The ‘behind the scenes’ of a design forum is exactly what you’d expect it to be like. Students, a lot of them, making calls, responsibility, outreach, more students, more tutors, more characters, less and less money, Oh! wait we don't need money, right…that wasn't going to work, No! we will make it work, time, more time, deadlines and skipped deadlines and no more lines…phew!

What emerges from this, is truly what I believe we as a design fraternity stand for. It is the essence of what happens when ideas, thoughts, conversations and dialogue all seem to find a place for themselves, as equals. As someone who has only been on the sidelines of this phenomena, I see the way we are trying to mold this occurrence, more to match what design and architecture mean to us in this time and age, more into a space for students to engage in each others work, less towards a space where one-sided critique seems to wrap up the day’s activities.

I’ve observed that it all began just like any other thought. An idea stemming from somewhere in our heads, or in the depths of the saved notes on our phones. Then I saw the back and forth with the idea. I could see that we struggled, let it go, picked it back up and had hopefully and definitely finished it by the time you read this. However what stood out to me the most was our effort to make it different this time around. What I have noticed is that ours simply strives to be a space for dialogue, a space to have discussions not around architecture but about architecture, a space where everyone feels like they are going to get something out of it, a space where curiosity drives a conversation.

Overall, this time, I think the making of a design forum is in itself an experiment. I see the willingness to test hypotheses in design, the eagerness to deal with variables of reality. I see the forum giving us an opportunity to create controlled environments, where ideas can evolve. This time, the forum is not just a table with four chairs on one side with a spotlight on the other. This time, it is a playground for themes, conversations, theories, links and thoughts to run around, fall and always get back up with the same creativity and vigour.