DeSH Lab
DeSH Lab
Design Studies/History Lab
Design Studies/History Lab
Department of Design
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Department of Design
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Embedded Files
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
About the DeSH Lab
About the DeSH Lab
The Design Studies/History Lab, or DeSH Lab, is a research group at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Led by Prof. Saurabh Tewari, the lab studies design as a cultural, historical, social, and environmental practice.
We focus particularly on India and other regions whose histories and knowledge remain underrepresented in mainstream design scholarship. Through research, teaching, fieldwork, publications, conferences, and public programmes, we bring these perspectives into wider conversations about design.
Our work connects historical inquiry with contemporary concerns such as climate change, urban inequality, sustainability, inclusion, education, and technological change. Current research includes Indian design history, multilingual typography, visual culture, repair practices, neighbourhood economies, sustainability in design education, children’s participation in climate action, urban heat, and environmental risk.
About the Logo
About the Logo
The name “DeSH” connects Design Studies and History with desh, a word associated with land, place, country, and belonging. The logo reflects our belief that design grows from particular cultures, materials, environments, and everyday practices.
What Guides Our Work
What Guides Our Work
- Expanding design histories
We study objects, people, practices, institutions, and places that have often remained outside established accounts of design. Our aim is to reconsider not only what is included in design studies and history, but also how it is researched, taught, and communicated.
- Learning from everyday practices
Design knowledge exists beyond professional studios. Repairers, craftspeople, children, educators, and local communities continually adapt materials and environments to meet their needs. We recognise these practices as valuable forms of knowledge.
- Working through participation
Our projects use interviews, field visits, workshops, mapping, visual methods, and co-design. These approaches allow people affected by design issues to contribute their experiences and expertise to the research process.
- Questioning universal solutions
We critically examine design approaches that are presented as culturally neutral or universally applicable. Instead, we support perspectives grounded in particular histories, languages, environments, and ways of living.
- Creating platforms for exchange
DeSH Lab connects students, researchers, educators, communities, and institutions through collaborative projects, publications, lectures, workshops, and international events, including the SiDE Symposia and ICDHS14: Cultures of Design.
Through these activities, the lab seeks to develop design knowledge that is historically informed, socially responsible, culturally grounded, and accessible.
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