EQUIMOB researchers at Bangalore Design Week, 2022

The Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design, and Technology and the Association of Designers of India (ADI) hosted the Bangalore design week conference. Multiple plenary and working sessions were held in Bengaluru’s art hub Chitrakala Parishad during the 8th and 10th of December to discuss design interventions to solve real-world challenges. Among the various themes, Build BLR, Safe BLR, and Enterprising BLR provided avenues to discuss the designs for inclusive mobility systems. EQUIMOB researchers participated in the sessions related to urban transport.

Participating in the working sessions were urban living labs, not-for-profit groups, startup entrepreneurs, researchers, and design professionals. Discussions on slow mobility, walkability, affordability and class struggle, as well as the practicalities of accessible design, were characterised by an inclusive and intersectional perspective. Given that the emphasis was on design solutions, the multidisciplinary participation gave a comprehensive knowledge of the complexities of these transportation issues and the possibilities of design thinking.

Designing a restroom in a transit center, for instance, necessitates a number of considerations made in the context of several intersections. Can the restroom accommodate various genders, sexual orientations, body sizes, ages, parents, and individuals with varying abilities, education, and languages? These debates and musings highlighted the ground realities, how available resources could be utilised to promote and generate inclusive designs for urban transport.