Report
Understanding Conscious
Living In India
BY UNBOX CULTURAL FUTURES, GODREJ DESIGN LAB | ART BY STUDIO HOW ABOUT THAT!
Understanding Conscious Living in India. A deep dive into spaces, materials and the environment.
Godrej Design Lab is a platform to explore how design can impact better living. We collaborated with Unbox Cultural Futures, a leading arts and culture research organisation, to create a foundation for and inspire innovative ideas around conscious living.
Together, we delved into the essence of sustainability in the built environment, exploring the dynamic interplay between spaces, materials, and the environment. Our research, enriched and nuanced by insights from experts and unique user experiences aims to illuminate an Indian perspective on conscious living.
We zeroed in on ‘4 Big Shifts’ that we believe have the potential to shape conscious living within India's complex socio-economic climate.
Defining
'Consciousness'
Consciousness, at its simplest, is the awareness of internal and external existence. As we look at conscious living, we consider three states of awareness:
SENSING THE WORLD
The awareness and sensorial experience of the external world – organisms, objects, events, context, surroundings, and environment
SENSING THE BODY
Conscious awareness of our body, its internal sensations, bodily functions, and physical states
SENSING THE MIND
Conscious awareness of our mind, its feelings, emotions, thoughts, memories, mental processes, and cognitive states
The Big 4 Shifts
'LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD'
India's scientific capabilities, built through collaboration on a global stage, have empowered us to view our rich cultural knowledge and heritage through a new lens. This has resulted in a masterpiece-like convergence of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern.
BALANCING ACT: CONSUMPTION & CONSERVATION
Consumers are looking to policy and private players to address their mounting consumption needs while at the same time managing and measuring environmental impact.
SPACES ACTIVATED
This post-pandemic world has reshaped our expectations of where and how we are supposed to live, and live well. In this "new normal," cities are becoming more socially oriented, with community spaces that prioritise social development, nation-building, leisure, entertainment, and spectacle.
SEARCH FOR AUTHENTICITY
This technology-driven, knowledge-production is pushing us to define the boundaries of 'self' in relation to identity and how we present ourselves. What it has led to is a conception of new identities and aesthetics in this search for uniqueness.
RESEARCH
Unboxed Cultural Futures
UnBox celebrates interdisciplinary experiences that shape contemporary thought.
- Aparajita Bhasin
- Dennis Theo
- Neha Singh
- Shreya Dalmia
REPORT
Studio How
About That!
- Anoushka Dasgupta
- Archana Valecha
- Mallika Sankaranarayanan
- Neethi
- Sanal Nair
- Sneha Ullal Goel
GODREJ & BOYCE
- Godrej & Boyce Green Consultancy & Energy Management
- Godrej Appliances
- Godrej Construction
- Godrej Electricals & Electronics
- Godrej Interio
- Ashita Misquitta
- Henry Skupniewicz
- Sujata Sanke
CONTRIBUTORS
- Aniruddha Shanbhag
- Anupama Kundoo
- Ayaz Basrai
- Asha Sairam
- Elizabeth Yorke
- Giulia Ambrogi
- Gresham Fernandes
- Kriti Tula
- Monish Siripurapu
- Mrinalini Ghadiok
- Priyal Shah
- Krsnaa Mehta
- Rahul Mehrotra
- Rooshad Shroff
- Sameep Padora
- Sameer Kulavoor
- Architecture for Dialogue
- Anomalia
- ARAKU Coffee
- Atelier Varun Goyal
- BombayDuckDesigns
- CITTA India
- LP4Y
- Nose to Tail
- Otherworlds
- Sketch Design Studio
- Social Design Collaborative
- Studio North
- StudioPOD
- SHiFt
- Vastushilpa Sangath
- Warrior Moms
- Zerocircle