What an amazing week this is turning to be! I have been playing roles I usually don't! Started the week *Judging* Manipal's Talents Day at the Shaikh Rashid Auditorium and today I was one of the *Guest Speakers* at IDEAZ 2011. A Design conference and Exhibition conducted by the Interior Design department at the Manipal University every year for the past four years!!!
Sitting in the Shaikh Rashid Auditorium was doubly exciting because, I was amongst the first group of dancers to inauguration of the auditorium. I was there! Dancing, Living and enjoying every bit of it! It was an exceptional experience and after that I have danced, acted, presented in that auditorium over and over again. But being there this Saturday, Judging was a totally new field altogether. The whole lot of people there, my faculty, my friends, my juniors… Ah, what a Sight! Congratulations to all the winners! You did Good! And Best Wishes to all the other Participants!! You guys did BETTER! :D
Today, driving to University, parking... standing there, looking at the developments, changes and modifications, I felt so overwhelmed! It was such an amazing feeling going back to my alma mater! It was in fact a nerve wrecking experience…the corridors, the benches, the toilets vanity counter, the smokers area, the drafting tables... Sigh... Walked into Iyer sir Cabin and looked at him sitting there, completing his speech (ye he still doesnt do things on time :P), he looked up, not a word was exchanged but still I broke down, and Sir was visibly moved too… Oh How I missed going to his Cabin for any and everything! Bitching about people to him, he was always there for me!! I hope I did good today and made him., Mr. Ashok Iyer proud!
Out of all my friends, close ones at that, Only My Mehnaz Bari, had time for me today! She took an off from work, came all the way down to college and was there for my Presentation… and to think, I have barely done anything for here! Mehnaz, you have always been there for me and I ♥ you! Thank U so much for taking the effort and making it today! I will always Cherish and Remember it!
Below is a small excerpt from my speech this morning…
"Good Morning!
It is truly an honor for me to stand before you AND beside you, on this day, which will qualify to be one amongst the various proud moments you will have in your lives. Standing here brings a strong sense of déjà vu for me, because not very long ago I was a part of this Facility, a part of Manipal University, and a part of this auditorium, dancing here, presenting here, generally acting crazy here! For many of you this is definitely your first experience at organizing, coordinating, and effectively conducting a Design Exhibition cum Conference and I am pretty sure it will go on to be one of the very first thing that you have achieved as a Design student and a Designer. Just as it was for me…
Going back a bit, September 2004 - Orientation Day for Manipal University’s First Ever batch of Interior Design… Oh, How I hated that day at that time!! I was completely in a horrible mood and so so wanted to run away… far far away… but No, here I was sitting in the huge auditorium and dreading the days to come.
I never wanted to complete my higher studies in Dubai, I never did, I wanted to go to India and join JJ College of Architecture for my Bachelors in Architecture Degree. I wanted to live alone, try and be independent, wanted to do so so many things, but I was going to Join Manipal University in Dubai that too for an Interior Design Degree... How angry and annoyed I was, I was so bitter that I refused to even look at the other girls and guys in the Auditorium. I mean, at that point all I thought was my dreams were getting thwarted!!
After that long melodramatic Speech of lava turning into cocoons and what not, we were all asked to *proceed* our classes to get acquainted to our classmates and Faculty. And there for the very first time I saw, Mr. Ashok Ganapathy Iyer!! My HOD, and Senior Professor and the immediate reaction I had was… Hey this guy looks like Tushaar Kapoor… Little did I know I m going to spent the next 5 years of my life, with this Tushaar Kapoor… fighting, laughing, listening, hating, loving, teasing, and perhaps teaching his MAN a bit about Teaching US! He is one hell of a guy, But I am sure I don’t need to mention that to you guys, because you already KNOW… and of all the Capricorns in my life, both guys and gals, and Mr. Iyer is one of the prominent ones… : D
Few days back when I had called him for something, I just said “Sir, Busy?” And without even pausing for a second, he said “Ya Neelu, tell me!” That’s Mr. Iyer for you… Of all the large number of students he has thought, he could recognize my voice… He didn’t need a moment to think who it was, or what it was… he just knew… I mean of the large large number of students that he has taught after me, much after me and even now… he remembered me, I don’t think Its because I am SPECIAL, Its because he is SPECIAL!
When I was asked to speak at IDEAZ 2011, I was incredibly moved. I was humbled at being given the chance to pass on some inspiration maybe to the great minds in this Auditorium... I was excited at the prospect of… no not because I get to show off… okay may be a little… but to also be able to represent MY Batch; and pass down our knowledge, our experiences and our motivations to you and most importantly present MY work over the past three years and three months.
First part of discussion I intend to give you an overview of the various projects that I have been a part of and second one I propose to give you an in depth look into a PROJECT that is very close to me and third part I will go over the Project that I am currently working on…
So, Shall we begin? Start of the Presentation…..
As you know we hear the word “Recession” all the time and I want to take recession as the backdrop for my Presentation, as it was one of the First things that I learnt fresh out of my bachelors. I understand and believe that the economic slowdown has, if anything raised the bar for designers – it has set the standards higher in terms of more value for less money. As a designer I have seen client budgets and our margins shrink drastically in the past 1 and half years. This has in turn led to us playing an even more important role in these circumstances, recognizing those needs and showcasing a wider selection of materials, so that we can meet a cross section of budgets.
