Siri Jain Hassan Arunkumar

Design Products (MA)

Made by a five year old girl during community workshop in a rural village of southern India. This is her first time with the needle and thread. The image reads the researchers name "Siri" in regional language kannada and has an aeroplane stiched over symbolic of the discussions of accessibility to London. This served as an interactive storytelling during the RCA Degree show.

Hand quilted poufs made by Nirmala, the lead craftsman in Rural India. It was made to the size of one length of her arm and each piece hand ripped without any tools.

Brainstorming session produced during Design with dignity, Codesign workshop with Azuko at Exeter St. David exploring a community garden & kitchen idea.

Peer participants encouraged to find pattern and stories in objects that are created.

About

Siri is an Indian architect and designer who loves blurring the boundaries between the people and worlds she interacts with. Her architectural studio practice in India has deeply influenced her understanding of working with people, with her cultural roots informing her designs. Siri enjoys abstract thinking and connecting insights from various domains. She finds fulfillment in collaborative environments, believing that they enhance her work as a designer. Free from the constraints of a single medium and embracing a holistic systems and strategic approach, her work is value-driven and often explores the underlying “why.”

During her time at the RCA, Siri focused on redistributing power and autonomy to the people she interacts with. She explored methods for working with communities and creating intuitive tools for engagement. Siri sees designers as agents of change, capable of creating a ripple effect in citizen action. She embraces the uncertainty and discovery inherent in working with diverse stakeholders.

Her independent research has centered on gender-inclusive placemaking, the tacit knowledge of craft practices and resilience through kinship within women-led quilting communities in India and London acting as a cultural bridge between the two places. Siri is keen to deepen her understanding of how design can facilitate humanity-centered work through participatory approaches.

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