Kuber Patel

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Kuber Patel ("KP") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

KP : I graduated with a Master of Architecture in Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, and have a total of 5+ years of global professional experience. In addition, I am also a visiting faculty at CEPT University and the author of the book 'Algorithmic Thinking- A parametric approach to problem-solving '. My most recent achievement includes being A' Design Award Winner for Generative, Algorithmic, and Parametric Design Category in 2021 for Darwin Bucky Exhibition Gallery and being accepted to work in the U.S. as an Individual with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement. I strive to achieve my goals by developing high-quality skillsets and sheer passion rather than through experience because of which I am the youngest local architect of the World's Largest Cricket Stadium, the youngest faculty to lead a master studio, and the youngest to start my first project in 2010 much before my undergrad in 2013. I have worked in Ahmedabad,Gujarat and London, UK and now in Atlanta, USA. We have worked with a diverse group of people like Reliance Industries, Adani, Sopariwala Exports, and Gujarat Cricket Association

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

KP : Every experience from a human’s life is a pursuit for art and design. Inspiration can be found intuitive, observation from nature, geometry and even science.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

KP : I was born into a family of designers and was gradually groomed into having a creative pursuit right from childhood. As any kid, i had several interest in most bizarre professions and it took me time to realise what I was good at and what I am interested in. Since than I have ever looked back!

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

KP : Overall, my architectural style mostly revolves around Performance orientated design that has a strong response to material, structural, social, and environmental behavior. My graduate thesis reflects on a similar system using agent-based methods to work on developing a flood resilient system that has a coherent spatial configuration between climate and the socio-economic fabric of informal settlements in an urban context. In the future, I wish to pursue work in Architectured materials through selective laser sintering techniques.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

KP : I think you should have faith in your design and trust your process and growth. Appreciate everything you have learnt from this process and never give up.

DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

KP : A Good designer just looks into the work very rationally on how it will fit the clients needs and a great designer sees climatic response and what higher purpose can it serve in the future. A lifespan of a building is long and it can adapt to the changing functionality.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

KP : Design is very subjective, what is pleasing to some, might disgust others. Art cannot very be justified and evaluated or even compared. We can just appreciate its beauty as it is.

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

KP : A good design can serve immense value to the society. It has the applied to transform a city, a home into completely different ways. People seek beauty in everything, nature, jewellery, clothing etc, it seems a good design gives you happiness is all sorts of manner.

DL: What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

KP : If had the time and opportunity, I would like to design the pavilion at the burning man festival and serpentine gallery.

DL: What is the dream project you haven’t yet had time to realize?

KP : I am really fascinated with a particular material called “Vantablack” absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light. His best digital platform to explore is Grasshopper3D a visual programming language and environment due to its parametric potential. I would like to immerse myself in digital fabrication tools like 3D printing and architecture materials developing such arterials.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

KP : There is no such secret to what we design. I like to look at each project independently and try to the best of my creativity and knowledge.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

KP : Some of the architects that I look up to are Frei Otto, Buckminster Fuller, Santiago Calatrava, Kenzo Tange and Zaha Hadid to name a few.

DL: What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

KP : One of the most fascinating design for me is the Olympic roof by Frie Otto due to its innovative use of lightweight structure covering longer span.

DL: What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

KP : My most beloved design is the A’ Design Award-winning project Darwin Bucky “Bucky is a parametric dome tent anchored to the ground which is inspired from a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. The structure is made of 1mm thick laser-cut bent metal sheets and bolted together to create an isolated space without columns. Multiple blocks of Bucky can also be linked to create a Bucky cluster. It can be assembled or disassembled in a few days for storage and can be transported via shipping container. Bucky was envisioned to be easy to carry around the globe. Bucky is a lightweight structure. It’s a flat-pack structure that can be used in any season including monsoon."

DL: How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?

KP : Being up-to-date with the most recent technological advancement related to the field of architecture in order to stay at the top in the present time has now become a very important factor.

DL: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have done?

KP : If I would not have become a designer, I would have become a software engineer due to my inclination towards technology and algorithm in general.

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

KP : My skills work best in parametric modeling through algorithmic design techniques using advanced computational tools and digital fabrication. I hope to add more value to design by introducing a more data-driven design process through computer science, mathematical thinking, and philosophy. As we live in a post-digital world, this data, if given the right manifestation, can lead to a well-informed architecture representing a better reality and a responsive future. I would like to add to his design studio a more concise approach to the translation process of architectural representation rather than the invention of a new architecture.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

KP : My biggest support is my father, as he is an architect. My dad has been my constant support. He mentors me right from the time I came this profession and even teaches how to sustain in it.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

KP : My Exposure to ARchitectural association, London broader my prerspective in designing and innovative,y find solutions like we did at our masters course of Emergent technology in design.

DL: What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?

KP : One of the biggest obstacles was Trying to find right kinds of projects to work in that drives my passion. Such projects require positive clients, budget and quantitative time for designing process.

DL: How do you think designers should present their work?

KP : With the advancement of technology designer should present their working with help of augmented and virtual reality tools that are available today.

DL: What’s your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

KP : I am currently invested in an interesting project called the SPUR concept. It consists of diversifying and implementing different facets of community living that combine providing stability and opportunities to its inhabitants like food through vertical farming, rehabilitation, medical care, and other services. It also focuses on providing job opportunities and entrepreneurship.

