70. Sustainability and Sensitivity: Learnings from the Foundation Programs of Bauhaus, Ulm, NID and IDC

The aspirational needs of the societies, the scale and magnitude of consumption and the world population of nearly eight billion have combinedly caused adverse consequences to the planet and life on earth. The role of ‘Design’ in the various sectors of the economy has become all encompassing. The initiation into Design practise is provided by Design education. This paper reviews the focus of four noted design Schools viz the Bauhaus, the HfG Ulm, the NID and the IDC from the perspective of sustainability issues in their training. The important milestones in Global efforts towards sustainability goals, since the establishment of these Schools are chronicled. The review reveals that all of these Schools were a product of their times and addressed the pressing concerns that were prevalent then. However, there are important lessons to be learnt from all of them with respect to sustainability, even if they were all implicit in nature. ‘The Bin or the Ground’, ‘Less is More’ and ‘Truth to Materials’ concepts of Bauhaus have relevance to the present context of sustainability in terms of reduce, reuse, repurposing and reclaiming of resources. The concept of transdisciplinary thinking propagated by the Ulm School emphasized the connection between design and other disciplines, which has a bearing on sustainability. The NID and IDC laid emphasis on growth and addressing the needs of the Indian context of culture and economy. Considering the UN SDGs 2030, it is noted that there is a need for design Schools to address sustainability concerns in a more explicit manner. The role of foundation program in the design Schools is indeed very significant in introducing the language of design to the new entrant, and therefore ‘Sustainability Sensitivities’, needs to be imbibed at this initial stage that can be carried forward throughout the course and beyond into practise.