the trend on the Importance

V . Probability chart; the cho en two driving orce being 1) Order V . Chao , and 2) Con ervation V . Futurisi /

Modern. Brain orming led to the sele ion of trends

which were le probable and more important on the

graph. Developing cenario on the graph they decided on

the nal trend which were then evaluated according to

the three parameter : Ar hitecure, In rasrucure and

Communi ation; Urban De ign, Li esyle, Bu ine , and

E onomy; and Publi Wel are, Culture, and Politi .

Te eld trip brought along or Group 2 a huge cope to

look at Ahmedabad a never een be ore. A widesread

demand for Chinese goods, ill prevailing preference for

local market, upcoming mall culture, valuable potential o

handloom a compared to international brand , the BR S

proje , Nano car, etc., otted during these eld trips

ormed the ba i on which they grouped the di covered

trend or the year 2029 into three clu ers:1) E onomy

- branding of Indian goods, Chinese produ s and local

market; 2) In rasrucure - metro railway, river ront

proje , nancial capital, facilities to udy in foreign

countrie ; and 3) Se urity - living within a community,

hi-tech security sy ems at public places. Having observed

closely it was concluded that all these clu ers were driven by

two main orce 1) Modern V . raditional , and

2) Ideali m V . Materiali m.

For Group 3 , the proce rend sotting or the year 2059

began in the old city. Next they compiled all the trend they

ob erved on the Importance V . Probability chart, on the

axe o Value V . Individual ba ed- ommunity ba ed . Te

trend were later compiled under the head o publi ecor,

private, urban planning, ulture, ar hitecure, et . Te

major trend were culled out and narrative were created or

each cenario. Te trend were then put on a uture wheel,

using a cause and e e relation the repercussions of each

trend wa put on the uture wheel.


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THE EXHIBITION

MOULDINGTHOUGHTS

Ten began the proce o giving orm to their train o

thought . Te model pre ented by each group were di erent

not only in concept but al o in it appearance and material

u ed in it making.

Te model o Group 1 wa called Te Paratha City, a

model that built keeping in mind the urvival o everyone,

whether rich or poor. As intere ing the nal trends were, so

were the metaphorical name a igned to each. Te trend

concentrated upon were:

Pavement Entrepreneur : Telawala and road ide

alls will have a governing authority, which will allot an

appropriate and legal sace to them and they will in turn be

entitled to pay taxe .

Control the Carele Citizen : Te maddening tra c jam

that exi today in the city will be tackled by 2019 leading to ale chaotic li e in the city.

Meaning ul Sprawl: Multi-fun ionality of public aces

will be encouraged. e benches in a park, for in ance, can

fun ion as a school in the morning and as a place to relax in

the evening.

De igner Slum : Many road in the city are lined with lum ,

which not only make the city chaotic but al o give an ugly look to the ace o the place. So hou e on a ordable price

de igned esecially or the lum dweller will be the an wer

to the unhygienic way o living in the lum and the illegal

po e ion o land.

Green Multi- uncionality: Tere will be an increa e in the

green patche o the city. More tree and greenery will be

encouraged.

Renovated Old Hide Ugly Old: Building near the old

building will be renovated in keeping with the look and eel

o the monument it urround o that it doe not hamper the

essence that the ancient archite ure abounds in.

I thi wa not enough to expre their idea to the vi itor ,

the enthusia ic lot of Group 1 managed to create a video

explaining each trend through beauti ul animation.

Te model created by Group 2 dislayed the ace o

Ahmedabad a in the year 2029 with high ri e building ,

Wi-Fi conne ions, market ace with some local markets

incorporated within it, Chine e good market, mall ,

community living sace or ecurity purpo e , more mall

with Indian brands and handloom produ s, etc. It also

depi ed the development of the riverside proje and the

po ibility o more ata Nano car on the road . Since

celebrations and fe ivities form a major part of India,the model howed how sort complex will be u ed or

celebrating fe ivals like kite fe ivals, which will in turn

boo Gujarat tourism.

