KOCHI: Kochi is the state’s commercial capital and the nerve centre for the startup ecosystem, thanks to the presence of the Integrated Startup Complex and Maker Village. Next up, the metro city is being promoted as the region’s design hub — a place where creativity flourishes.
As the second edition of Kochi Design Week begins at Bolgatty Palace on Thursday, the message is loud and clear — the city will be a place where experts from different parts of the world disrupt, imagine, ideate, innovate and design for a better tomorrow.
“Today, as soon as we speak to an outsider about Kochi, the very first question they ask is about Fort Kochi, Mattanchery and other tourist spots. The years of branding and promotion have worked towards building such an image,” said Arun Balachandran, Chief Minister’s Fellow (IT), Government of Kerala and the special officer for Kochi Design Week project.. He said Kochi, the financial capital of the state and also a hub of startup ecosystem, is an ideal candidate to become the design hub of the state.“We need to give the concept of sustainable design its deserving focus in various domains such as technology, urban planning and architecture,” he said.
Applying design
Arun said though Kerala has a healthy startup ecosystem, the number of entrepreneurs tasting success is low, as they are yet to apply the concept of design in their products. “They lose out to counterparts from other countries when it comes to landing investments due to poorly designed products,” he said.
City of creativity
“Just like everyone came to recognise Bengaluru as the Silicon Valley of India, we want the world to know Kochi as the place where creations happen,” said Arun. He said in Kerala’s case, one thing that stands out is the presence of Malayalis in nearly all sectors engaged in creative work. However, each entity is working on its own. “What we want is for all stakeholders to work together and come up with solutions that will make our cities perfect in all aspects,” he said.
Permanent installations
The KDW team is planning to set up permanent installations at Bolgatty Palace and Island Resort, the ‘Design Island’.
The plan is in the initial phase and once installed, it will boost the tourism prospects of Bolgatty Palace.
Design-led tech is future
In five to seven years, robots and artificial intelligence are expected to take over jobs, bringing down the prospects of the IT sector. The future is clearly in the design sector. “Design-led products will always have the attention of a consumer more. As machines won’t have the creativity like humans, the future clearly lies with design,” said Arun.
Installations based on Kerala floods
Kochi: Kissa, an organisation of students and professionals based in North Kerala, is planning to use the design week to showcase installations based on Kerala floods. Neethu Rahman, who manages the organisation. said the team’s main aim was to create a festive ambience for design week. One of their installations was ‘Dreamcatchers’ featuring chekutty dolls tied to bicycle tyres. “We will hang paper boats at the installation space to honour the fishermen community, who played a vital role in flood rescue operations,” said Neethu. Their most attractive installation will, perhaps, be another boat made using with plastic bottles. “Our the ‘Book of Life’ installation aims at collecting books and raising funds for a school at Areekode, which lost most of its books during the flood,” she said.
Session on ‘surface creativity’
A special session on ‘Surface creativity’ will be held at 4pm on Saturday as part of KDW. Architect couple Lijo Jos and Reny Lijo will address delegates on the designs inspired by free-spirited placement and colouring of floors. The three-hour session is being organised in association with Mumbai-based tiles, marble and mosaic firm NITCO. The venue will be NITCO’s Le Studio at Edappally.
An ecosystem for the creative
The Centre for Excellence in Design, aimed to provide an ecosystem for designers, will open in Kochi next year. The plan is to set up the centre at the Integrated Startup Complex, Kalamassery. “The centre will provide designers all the facilities to work. They will get access to authentic software and high-end hardware. Freelance designers can bring in their clients and use the space for their work,” said Arun Balachandran.
The design of food
A food fest and food styling workshop will be organised during KDW. “The fest aims to show that the design aspect exists in all sectors,” said Arun. The food styling workshop will be held at 5pm on Thursday. “The two-hour workshop will be a unique experience for visitors,” he said. The food fest will feature around 100 dishes prepared by 20 restaurants and will give priority to delicacies from Kochi. It will also feature signature dishes from other parts of Kerala.
New York-type food street on anvil
If all goes well and the Kochi Corporation allots an appropriate spot, the city might soon get its own ‘Food Street’. “We have submitted a proposal with the Mayor. She has to take a call on it,” said Arun Balachandran. The food street will be on the lines of the ones in New York, US. “The food street will allow Kochiites to spend some leisure time in the evenings, just sitting around and chatting,” he said.