The institute believes in impact through design and life through design.
Situated in Noida, UP, The Design Village (TDV) is a premier center of institute, studios, associations, industries, and faculty, collaborating for educational and research outcomes. After years of thorough research, the institution has filtered down a curriculum, which is designed in a way that instigates among the students a sense to develop the power of conceptualization of ideas and its execution.
The institute believes that one must investigate what impact a design will have. Therefore, students at TDV learn – how to vision that dream, to understand the future, and how to take responsibility for shaping the world. It allows students the opportunity be non-silo designers who can impact and change the world through design in any and every medium imaginable, echoing the ethos that a good designer can design anything. It nurtures and educates individuals by focusing on various fields of design.
The institute is situated in an abandoned catechu making factory, which has been renovated for imparting design education. The institute aims to inspire and evoke curiosity by sheer simplicity of its aesthetics and ethics of adaptive reuse. It is a space to enlighten minds, break stereotypes – a place to create yet make mistakes, to learn, and unlearn.
Promoting Academic Development
The curriculum of TDV is designed in such a way that over the course of four years, a student becomes aware of themselves and their values. Education at TDV is based on certain beliefs that drive the pedagogy –
- Intrinsic motivation – TDV believes that education is successful when motivation to learn is intrinsic: when students understand why they are learning what they are learning, how it matters to them and eventually to defend what they stand for.
- Personal Responsibility – Education encompasses the following tasks – learning to learn, learning to dream and learning to do – the TDV way, by taking personal responsibility for one’s learning journey.
- Lifetime learning – TDV is of the opinion that the villagers are learners for life. Learning and teaching is shared among students and teachers.
- Mentors – Teachers and course leaders at TDV act as mentors and catalysts for the students.
‘Villaging’ activities aim at personal development, with the goal to build the TDV community and oneself. Villagers have to retrieve design projects from the ‘Task box’ where everything is based on reality. Additionally, there are ‘Baskets’ that contain clusters of courses characterized by a common theme, discipline, or learning objective.
Percipient Leadership
The three luminaries, Sourabh Gupta, Co-Founder & Academic Dean, Navneet Garg, Co-Founder & Industry Dean, and Rishi Aggarwal, the Co-Founder lead TDV. With over 12 years of experience in architecture and urban design, Sourabh is renowned for his capabilities in conceptualizing, designing, and detailing. Navneet is the CEO and Co-Founder of CAYA Constructs. He has also been the Chief Operating Officer- Water Business of Vestergaard Frandsen. As the Co-Founder, Rishi has also given his best efforts towards the development of the institute.
Focus on Personality Development
The institute includes villaging as a part of the curriculum and credits, which instills various qualities of awareness, compassion, courage, and perseverance among the students. It also refers to all activities undertaken for self-development and learning, along with participating in evolving and maintaining the village itself. It includes activities like the international semester, the design travel expeditions, introspection, reflection as well as community work for the country and the design village.
Major Accomplishments and Collaborations
TDV has achieved numerous accolades for its dedicated endeavors. Some of its major awards and initiatives include:
- Winner, Best Institutional Interiors, Forbes Design Award 2019
- Winner, Best Institutional Design, Indian Building Congress 2018
- Featured in Creative Indians, Season 8, Netflix 2018
- Knowledge partner for Curriculum Design, Anant National University 2017
- Finalist, Best Institutional Interiors, NDTV Award 2017
- Author signing booth Design, Jaipur Literature Festival, 2017
- Diwali Installation, Select Citywalk Mall, 2015
The institute has partnered with L’école de design nantes atlantique, france for its International Semester.
Students are expected to attend this semester in France, as part of the international class at LEDDNA. Moreover, TDV has joined with Domaine de Boisbuchet and Dtours India for offering an international summer school to its students.
Career Development of Students
TDV prepares students for the industry through its real life projects included in the Task Box. Throughout their learning journey, students work multiple design projects. It also provides internships to provide real-life understanding of the design profession. Moreover, its network of promoters and supporters provide students a gamut of opportunities. It offers internship and placement opportunities in companies like Studio Archohm; JCBL; CAYA; Design Factory India; Shades of India; and many more.
Towards a Future of Endless Possibilities
The institute marches ahead with the focus on explaining their philosophy and mentality to the outside world –parents, the industry, and the government. They intend to showcase the world that designers are not only producers of objects, but change makers as well. As such, they are spearheading towards their long term goal to build a global design village.