Group 3 had the challenge o extending their vi ion ty

years ahead of time and envision a perfe , but again, a

pra ical model for the year 2059. eir model was ju as

futuri ic as their subje . ey decided to make a symbolic

representation of trends through a model made out of rawsin variou colour , each colour ymbolizing a trend.

Yellow sraw represented old archite ure, monuments

and temple like Rani ka Hazira and Jumma Ma jid. It wa

noticed that these ecimens of archite ure are being

subje ed to considerable amount of damage. is has led

to the de ru ion of the details such monuments hold.

Residential buildings have also arted being con ru ed

near the e ancient building , degrading the beauty and value

that urround it. It remove hop and hou e rom the


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THE EXHIBITION

CURTAINFALLS

vicinity o the ancient monument , converting the old city

into a cultural hub, with culture chool ( a hram ) opening

up. Te e cultural chool or a hram will erve a a retreat

where touri s can learn traditional folk art, dance, music,

and lead a peace ul li e. From the concept o road ide tea

alls, arose the idea of a tea centre where people dressed in

traditional clothes could serve tea to the visitors. is se ion

o the model thu , voiced the need to maintain the cultural

aura o the city.

White sraw repre ented road . It demand the lum to

be cleared o the road ide to make way or cra t chool and

hop . It could there ore, be turned into a hub o ancient

art orm , reviving and encouraging the local arti an who

have otherwise been razed to du with the selling of cheap

Chine e good . It al o corresonded to the emergence

underground hi-tech sy em consi ing markets, rail sy em,

conne ing it with the re of Ahmedabad. All in all, their vi ion or the old city wa a parallel o today Venice.

Green sraw ymbolized more greenery, which could be

achieved by developing no pollution zone , and through the

u e o eco- riendly bike . Ti would not only help to lower

pollution, but will al o add to the beauty o the city. With

tree and plant being planted on both ide o the road,

and even along the divider built in the middle o the road ,

problem o rain and raw material can al o be reducedBlue raws ood for the several gates of the old city like

een Darwaza, Lal Darwaza and other door . It echoed the

idea o cea ing the damage to which the e secimen o ne

archite ure are being subje ed to.

Pink sraw repre ented the home in the old city area.

Adhering to the idea that Shi t in an area uture depend

on hi t in value o the re idential people, the uture model

concentrated on the cultural resurre ion of old city in terms

of people buying heritage buildings and re oring them.

With all the three model perched at three di erent level

ymbolizing the time gap o which each model soke, the

exhibition opened or the public to behold. Te trend

materialized in each model were no ca les in the air; in ead

they were grounded in a reality that could adorn the uture o

Ahmedabad.

Tinktank09 exhibition: All the three model were on di play


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No talgia Unveiled: Local become Global , echoing the experience o Tinktank08, relea ed

A quainting India: Shilpa (L), trie to explain the Indian point o view toRonald (C), and Peter (R)

Speaking One Mind: Student expre their thought and apprehen ion

Gearing-up: Student preparing or the Tinktank09 experience

Voi ing Tought : Student append their thought to the ongoingpre entation

Pre enting Vi ion : Group map the trend gathered rom their eld tripon a chart


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Smile o Contentment: Tinktank o 2009 po e or the camera

All Ear : Student attentively li tening during the eminar


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TANK YOUVERY MUCH

Student rom India and Sweden who participated in the

Tinktank09 at NID.

Helga Govindan, Ra hmi Rajan and Aarohi Vya rom the

Re earch and Publication Department, NID

arun Deep Girdher and Neelima Ha ija or acilitating Open

Ele ives 09.

Shilpa Da and Sha hank Mehta or their upport.

Ronald Jone and Peter Majanen or haring their knowledge.

Gopalan Nambiar and Smita Govindan or helping u .

Photo Credit : Valji Solanki

De ign: Sanjay Ba avaraju, Student, NID


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Thinktank2009

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