2024 India Design ID: 3 must attend talks & sessions on all things design

Asian Paints managing director and chief executive officer Amit Syngle at the India Design ID 2024 in Delhi on February 15.

Talking about design trends for 2024-25, Asian Paints managing director and chief executive officer Amit Syngle said artificial intelligence (AI) is making us realise the importance of human forms, and of human imperfections. Syngle was speaking on a panel on Forecasting Colours & Materials for India at the ongoing 2024 India Design ID fair in New Delhi.

Indeed, the theme of AI in design came up more than once in the symposium. New York-based interior designer Christiane Lemieux (who cofounded DwellStudio and then The Inside direct-to-consumer brand), spoke at length on "Design, AI, Social Media, and the Future of Design". Among the design applications of AI that she uses already is virtual manufacturing: a way to render her furniture sketches in various materials and finishes. Her next step? Taking the ones she likes best and sharing them on social media to gauge buyer interest even before making a single piece.

The India Design ID symposium this year is packed with interesting talks and presentations. Here's a pick of 3 coming up today and tomorrow:

Peter Zumthor: The Swiss architect has won both the Pritzker Prize and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Among his best known is the spa at Therme Vals in Switzerland. Built over natural hot springs, the spa has a concrete and glass roof that appears to be floating above spaces that alternate between intimate and cavernous. He will be in conversation with Bijoy Jain this afternoon at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla.

Odile Decq: Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (1996), the Prix Femme Architecte (2013), and the French Architecture Academy’s Médaille de Vermeil et d’Honneur (2014), Decq will talk about architecture, design and education at India Design ID. Among the most famous buildings she has designed are the MACRO, Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome and the Fangshan Museum in Nanjing, China.

The Power of Utopia: Living with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh: There will be a film screen of The Power of Utopia, directed by Karin Bucher and Thomas Karrer, followed by a panel discussion with Karin Bucher, Thomas Karrer and Siddhartha Wig led by Amit Khanna.

Le Corbusier is of course a household name in India. The film follows four cultural workers as they think about Le Corbusier's work and legacy, and how it continues to impact life in Chandigarh today. The film screening is scheduled to start at Noon on Saturday and the panel discussion is from 1-1.30pm.