The October 2016 homage to George Nakashima at the National Institute of Design stands apart, both as tribute and as reminder of the values upon which design education began in India. The exhibition, seminar and the recollections shared by the Nakashima family and by other lives he touched, have radiated the integrity with which this great designer approached his work, and what made that work go beyond professional expression to a profound calling.
This homage also reminds us of how greatly George Nakashima was influenced and inspired by his India connections. His is an expression of design as "service, dignity and love", the very spirit upon which NID was founded. It takes further meaning in a world struggling to understand what 'sustainability' should actually mean. Thus Nakashima's demonstration has cutting-edge relevance in contemporary classrooms, studios and markets. That is where George Nakashima needs to be remembered, absorbed and applied to lift the quality of our lives, and that is what gives this publication its significance.
My father, George Nakashima's, first encounter with Indian culture, spirituality and materiality was when he went to Pondicherry in 1936 to supervise the first reinforced concrete building in India for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. He was then a member of Antonin Raymond's architectural office in Tokyo, who had received the commission to build a dormitory called Golconde for disciples, and he volunteered to supervise its building.
He became so dedicated to the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo that he received the name "Sundarananda" (he who delights in beauty) on his birthday in May of 1938. Even though he left Pondicherry in 1939 to be with his family (and start his own in 1941) in the United States, the deep experience and Ashram name guided him his entire life.
In the words of Sri Aurobindo, "Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the physical as Truth is in the mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital. Supramental beauty is the highest divine beauty manifesting in Matter."
In the words of the Mother, "Let beauty be your constant ideal. The beauty of the soul, the beauty of sentiments, the beauty of thoughts, the beauty of the action, the beauty in the work-so that nothing comes out of your hands which is not an expression of pure and harmonious beauty...And the Divine Help shall always be with you."
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