top of page
A kit of furniture designed for community classrooms in India.
6 month duration, 2022
Mentor: Avik Sarkar, Pravinsinh Solanki
Client: Ethos, Goa
Roles: Design Research, Furniture Design, CMF
Context:
During the pandemic, with most schools taking their curriculums online, access to formal education became a challenge - especially, for children from underserved sections of society. Technology, or the lack thereof along with other vital resources caused disruptions of a scale and depth unseen before.
However, going forward, this also presented a great opportunity to reimagine the delivery of a far more holistic learning experience as a regular feature even when schools reopen and classes go offline.
Intent:
The intent of the project is to define and create a Community Based Learning Environment by designing the furniture that enables the kind of interaction that will make possible a Blended Learning Space.
The process navigates itself through conversations with the likes of Ratan J Batliboi (Architect, Board Chair and Trustee of CRY), Safdar Rahman (Educator and filmmaker known for his film Chippa amongst others), Sneha Phalle (Known for her extensive work with Govt. schools in Goa), Nandita Desouza (Behavioural and Developmental Pediatrician), Vishal Rawley, Talulah De Silva (Founders of Community Classrooms, Goa) and Satish Gokhale (Industrial Designer who does extensive work with plastics and roto-molding).
After-school community based exercises like Bookworm, Goa and Community Classrooms were taken as case studies to help set parameters. The result of this design exercise is a Pilot Concept that entails a kit of Furniture (with seating elements, writing surfaces and storage) for 30, 8-14 year old children which would enable a Community Based Learning Environment that encourages peer-learning and imbibes a sense of community. Special care and attention was paid to ensure that the elements do not in any way, indicate a distinction in terms of usage amongst the students.
The Project will provide the children with a space to exchange ideas and learn with and from each other. It aims to create an access to learning, so children can then discover their interests, potentials and intelligences in a shared environment.
Deliverables:
Based off of the Primary and Secondary Research, the deliverables for the project were defined.
The elements will be:
-Used by 8-14 year olds
-Agnostic to the gender/ caste/ class/ religion of the child and not require any format of differentiation
-Flexible to perform a variety of activities. (either easily put away of have multiple uses)
The elements will also enable interactions between:
- Individual student and the environment
- Individual student and teacher in the environment
- Group (small and large) of students and the environment
- Group (small and large) of students and the environment
- Group (small and large) of students and teacher in the environment
The Kit of parts maybe used independently or together. Further, the it was very important in the process to create a sense of a "safe" space where children could freely think and express themselves.
The elements will be agnostic to gender, caste and class which will encourage a barrier free, inclusive space and thus propagate empathy amongst the children. It was also important that there was flexibility and comfort in the manner in which the children conducted themselves in the space.
The Client also defined the project so as to encourage a more focused design process for the Pilot:
​
- The Kit will be used in Community Classrooms in Urban Cities and towns in India.
- It is to be assumed that the spaces in which the classes will be conducted in, whether indoors or outdoors, will have even, flat ground
- The elements will cater to children from 8-14 years of age.
Ideation and Design development
Encouraging a sense of community and peer learning took precedence during the ideation process as primary research proved it to be a most essential aspect to designing for such a space.
Earlier a closed circular profile that could later be broken off to form smaller arcs seemed to demonstrate a sense pf community. However in terms of production and commute it wasn't as economical an option. This tending the form to a polygon's profile.
The furniture would need to be delivered pan India and to slightly more remote areas where a tempo traveler maybe the only means of transport available. The form and dimensions of the product were defined by there nuances as well.
The hexagonal form through all the furniture elements presented an interesting possibility as to how the furniture elements could come together when not in use, and be taken apart when in use.
The storage and seats became the defining elements of this system of enablers or furniture.
1:1 models made in thermocol to check the interaction between the elements.
The Graduation Project document with further construction details maybe shown on request.
bottom of page