DL: What’s your ultimate goal as a designer?

KP : I aspire to learn more about culture all around the world that pushed me to have one landmark project that I get to design in all major city around the world.

DL: What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?

KP : Expectations now go beyond just satisfying the needs of the clients, they now expect from us something unique , innovation in some aspects and that the project shall serve a larger purpose beyond architecture or design.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

KP : If we talk about large scale architectural design complexes, such as cultural centres, educational centres, museums, community century, parks, gardens etc, these are the heart of the city. Amalgamation of Corporate complexes, business centres, and housing units with recreational centres gives good harmony, to various aspects of society.

DL: What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

KP : I am currently invested in an interesting project called the SPUR concept. It consists of diversifying and implementing different facets of community living that combine providing stability and opportunities to its inhabitants like food through vertical farming, rehabilitation, medical care, and other services. It also focuses on providing job opportunities and entrepreneurship.

DL: Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?

KP : Any projects that comes into realisation gives me equal satisfaction

DL: What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

KP : I think architects as professional are undermined in the construction industry. The amount of work, efforts and creativity that is invested by an architect for the project is hugely under-paid relative to the other professionals involved for a construction project. Globally, the average pay scale of an architect is bare minimum in comparison to the amount for education, work is to in

DL: Where do you think the design field is headed next?

KP : Designs nowadays have become interdisciplinary. The more use of scientific methods, computational methods, advanced digital fabrication, AR, and VR technologies have evolved the design field. In the future, the designs will sustain singularity. With the advancement of technologies, the design will evolve in real-time not just during the design phase but right through construction.

DL: How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

KP : It usually depends on the scale of the project and the complexity involved in it. However, I can say it’s up to 1-2 weeks of conceptualizing and designing.

DL: When you have a new design project, where do you start?

KP : The design process for me always begins with a clear understanding of clients/project requirements. Accumulation of research and understanding of materiality in order to influence the form along with climatic consideration in order to address sustainability is what goes next. Finally, I try to optimize all that in order to come up with design solutions.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

KP : Always be cost-effective while maintaining a certain aesthetic value through form, scale, proportions, and materiality.

DL: Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?

KP : This is a very debatable topic but personally design sets the trends.

DL: What is the role of technology when you design?

KP : Our design style is influenced more by the process of emergence. The advancement of computational tools like Generative, Algorithmic and Parametric Design we now have ability to look at designs quantitatively rather than qualitatively. The idea is that during the design process we have local-level control over each aspect of the design. Through a parametrically driven model, you have a schematic idea of the final result and the final output is always emergent. Here the design is controlled through criteria and parameters at various scales setting up a process of emergence.

DL: What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

KP : Rhino and Grasshopper have been my go-to tools in software as they help me enhance geometrical control over the design.

DL: What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

KP : All these aspects governs how the architecture appeals to them. The role of Color is to stimulate different moods, the role of material is that it adds tangibility to our design, and ambience of a space controls visibility influences all our senses.

DL: What do you wish people to ask about your design?

KP : I really wish people would ask me quantitative aspects of my design rather than the qualitative aspects.

DL: When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

KP : How was it built? why was it built? What are the reasons behind the use of material use?

DL: Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?

KP : I learned that it is important to identify the different skill sets and strengths of each team member in order to get the best out of the project. It is actually very subjective, however, this project was teamwork. I was engaged in a major part of designing as form-finding, performance optimization of the project, and fabrication.

DL: Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

KP : Clients have the most influence on my design.

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

KP : ‘Growth and form’ by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson are one of the books I am quite intrigued to read it often.

DL: How did you develop your skills as a master designer?

KP : Religious practise of tools and skills and day to day professional experience help me have better control over my design.

DL: Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

KP : I’ll like sit with Neri Oxman. I’ll like to say to her that I am really intrigued about her work and that I could be a part of her project where she is brings singularity in design

DL: How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

KP : I am very grateful to be a part of this award. I feel very humbled by this recognition that is given to me and I hope it opens up opportunities for some great new innovating and inspiring design projects in the future.

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

KP : My favourite Color is blue, food is Dalbatti and my favourite city is Florence. I love Spring the most. I like cars and I admire Nike as a brand.

DL: Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

KP : One of thing most designer often hear from clients is that our work is an Easy task. One time a clients asked me justification for the work I’ve done by stating that “ why would you charge such hefty fees for such simple plan?”

DL: What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

KP : A great day is when I am able to achieve all my days targets that I set for myself and have less creative blockage during designing tasks. When I do stuck during designing, I simply stop working and given myself a break by cleaning my desk and sleeping over it and and sometimes even stress eating.

DL: When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

KP : It wasn’t obvious that I would become a designer when I was a child because I lacked in the basic essential of being good at sketching as a designer.

DL: What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?

KP : With advancement of AI and 3D construction I think it would be as quick as printing out on a paper. Materials we use today will than have the capabilities of being manipulated by changing it’s properties and structure behaviour as per the needs of the design

DL: Please tell us anything you wish your fans to know about you, your design and anything else?

KP : Good luck to all the new designers. It’s never to late. I can always be available through email for any collaboration and innovative design prospects worldwide. I think in this digital era, collaboration are possible with anyone and everywhere. I am currently based in Atlanta, USA, and have ventures in India as well.