Culture immersive travel & research in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, to design a product that captures the essence of the city as a souvenir.
THE CHALLENGE
Gathering inspiration and insights from the architecture, people, music and their lifestyle and translate it into a product that serves as a memorable souvenir.
THE SOLUTION
The suspended lamp is a 3D representation of an important motif which is auspiciously carved at every entrance in historically significant architecture.
MEHRANGARH FORT
The 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort is a former palace that’s now a museum, displaying weapons, paintings and elaborate royal palanquins (sedan chairs). Set on on a rocky outcrop, the fort overlooks the walled city, where many buildings are painted the city’s iconic shade of blue.
Jodhpur is a city in the Thar Desert of the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan. Vivid colours splash across the city breaking the monotony of the blue walls. Coloured stones and tinsels flash their brilliant hues challenging the flaming sun; silver jewellery tinkles complementing the ancient folk music of the land. Rajasthani folk music emphasises more on the poetry, than the melody.
JODHPUR
Mehrangarh Fort
A local family
A Rajasthani folk musician
The Sri Yantra is a form of mystical diagram, known as a yantra, found in Hindu tantra. It is an auspicious symbol and is hence carved at the entrance.
The diagram is formed by nine interlocking triangles that surround and radiate out from the central (bindu) point. Four isosceles triangles with the apices upwards, representing Shiva or the Masculine. Five isosceles triangles with the apices downward, symbolizing female embodiment Shakti. Thus the Sri Yantra also represents the union of Masculine and Feminine Divine.
SRIYANTRA
Entrance to the vault adorned by the Sri Yantra.
INSPIRATION
3D translation of the Sri Yantra.
Having spent the summer in the majestic mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India, I was inspired by the manual steps sliced in the mountains giving each of them an identity of its own, much like thumbprints.
RESULTS
While the Sri Yantra is a significant and easily identifiable motif in Jodhpur, its 3D representation makes it ambiguous and hence universal, while still conveying the essence of the land through its colours and stained glass pattern. It carries with itself the identity of Jodhpur and can be a memorable souvenir.