Sir JJ College of Architecture, Space Matrix concludes 2nd edition of India Dream Big Designathon 2022

This year's challenge was particularly interesting as it targets the fast-growing start-up sector. The students needed to design a creative workspace for a start-up keeping in mind their dynamic nature as well as the changing nature of work.

Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai has concluded the second innings of the India Dream Big Designathon 2022 with Space Matrix. The event was held at the Space Matrix BetaLab in Gurugram, Haryana. This year's challenge was particularly interesting as it targets the fast-growing start-up sector. The students needed to design a creative workspace for a start-up keeping in mind their dynamic nature as well as the changing nature of work.

The judging panel included Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director – Nestlé India Limited; Rishabh Goel, Managing Director and Partner at The Boston Consulting Group; Sahil Vachani, CEO & Managing Director, Max Ventures and Industries Limited; Ridhi Kale, Senior Associate Editor with India Today HOME and Jaiprakash Aildasani, Chief Operating Officer, India, Space Matrix.

Out of all the students who participated in this endeavour, 5 finalists were flown down to the Space Matrix Beta Lab to present in person to the jury. While two of the finalists focused on fashion startups, one focused on a pet care and pet cafe concept, one of the finalists focused on the growing sector of social influencer firms and the fifth finalist looked at a travel startup.

The India Dream Big Designathon was a learning opportunity for future design students. The participants went through several rounds of mentoring and nurturing, over 3 months, by Space Matrix's leading designers Titir Dey, Managing Director Design, Swaviman Das, Director Design - India, and Daksh Sharma, Design Lead who are also some of the most coveted designers in the workplace design space.

India Dream Big Designathon Winners

Vaishnavi Parmar emerged as the winner and Maria Ujjainwala and Ayushi Thakur followed close as the runners-up. The entries were judged on contextual design, innovation, ideation, purpose alignment, and presentation skills.

Speaking about the experience, Akshay Lakhanpal, CEO India, Space Matrix, said, “The whole experience of organizing the Designathon this year was exhilarating especially when the inaugural season for India was online.  The world of work and the nature of workplaces in terms of design and employee expectations have changed drastically in the last few years. This is where the Designathon aimed at understanding how these budding talents conceptualize the dynamic workplace of today and the future. It was also an opportunity for them to innovate and collaborate through real-world exposure to workspace design and understanding how they approach the challenges ahead was a roaring success and we look forward to enhancing the ambit of this program next year”.

Rajesh Rokade, Assistant Professor, Sir JJ College of Architecture, said, "Our institution has always given importance to ideas that the younger generation brings. In this regard, we are happy to have partnered with a brand like Space Matrix which is known for its out-of-the-box approach to design. I congratulate the winners and others who participated in the event. We hope to continue this association for a long time to come".

About Designathon

Designathon is an opportunity created for industry institute interaction and what an interaction it was. The jury members are not only eminent personalities and contributors to their own industries but were also supremely passionate both about design thinking and nurturing young talent. On the other hand, the participants were extremely confident budding designers who took on real-world problems and designed solutions for them within the constraints of the real world. This led to extremely professional presentations and some very constructive feedback to help participants hone their skills as designers and thinkers.

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