GAADI No. 1

The Indian landscape is dotted with different kinds of

public transportation such as rickshaws, trucks, taxis and chhakdas. These different forms of transportation technology serve millions of Indians across the country. Even as the

industry provides just the basic functional structures of automobiles, communities adorn them and personalize them

with their own narratives. In essence, these technologies that would otherwise homogenize their users through mass- produced form thrive as platforms for cultural expression.

Supported by Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto.

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Gaadi no.1. A study of Mumbai taxi's ornamentation culture!

Learning from the design personalization of Rickshaws, Taxis
and other transportation
technologies in Asia.

Ornament is fundamental to Indian, and many world cultures.

People see '1000 bonds of delight' in different forms of design personalization .

This study of automobile technology in India and Bangladesh shows us a different micro cosmos of how non designers personalize their technology. We studied the artist works of rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers who create intimate personalize 'worlds' making their 'technology' not a technology but a home.