Paper Planes – Celebrating Thoughtful Design

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Editor's Picks

I Brought Home a New Plant: Taarini, Chandigarh

A fateful journey for a beautiful, healthy rubber plant

Lockdowns and Long Drives

Finding a moment or two of relief on the road

What Promenades Mean for a City with Limited Space

With Worli Sea Face demolished to pave the way for the Coastal Road in Mumbai, a look at why empathy ought to be at the crux of development

INTERVIEWS

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Prasenjeet Yadav

The Larger Picture

ESSAYS

The Art of Losing

Words by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

Books and Reading

Poetry Books To Pull Out For a Pick-Me-Up

Six writers recommend poetry collections that uplift and lend cheer

EVENTS

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Oddly Enough N°5: Where Will Our Food Come From?

Presenting — the fifth edition of Oddly Enough, a series by Paper Planes

DESIGN & LIVING

A Generation Graduates Online

No fanfare, no hugs goodbye — on the verge of her farewell amid the pandemic, a student describes what this moment feels like

VIDEOS

Publications | Conversations | Events

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Event Alert • ‘Fish Out of Water’, a short f

Event Alert • ‘Fish Out of Water’, a short film by Abhro Chaudhury, Debabrita Gupta, Viraj Kallola and Akash Ajgaonkar, is screening this Friday (tomorrow!) as part of Nagari ReRuns, a set of 10 short films made for last year’s edition of @nagarishortfilmcompetition, an initiative by the @charlescorreafoundation. These films spotlight urban issues in Indian cities, and over the coming weeks, there will be screenings of these short films along with discussions with the filmmakers, moderated by the CCF team.‘Fish Out of Water’ looks at koliwadas across Mumbai’s coastline, and questions the space that’s been left for these fishing communities — the city’s native inhabitants — in this ever-expanding metropolis.The event is free for all and will take place on Zoom. Find the link via @charlescorreafoundation.———
When we see something that we think is worth your time in world of design and architecture, we will give you a heads-up right here on Instagram. And if you wish to list your event or other happenings with us, drop us an email at edit@joinpaperplanes.com. No DMs please.#events #designevents #filmscreening #architecture #urbanplanning #mumbaiarchitecture

If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from lockdow

If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from lockdowns over the past year, it’s that a fridge fully stocked with alcohol can really take the edge off exhausting days. And it’s safe to say we’ve had a lot of them this year.In case you missed it, our friends at Moonshine have very sweetly extended mango season for grown-ups with their Mango Chilli Mead, one of their small-batch meadLab launches. Made with kesar mangoes, bhut jolokia chillies, and multi-floral honey, it’s a delicious dressed-up mango drink that we’d recommend stocking up on. Plus, meads are always a sweet deal — they’re gluten-free, so there’s none of the bloating that tends to happen with beer. Hit up @moonshinemeadery for more. 🥭#CommunityPartnersDisclaimer: Mead is an alcoholic beverage. Legal age applies. Drink responsibly.

In very happy news for the Indian visual culture s

In very happy news for the Indian visual culture scene, artist @an_anandrk won the prestigious Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art) for his work on ‘Blue in Green’. It’s a graphic novel that tells the dark story of a young musician’s pursuit of creative genius, and the visuals bring to life the haunting and horrific depths of this pursuit. Swipe through to see glimpses of the work.Anand RK shares the award with @johnjpearson who also worked on the novel. Oft-regarded as the Oscars of the comic book world, the Eisner Awards are announced at the San Diego Comic-Con each year. Huge congratulations to the team! 🥂All images from the book reposted via @an_anandrk.

A Generation Graduates Online 🎓 Graduation gown

A Generation Graduates Online 🎓 Graduation gowns, hats, sniffles, and the warmest of hugs with the tightest of friends — it’s a familiar rite of passage that sets you off into the big world. But for those graduating during this pandemic, there’s been the same old trepidation of not knowing what lies ahead but none of the fanfare to truly commemorate how far they’ve come.
For our comics series ‘Thinking Aloud’, Ekisha Poddar (@teto.doi), who’s just about to graduate, draws out what this moment feels like for her. Swipe through.Thinking Aloud is a space for visual artists and storytellers to reflect on our everyday lives through comics and graphic narratives. You can find more from the series on our website.

Delia Contractor, fondly referred to as ‘Didi’

Delia Contractor, fondly referred to as ‘Didi’, passed away on July 5th, 2021 at the age of 91. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to a German-American couple, Didi studied art history in New York, where she met her husband, the late Narayan Contractor, and by 1951, had moved to India. Despite no formal training, Didi’s contribution to Indian architecture is immense. She leaves behind a legacy of listening closely to nature and constructing mindful structures that use indigenous styles, blending into the built environment with effortless grace. Her buildings are a testament to nature’s ready abundance, relying on mud, slate, stone, bamboo, and the occasional dollop of wood. After having lived and worked in different cities in India including Mumbai, she moved to Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh, where many of her forays into vernacular architecture are now housed.During her time living in Mumbai, on a special request from her neighbor, actor Prithviraj Kapoor, she built a cottage and storage unit that we now know as Prithvi Theatre. She also helped decorate the interiors of Udaipur’s first Luxury Hotel, the Lake Palace. Her most telling work, however, resides in Himachal Pradesh - the Sambhaavnaa Institute of Public Policy in Kandbari, the Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living in Bir, and her own home, nestled in Sidhbari.Didi Contractor: Marrying the Earth to the Building, a documentary on her work, released in 2017. You can watch the full documentary on Vimeo — link in bio.Trailer of the documentary via http://didi-contractor-documentary.com/

I Brought Home a New Plant • Photographer Menty

I Brought Home a New Plant • Photographer Menty Jamir (@menty___jamir) is not a new plant parent. As she finds a spot for her new caladium, she writes about the extraordinary loss and grief that’s settled around us over the last year, and how she’s found herself in her new home in Delhi with just essentials and about 50 plants for company. Read her story via the link in our bio.
‘I Brought Home a New Plant’ is a set of three stories, published by Paper Planes, where new plant parents show us into their homes and how they’ve found space for their new houseplant.
Photos by @menty___jamir.

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