Art, Architecture and Design Professionals On TFOD

The Dutch did it again – pushed the limits of design to deliver a veritable delight. This time, it is in the realm of travel equipment design that their endeavours touched the next level. Netherland based Rob Vos Design, in collaboration with German engineers, created a camping trailer which is a visual treat in addition to being fantastically luxurious, efficient and compact. Christened the Opera Camper, the trailer fans open to mimic the Sydney Opera House and offers amenities that compete with any five star accommodation in an unbelievably compact space, recasting the usually economical experience of camping in to a luxurious avatar.

On TFOD we often encounter people from varied creative fields transcending the boundaries between art, design and architecture. One such young and talented TFODian is Neha Mehra. The trained architect is a self-taught artist who has turned entrepreneur - and her multi-faceted profile claims the week’s TFOD Profile Of The Week. 

It takes a strong imagination and the courage of conviction to envisage, ideate and then actualise scenic fantasies in the chaotic urban mess that Mumbai is. Young, refreshing and pulsating with creative energy, Studio Emergence led by Seeja Sudhakaran and Khushbu Davda (image 7), have shown how the impossible is done in their urban intervention projects we look at here today, armed with the tool of algorithmic interpretation of design parameters and its consequent exciting prospects. These projects at Dadar and Girgaum are small, but the promise they hold for the rest of Mumbai are huge; Studio Emergence is collaborating with another Mumbai firm, Architectonics, on half a dozen building redevelopment projects underway in areas like Dadar, Sion and Worli presently where they already intend to carry forward their own trend of similarly revamping public spaces around the buildings they design. They show how chaos can be filtered away through their ingeniously simple schemes to let the city emerge as organised, peaceful and pretty!

Renowned for his ambitious glass installations in historic cities, museums and gardens across the world, American artist Dale Chihuly could be hailed as the world’s most influential glass artist and entrepreneur. Often criticised for its “empty virtuosity”, many even question if Chihuly’s work classifies as “art”. However, those amorphous glass forms – vibrant and resplendent – are captivating, to say the least!

And for sure, Chihuly has had unparalleled influence on the development of glass as a fine art. Even more intriguing is his experimentation with forms, inspired by the natural world, exploring the realm between representation and abstraction. 

On 31^st May 2017, on occasion of ‘World No Tobacco Day’, Vadodara Railway Station and HCG Cancer Centre collaborated to create a public message through an art installation “Stick to death”. Well-known installation artist Amarnath Sharma was roped in to create the art-installation. The contextual and conceptual installation had a hard-hitting effect; as it takes a rather morbid stand on the message we have seen so often displayed – in ads on TV, in movies, and documentaries: “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health”!

Curated by Sachin Kaluskar, this initiative also highlights the importance of collaborations between various public bodies and healthcare institutions with the world of art.