Virtual space and product design in the Metaverse to create AR experiences for India’s first virtual design festival.
The D/Code Design Biennale—the first virtual art and design festival in India—brings together the culture and commerce of the design industry, to explore how it can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances. D/Code was a collaborative effort between India’s top 100 designers in the midst of the CoVID-19 pandemic—to reimagine how the beauty of Indian design can be shared widely and accessibly to a global audience.
Arisen from the idea of a traditional Mughal tent, sprawled amid the greens of the forested cypress garden, Pavitra Rajaram’s installation—Nizaara—is a deconstructed recreation of the royal tents from the court of Shah Jahan, showcasing craft in a modern context.
Reminiscent of the tent-like structure of the Sheesh Mahal, attributed to its peaked canopy, the various panels in the installation can be flipped to create a tent-like form. The interplay of the colours, textures and materials in the magnificent Palace of Flowers inspired the interwoven use of metals, glass, wood and limestone in this installation. The jalis, filigree, marble carvings, and stain-glass windows and screens were borrowed and fit into a modern narrative: the one of the Naksha (the map of a Maharaja's territory). The play of light and shadow on glass by the cove of lit candles, and tall lanterns filled with the fresh scented gulaabs create a sensorial experience of the Palace of Glass as well as the Palace of Flowers.
The cypress floor tiles created for this installation were created using a handcrafted process and were launched in collaboration with
Project for Pavitra Rajaram Design, 6 weeks
Virtual space design, AR experience development, exhibition design, product design
Project undertaken as a Design Intern at
Supervised by Pavitra Rajaram and Tanish Malji
Images Courtesy of The Times Group and Bharat Furnishings