Vidush Gupta

IR2028

KALAM

What lies ahead? This constant fear of the unknown has plagued humanity for millennia. The best lens with which to view this uncertain and unforgiving future is oftentimes the tried and tested lens of history. 
My personal vision of the future is inextricably linked with my aspirations and worldview -- in turn shaped by my present experience and past learnings: our trip to Mumbai,  notions of the future from the works of Gino Severini; the interviewing of our ever-present and helpful CEPT Staff; and finally, our extrapolation of the future from western fiction of the present and Indian history

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Initial design and construction of the Aakash space-to-earth missile in the mid 21st century, aiming to localise destruction and prevent large scale nuclear disasters by lowering the entry barrier to the Mutually Assured Destruction standoff of a century ago.

The primary test of the Aakash space-to-Earth missile, viewed from a bunker since the payload of the missile is much lower than thermonuclear warheads which had to be viewed remotely.

The launching of the first manned mission to the Sun, the Roshini-II, from a Mission Control centre above the launchpad.

The human testing of the NEXUS BCI chip embedded behind the ear , allowing real time language translation, eradicating the language barrier, as well as allowing people with conditions affecting verbalisation to communicate and convey their thoughts.

Introduction of the wrist-worn AR Personal Joycon and Keyboard or APJ-AK device into the classroom to aid learning. Developed initially for military use, it was parsed down and later modified for educational use, reducing the cost and increasing accessibility for AR based visualisation tools.

"Blade Runner 2049" (2017) and "Dune" (2021) were the starting point for my interpretation of the future: their direction, production design and narratives -- especially that of Blade Runner 2049 -- served as inspiration for the world of Kalam.

To be able to visualise the future, we must first understand the past. To this end, the character I chose to root my own vision of a "dystopian utopia" into reality was APJ Abdul Kalam - former president and "Missile Man" of India.

Amongst the ebb and flow of people of different walks of life crowding the streets of Mumbai, each seeing the city around them through lenses tempered by their own circumstance and experience, there is only one entity that sees all of the city for what it truly is. Day and night, dusk and dawn, the richest neighbourhoods and the poorest streets, through bustling traffic and overwhelming crowds, the humble kaali-peeli taxi sees it all. As ubiquitous on the streets as fish are in water, the kali-peeli patiently treads back and forth across the city. This illustration depicts the extremities they witness, interwoven with our own trip to Mumbai as well. From the cafés overlooking the sapphire blue coast to the filmy sets and museums rife with history and dripping in culture - the trip and the taxis themselves whisked us all over, truly enveloping us in the cacophony that is Mumbai.

Ethnographic Research is an essential part of design: the ability to truly comprehend and empathize with the needs of another is of paramount importance to be able to design for them. To that end, CEPT Workshop staff member, Sadashiv Verma was kind enough to devote his time and experiences to me. Through hours and hours of interviews and conversation, I was able to glean a sliver of insight into who he is as a person and the life he has lived, represented here as a collage and storyboard. The collage depicts his aspirations of travel to the Amazon, fond memories of his childhood all the way up to his decades of work here at CEPT. The storyboard embodies that same childhood fondness.

In order to better visualise the future myself, I turned to artists of the past, learning from their vision of the future. In particular, I examined the works of Italian cubist and futurist Gino Severini. By decoding his colour palettes and thematic components, I finally reimagined an existing space in the Millowner's Building, or ATMA House, in the future -- in the manner I believed Gino Severini would see it.