Shared Winner
Excellence-Healthcare
JASLEEN MANRAO, Figments, Pune
With over seventeen years of experience in design & business management, Jasleen has led multi-disciplinary & multi-cultural teams in her studio in India. She is an alumnus of the first batch of Lifestyle and Accessory Design program at NID. She co-founded Figments, an experience design studio in Pune in the year 2009. She has
been instrumental in guiding the visual design process from context immersion to concept design as the head of the studio. She also has keen interest in mapping socio-cultural trends and forecasting. She brings into the projects her vast exposure to materials, and understanding of retail psyche.
“WADE ASIA is sure to grow in numbers and respect in terms of spread, reach and popularity! I had been following it for the last couple of years and felt compelled to participate this time.”
What are your takeaways from WADE ASIA?
In WADE ASIA, I interacted with so many talented people from all across the country, some people who I had been reading about, some who were going to make news in years to come! To hear people talk about their projects with so much passion was inspiring. The best part was to get to know a project through the words of its creator, beyond the glorified and digitally enhanced images that one sees splashed across different media.
Being a WADE Woman & WADE Winner are about responsibility. What will be your area of contribution?
I feel it’s an achievement to be an entrepreneur, a designer and an architect at the same time. It’s the time of equal opportunities hence we must acknowledge women are equal in everything, capabilities as well as responsibilities. Progress must be attributed to talent and experience, it has nothing to do with gender, I do my level best to propagate that.
Your opinion on WADE ASIA and its objectives.
The idea of elevating women as individuals in a male-dominated sector is interesting. It is empowering and encouraging. It’s a unique lens to view the field and binds all participants at the same level. WADE feels like an attempt to honour people first and projects second. The WADE fraternity looks at the projects from the angle of
its nurturer, its creator and hence has a very passionate outlook towards the sector. The idea of a live jury is very refreshing as well!
How spaces influence communities?
On a cognitive level, our lives and routines are subconsciously built around the spaces we spend our time in. Spaces build culture, form memories and create experiences which are often intangible but can be felt by everyone.
Most of us go back to our past, memories, and experiences and always refer to space, monument or a building while reminiscing. In a way, they form our personalities. For example, common spaces in housing societies encourage people to meet and spend time together. They give means and ways for the feeling of communities to grow. This
defines Indian residential areas and societies. The “mohalla” culture is unique to this sub-continent and does impact how our societies are perceived as cohesive.
Note: This article was originally published on Surfaces Reporter December 2019 Issue.
