Paper Planes – Celebrating Thoughtful Design

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Editor's Picks

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

To Homeschool or Not?

The pandemic has changed what it means to go to school. In this new landscape, a mother considers the possibility of homeschooling her child

What It Means to Grow Up With a Love for Indian Crafts

A designer reflects on his childhood filled with craft objects, what qualifies as craft, and how better marketplaces can mean more robust livelihoods for craftspeople

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

Lockdowns and Long Drives

Finding a moment or two of relief on the road

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“It’s tempting to romanticise buildings of the

“It’s tempting to romanticise buildings of the past, to hold them as testaments to a glorious history and keep them at a distance, like sanitised museums of memory. But heritage is not about the ‘good old days’, it’s about the identity it manifests today,” writes Jessica Jani (@jessicajani_ ). For a country like ours, chock-full of cultural history and teeming with heritage structures, it’s striking that conservation architecture doesn’t occupy the limelight it deserves. There’s an apathy and an absence of awareness that plagues conservation efforts. But recognising that our built environment is, in many ways, an extension of who we are is fundamental to keeping up the conservation conversation. At the link in our bio, you can read about why our grand old buildings could do with a little more love and a lot more care. It’s a story from our archives, but as relevant as ever.Photo of the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa by @thebalcao.

A two-part giveaway now underway at @thepaperplane

A two-part giveaway now underway at @thepaperplanesshop! Open to all, but illustrators win big. 🍿🍿🍿

We’ve each found our own ways to cope with the p

We’ve each found our own ways to cope with the pandemic, its ensuing lockdowns, and the toll it’s taken on our mental health over the last year and a half. In our latest Thinking Aloud comic, @linesbyjose paints a picture of their experience at home (and out in the world).
Thinking Aloud is a space for visual artists and storytellers to reflect on and make sense of our everyday lives through comics and graphic narratives. Find all our comics on www.joinpaperplanes.com.

Unhindered views of the Arabian Sea while atop lus

Unhindered views of the Arabian Sea while atop lush tree canopies — it’s an image we’re hankering for, and it’s coming to life in a place we’d least expected it to. Mumbai is getting a first-of-its-kind ‘forest trail’ at Malabar Hill. Designed by Rahul Kadri (@rahul.kadri), the Partner and Principal Architect at IMK Architects (@imkarchitects_india) for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, it’s an elevated treetop walkway that will allow Mumbaikars to walk along a 705-metre-long trail and get up close with the birds and trees. “It has been my dream project for over 20 years,” Kadri tells us.Kadri and his team got to work on the designs about six months ago, and the project is slated to be completed by the end of this year. The designs have carefully accounted for minimal impact to the forest. “A raised wooden walkway with a central spine of steel structural supports has been delicately detailed to keep the intervention’s impact on the forest floor to a minimum,” Kadri explains. “The idea is to minimize the use of concrete on the ground surface and hence, the walkway will be an elevated one. Details including the width of the trail, its sectional design, lighting, and materials have been carefully designed to blend in with the natural habitat of the forest. The incidence of light on the forest floor will be minimized to ensure that the forest is protected against light disturbance and pollution. The design will also [...] avoid blocking the flow of natural water, minimize interference with existing root systems in the soil, prevent disturbance to the movement and habitat of wildlife.”Swipe through for glimpses of a few renders from the upcoming project.

“It had been a while since Nana had visited the

“It had been a while since Nana had visited the Sea. His usual spot was under the banyan tree at The Hanging Gardens, but that day, he insisted we should go to Marine Drive together. I remember his white beard flying in the gentle breeze, and the Arabian reflecting in his deep blue eyes before it got ‘too chilly,’ for him to stay out any longer. It was unknowingly our last outing together before the stringent lockdown was declared and we were suddenly robbed off evenings at the promenade. Nana passed away later that year, and when I think of him, I’m reminded of this very moment — when it was just him, me, a distant city, and an infinite sea.” — @zahra.amiruddin. Photograph shot by her on 12 March 2020.For @snemeh’s story on the importance of promenades and open public space, we asked three photographers in Mumbai to share their favourite images of the city’s promenades in use. Find the whole story via the link in our bio.

There’s a memorable line in the 1975 classic ‘

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