Prof. Singanapalli Balaram
The Grandmaster: S Balaram and his perspectives on Design
The excrepts include Prof. Balaram’s views on the meaning of ‘Design Thinking’, global interview of his by IAUD in 2016 sharing his thoughts and ideas for better sensitised approach to Universal Design in olympics [16]; his observations on the systems of education in India: the Gurukul and the Craft tradition from his journal article with Design Issues (2005), [17]. Excrepts from his recorded podcasts, interviews and excahnge with INTERACTIONS: an initiative to capture discissions with designers and design gurus [18], [19]; alongwith few quotations from his blog posts for mainly students [20].
“I wish to see the Olympics, where visually impaired persons and visually unimpaired persons, persons in wheelchairs and persons not in wheelchairs can participate together, rather than organizing the Paralympics and the Olympics separately.”
- Prof. S. Balaram in an interview record with global interview of his by IAUD in 2016 [16]
“The pupils go to the guru: a practicing performer, who teaches all subject from the very beginning…the change is that the pupils learn the dance / music in addition to the basic education in a modern school, while in the past the gurukul provided the comprehensive education”
- Prof. S. Balaram in his paper, ‘Design Pedagogy in India: A Perspective’, Design Issues Vol. 21, No. 4, Indian Design and Design Education (Autumn, 2005), pp. 12
“Most artisans are poor as well as illiterate. Nevertheless, they are highly skilled and well “educated” in terms of their long and rich experience. There are often many unrecognized strengths amongst such people. This would constitute a wealth of learning available for others in the society especially for the designers.”
- In: ‘Tools for Change: Learning from the Artisans’, THINKING DESIGN by S. Balaram, pp.4 [1]
“The human need, he writes, which is the origin of design, is not only physical but also psychological, socio-cultural, ecological and spiritual.”
- In: ‘Design is no ordinary thing, indeed’, THINKING DESIGN by S. Balaram, pp. 6 [1]
“Different Thinking is Design Thinking.” - Prof. S. Balaram in an interview with INTERACTIONS [18]
“Design is not only Visual…it is…I would replace the word ‘visual’ to ‘sensory’. It will be auditory also. There is a beauty in sound also. Design is the sensitivity towards aesthetics, but vision is mostly dominating so we normally think that it is visual…design need not be only visual. Even sound also. In one of the films, ‘Red Beard’…Akira Kurosova used five different layers of sound”
- Prof. S. Balaram in an interview with INTERACTIONS [19]
“Aesthetics is…Indians have put this as ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’. Shivam is the goodness and Sundaram is the beauty. So, just pure beauty alone is not enough. Truth and Goodness will make Beauty. When we say truth we call it ‘function’. So, If I am looking at something without function; then beauty is not complete…it can’t be a precedent.”
- Prof. S. Balaram in an interview with INTERACTIONS [19]
Excerpts of his views on design, designers and related themes – from his blog – Silent Music by Prof S Balarama [20]:
“Awards are never a true indication of your worth anyway. The world's biggest award is the Nobel Prize. The man who sacrificed his whole life to win freedom for millions of people, Mahatma Gandhi, never got it. Nehru got the Nobel peace prize. A girl from Pakistan, Malala, got it. So, never go by how others judge you nor judge yourself. A phrase says that 'those who judge will never understand and those who understand will never judge'. Be the understanding one. Keep on with what you enjoy doing.”
An excerpt from Prof. Balaram's new book "Design Values" and part of post on Professionalism in 2019 – Silent Music by Prof S Balarama [20]:
“Designers think they are professionals; often without thinking what professionalism really means. Ask any student or even a professional, and you get conflicting answers. I narrate an experience here which I feel explains professionalism very eloquently.”
Do read: Full story in the post on Professionalism
“Professionalism is not just delivering on time; it is much more than that. It is how much a service provider cares for the client and how much he keeps the whole group of co-practitioners above himself.”