Global Experts to Converge Next Week at India’s Largest Design Meet in Kochi

KOCHI:
Seeking to leverage path-breaking design solutions in rebuilding the flood-ravaged Kerala, the state government is organising #DESIGN KERALA SUMMIT on December 11 and 12 in Kochi.

The summit forms the key segment of India’s largest design festival, the six-day ‘Kochi Design Week’, at Bolgatty Convention Centre. The festival, which will be attended by leading design luminaries, architects and decision-makers from around the world, concludes on December 16. Arun Balachandran, CM’s IT Fellow, Govt. of Kerala said the core focus of the event will be to find out how we can include design thinking into rebuilding Kerala as it is going through an important phase pertaining to reconstruction after floods.

“As part of the event, #DESIGN KERALA SUMMIT will have panel discussions, interactive sessions, debates and dialogues centering round designing of a futuristic and sustainable ecosystem for Kerala.” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address the Summit on December 12.

The event, happening when Kerala is getting into a crucial phase of reconstruction is helmed by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Kerala. The event will showcase technology options which can be used during the rebuilding phase as installations so that various stakeholders can experience them. Ideas emerging out of the event will be distributed to relevant departments for their reference.

Building on the tempo set by the digital summit #Future held earlier this year, the Kochi Design week is meant for boosting innovative design and solutions in the state and equip it with futuristic technology and architecture to deal with natural calamities more effectively.
CERA is the main sponsor of the event. For registration, visit www.kochidesignweek.org.

While the central theme of the meet is to “design a sustainable ecosystem for the future”, various sessions will be taken up for deliberation topics like public infrastructure, technology infrastructure, tourism, handloom uplift and living spaces. Experts from each area will innovate and outline models that ensure a sustainable ecosystem for a better Kerala.

Presentations and deliberations at the conclave will take place in different segments—Design Kerala Summit, Design District, Design Challenge, Design Summer School, workshops and master classes. The Design District will showcase future technology, ecosystems and design concepts. The summer school is being organised in partnership with Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID). The design challenge will comprise a series of competitions.

Ana Laura Farias, Head Summer School, CIID said such an event to tackle social issues is not only important to Kerala but to the whole world. “It’s a platform where methodologies, skills etc are offered to individuals to excel in their own field. For most of the people, design means just ‘aesthetics’. But in reality, it’s much more than that and entails wide scope as it could solve many social issues.

Abbey V Rodrigues, Senior Vice President, CERA “Kerala is the largest market for CERA and it’s time we give back to the state.”
Key speakers to the meet include John Ferreira (designer and entrepreneur), Cyrus Clarke (designer, architect and researcher), Filippo Cutica (Creative Director, BBC), Momo Miyazaki (IDEO, San Francisco), Srini R Srinivasan (President, World Design Organisation), Manas Karambelkar ( Studio 5B), SD Shibulal (Chairman, HPIC, Kerala and Co-founder Infosys), V K Mathews (Founder and Executive Chairman (IBS), Alok Nandi (Architempo), Jimmy Chion (Idea designer), Siddharth Balachandran (Airbus India Bizlab ), Darly Koshi (former director, National Institute of Design), M Sivasankar (Secretary, IT and Electronics, Kerala) and Prasanth Nair (Deputy Secretary, Government of India, and founder, Compassionate Kerala).

Dr Saji Gopinath (CEO, Kerala Startup Mission), Vinod Nair (former Fashion Editor, Hindustan Times), Rahul R (MD, KTDC), Satheesh Nair and Richard Antony (Ernst and Young), Sunil Sethi (Fashion Design Council of India), Suhas Gopinath (Globus Inc) and Abhimanyu Nohwar (Founder, KIBA) will also speak and make presentations on a wide array of related subjects.
The event will be free for the public to experience the Design District and exhibition area at Bolgatty Island. Jayadeep Narasimhan, General Manager Sales, CERA also attended the press conference.