The Game Changer

For almost five decades Uday Athavankar has balanced design teaching, consultancy and research with ease. Though he trained as an architect, it is in design that he has found his métier. He shares with POOL some of his pioneering ideas on design methods and processes...

What drew you to industrial design?

UA: I studied architecture at Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai, and completed my degree in 1966. After graduation, it was important for me to join an architectural firm and work with architects whose work I liked. The learning opportunity was more critical at the time than the pay. During my architecture studies, I had started taking interest in art, and the history of art and architecture. I was very impressed by the modern movement and particularly the work of Bauhaus and the thinking that dominated that school. In 1969, when the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) was getting ready to start in the IIT-Bombay campus, I saw it as a Bauhaus-like opportunity in India. I had a strong emotional connect with architecture and I wasn’t sure if I should divert into a new area. It was an opportunity to learn something new however and I decided to give it a try for a year. And I stayed on.

How were your formative years in design?

UA: I do not have a formal degree in Industrial Design. During the early years, I used to teach basic design and sketching, and also attend classes with students. I realized that even if I was teaching, I had to keep my roots in design practice. I chose to work on professional projects while I was learning.