Looking Back While Looking Forward

Abstract

With the increasing globalisation and modernisation, the recent interior architecture practices across the globe seem unified and present a huge departure from a sense of identity and belongingness of where it is at. The built landscapes that earlier reflected a rich craft culture are slowly transforming into standardized and homogenized boxes with very little cultural meaning attached to them. This is no different for a country rich with craft traditions like India, where the contemporary interior architectural landscape seems highly disconnected to its craft culture and surrounding context. The chapter focuses on two major discourses; the first one sets up a base with discussion on the notions of craft, space making craft, and contemporary interior design practices in India; and the second one focuses on the need of integrating crafts in interior design education through case studies of a variety of academic courses offered at Faculty of Design, CEPT University, India.