You see where I’m going… Innovation is recession-proof. Or, at least, it is not recession-sensitive. Here are a few projects that I have conceptualized, designed, sold and executed based on the same Mantra. In each of these projects that I will be showcasing here, I have picked out one element that has helped me get the attention of first my boss and secondly my client!
One of the very first projects that I worked on was the Du’s Exhibition Center, in Abu Dhabi. This was a design only job and the complete execution was to be carried out Du’s nominated contractor. Nevertheless it was an opportunity to go wild in terms of lines, space planning and materials. In the Memory Room, a room that was to showcase the growth of the Company and the overall feel was to be that of living in a dream, and hence the excessive use of Blue, glass walls, glass floor, and glass ceiling and Plasma screens places randomly on the floor, ceiling and walls to captivate the complete attention of the visitor.
FNB, Dubai was yet again a Design only project, which had to be completes on a very very tight schedule... Actually Deadlines are very much a part and parcel of the Design field... Each and every client wants his/ her design to be submitted to them like... Yesterday!! As you can see in the images, In this project we have used a multitude of commonly used materials like Carpet, Marble, and Ceramic Tiles in sinuous pattern in order to give the otherwise claustrophobic offices some amount of dynamism and life!
Now Health International, DIFC was a complete Turn Key Project... A Small project nevertheless but a very colourful one. Use of Accent colours was the only design element in the entire project. This project was conceptualized, design and executed all with a record of 45 Days!
Leading Diamond Merchants was a Design only project of a Complete Floor of the Al Mas Towers, JLT... A Few Images of the same... Keeping in Mind that they were heavily into Diamonds and it is a family run business, each and every Directors Cabin was designed in a style/ theme matching to the user. The Head of the family was given a lavish, authoritative wood and brass cladded cabin, and the youngest director was given a Pure White Corian Cabin.
ST Overseas was a Complete Turn Key Project yet again in the Al Mas Towers, JLT... Dealing with Trading and Exchange, this particular client require a lot of Storage space and work area as well, therefore all the walls were designed with Built in Cabinets in Grey PU finish and to add to the dynamism and colour to the room, carpet was laid in a curvilinear format and workstation were done in the colour of the company logo.
TwoFour 54... Twofour54 Abu Dhabi Media Zone is an initiative by the Abu Dhabi government to create an Arabic media & entertainment industry and as you can see it was a beautiful project to work on… What better place to work on than has a client who is as crazy as you and most importantly willing! Colors, lively cabinets and Vinyl stickering add to the overall effect.
Zayed Charitable & Humanitarian Foundation... Was yet again a Design only project and based in Abu Dhabi and gave me the chance to get acquainted with the Arab style of working and thinking. Simple, Classy, and Elegant with a Arabic essence.
I can go on and on about more such projects but I would like to give you an in-depth look into one particular project of mine which is extremely close to my heart.. It isn’t a very extravagant or massive project but it is very dear to me…
"For Google to be the PERFECT search engine, means having to understand exactly what we MEAN and give back exactly what we WANT!"
So, Imagine the joy of being the opportunity to comprehend what THEY mean and in turn create what THEY want! Yes! That is exactly what happened on a fine June morning last year.
Spoke about Google for longgggg… I will skip that, I think I have spoken about Google a lot many times already haven’t I? :D
Shalina Healthquaters DMCC… They are a Pharmaceutical Giant in the Middle East, we are having the wonderful experience of designing, developing and executing their very first operating Unit in Dubai.
I will not be getting into the details and the nitty gritties of this project as I am saving it for later, maybe next year… Oh, but before I end… you may ask me ‘What Did you learn from your brief stint at GOOGLE??”…. Well… Uhmm, You DONT need to be in a SUIT to be taken seriously!!!
Another person who took me seriously was Mr. Iyer; It was Sir who helped me a great deal with my Bachelors and my Masters… He had realized that I would ace the class and do all this that I have been doing even when I had no Idea I would… It was because of him that I worked and studied both at the same time… doing a Masters in Interior Design and working is not an easy task! Working from 8.30 in the morning till 5.30, moving straight to college attending classes till 10.30 and then heading home and working on my assignments! I hard to believe I pulled it off, that to without taking a day off for it! Its all because I hard Mr. Iyer with me, pushing me harder to achieve my dreams and extending my limits!
Before I end all I can say is that, if Iyer Sir, Indira Ma’am or any faculty asks you to do something, Just do it! No questions asked… All the times you feel your professors are overburdening you, exhausting you or giving you too much to do, or better still torturing you… Remember one day not very far away you will be thanking them for it…
So now, Thank you Sir for having tortured me, Thank you Sir, for having Faith in me!! And Thank you all for being patient!
Have a great day and greater days ahead!
Yes, I know it isnt as Short as I promised, But believe me, at the speed at which I speak It will definitely sound SHORT! :D Now I am looking forward to going back to the campus this coming Thursday, for our Alumni meet! The thought of meeting all those people, my friends, my classmates, my foes (:P) everyone, is so exhilarating! I am so exicted, and I will most certainly blog about IT! :D :D
