Department of Design at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has designed bamboo furniture to meet the requirements of Primary Health Centers (PHC’s) in rural villages of Assam.
Bamboo craft forms an important economic driver in the northeast region of India. However, for a craft that is so prevalent in the region, its effective utilisation for public community facilities such as health centres in rural areas was limited and this particular project by IIT-G demonstrated the potential.
The project is aimed for a sustainable and participatory design approach by utilisation of locally available materials, craft skill manpower led by the active participation of local government departments to achieve these goals.
Prof. Ravi Mokashi Punekar, Department of Design, IIT Guwahati, said, “The current pandemic crisis has brought to the fore, the need for seeking self-reliance on sustainable solutions that are contextually appropriate for meeting the needs of the community.”
The IIT Guwahati team believes that the designs that they have developed are an “appropriate and sustainable solution” to meet local infrastructure needs and concurrently creating job opportunities for craft-persons using bamboo and cane available in the region.
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