A PARADIGM SHIFT IN DESIGN EDUCATION

Architect Sourabh Gupta and Designer Mridu Sahai, Founders, The Design Village, talk about their vision and quest to redefine design pedagogy

- SEEMA SREEDHARAN

From the outside, it’s nondescript, almost to the point of walking past it. Inside, it’s a world where the future of design is being nurtured. From an erstwhile ‘kattha’ factory, to now a college of design, The Design Village shatters all norms and seeks to reinvent the way design education is perceived and disseminated. Founders, Sourabh Gupta and Mridu Sahai take us through the story of its inception and their vision for the future.

THE IDEA AND THE INCEPTION

A+D: An architectural firm venturing into design education. That’s a first, isn’t it?

SOURABH GUPTA: The Design Village happened to us ten years ago. All we had was an idea of how the design education of the future could be. As my architecture studio - Archohm grew, charting its own path and pace, one saw that inspiring students to be a part of the design fraternity was a logical direction. TDV thus, is an attempt to bring the international world of design closer home, and use design to contribute in the strengthening of the society and its values.

Slowly and steadily the journey unfolded, and we started making the institute, in sense and space. First three years went in researching, evaluating and designing the vision of the college. Next was to bring in like-minded people. Friends and social entrepreneurs Navneet Garg and Rishi Aggarwal came on board as co-founders and by further sharpening the mission of the project, ensured that we made the village a reality.

Thereafter, we worked towards the pedagogical model of this new school of thought. And finally, we went on to building an aligned space as the physical manifestation for the institution.