Based on the specified eligibility criteria, Arch Academy of Design won the EOI bid conducted by JMRC, under the able guidance of its Director Ms. Archana Surana, and made dedicated efforts and carried out meticulous research work, followed by tactical Design thinking.
Sanjay Joshi
JAIPUR (popularly known also as the Pink City) is the capital of Rajasthan. With a grandeur of its own, it is the largest city of the state and is a wonderful pastiche of tradition and modernity, revelling in the colours of the culture of Rajasthan on the one hand, and the hues of a cosmopolitan order on the other; the aroma of traditional Chhappan Bhog, Daal Bati Choorma, and Raabri, along side Chinese, South Indian, Italian, Continental …..!
Jaipur has also preserved its culture through its heritage – the Hawa Mahal, Amber fort, its elephant & Camel rides, City Rickshaw tour and so on. It has also kept up with the needs of the times, building flyovers, new airports, setting up Export Promotion Industrial Parks & world class Academic Institutions and most importantly, launching new eco friendly public transport systems like the Jaipur Bus Rapid transit service (BRts), and the Jaipur Metro Rail!
The JAIPUR METRO RAIL CORPORATION LIMITED (JMRCL) charged with the mission to provide Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in the city of Jaipur by way of a metro rail network is doing an excellent job.
Planned to world class standards with regard to safety, reliability, punctuality, comfort and user satisfaction and keeping in view the urban transport demands of the city for the next few decades, the Jaipur Metro Rail Project intends to spur the economic development of the city while preserving its rich Heritage and Culture. It promises to be a significant step towards making Jaipur a world class city.
It goes without saying that, to look at and maintain world class standards are not easy tasks.
The expectation of visible quality starts right from the clothes that people wear.
No doubt its this level of awareness that prompted the JMRCL to publish an Expression of Interest (EOI) calling for proposals from well established Fashion/ Uniform Design firms to participate in a ‘Uniform Design Contest‘ to design Office Uniforms for the employees of the upcoming Jaipur Metro.
The ARCH ACADEMY OF DESIGN being one of the leading Design Academies in India with its experience in Uniform Design and its competent Design faculty, responded to the call through its Project Cell and made its bid in the ‘Uniform Design Competition’ project.
The competition was based on stringent eligibility criteria, and Arch successfully won the EOI bid conducted by JMRC for the competition, outstripping and surpassing the efforts of other bidders (institutes/ firms) who had applied for the contest.
Keeping in view the short project timeline (60 days), the entire Design team of Arch Academy of Design comprising of Project management, Textile & Fashion Design faculty, and Technical experts, under the able guidance of its Director (Ms. Archana Surana) made dedicated efforts to carry out meticulous research work with tactical Design thinking and the technical support of ATDC (Apparel Training & Design Centre) & Textile Committee, Jaipur. Members of the team also visited ‘Metro Bhawan’, N. Delhi (DMRC) to get further insights in order to make the research work more meaningful.
All these initiatives finally lead to the successful designing of the Uniforms for the Jaipur Metro staff; taking into consideration the design brief, time schedule & terms of reference with the three key attributes – Smart, Speed & Modern with a touch of Tradition. The final Summer & Winter Uniform samples/ Prototypes (6 uniforms) covered –
- Managerial Cadre
- Station Controller/ Train Operator
- Customer Relation Assistant
- Junior Engineers
- Maintenance Staff
- Outsourced Staff
Taking due cognizance of the rapid modernization of the Pink City in the last few years, and the need for preserving the Identity, Gender equality and the Sensibilities of the citizens of Jaipur (suggestions received through web-based Consultation Forum made by JMRC), the Design team of ARCH accordingly selected prudently apt colours, designs, shapes & patterns so as to impart to the Jaipur Metro Uniform, a smart & contemporary look, coupled with a unique touch of tradition.
The set of the final range of garments (uniforms) covering the six categories (cadres) as per the design parameters provided by JMRCL, were developed and presented to the high-profile seven member Jury appointed by the JMRC for final evaluation. After critical analysis of all competing uniforms, the Jury finally adjudged the uniforms designed & developed by ARCH as the best, and went on to suggest a few modifications in terms of colour shades (red & pink) & patterns. The desired amendments were incorporated by the ARCH team and the concluding set of uniform designs was accepted in principle by the Jury & JMRC and thus ARCH won the competition.
Since then it has completed and delivered the main phase of the project successfully with only manufacturing to follow.
Consequently, ARCH was invited by JMRC for the Press Conference held on 14th November 2013 at its conference hall, wherein they publicly declared the result of the Design Competition and announced the launch of the designed Jaipur Metro Uniforms. Mr. Sanjay Joshi, Sr. Manager – Project Cell (ARCH) presented the ‘Jaipur Metro Uniform Design Portfolio’ along with Ms. Richa Lakwal, Fashion Design Faculty (ARCH). The press & media representatives covering the whole event interviewed Ms. Archana Surana, Director (ARCH), who encapsulated the whole development process in the presence of Mr. Nihal Chand Goel (CMD – Jaipur Metro), Ms. Susmeeta Srivastava (Director, Corporate Affairs – JMRC) & other senior members of JMRC. Mr. Goel and Ms. Srivastava also issued signed testimonials to ARCH, acknowledging & appreciating the good work done.
JMRC has uploaded the whole Uniform Design Document (pdf) presented by ARCH on its website http://www.jaipurmetrorail.in and it is available for viewing by the public.
It is worth mentioning that the whole process of Uniform Design was implemented by the ARCH team in a truly professional & transparent manner with the active support of the entire JMRC team at all levels. ARCH expresses sincere gratitude to JMRCL, its Chairman & Managing Director (Mr. N. C. Goel) who gave ARCH the opportunity to do this challenging project, its Director – Corporate Affairs (Ms. Susmeeta), Director – Operations & Systems (Mr. C. S. Jeengar), Executive Director – Corporate Affairs (Mr. R. K. Agarwal), Joint GM – Revenue (Mr. Dinesh Sharma), Manager – Revenue (Mr. Piyush) and the entire team of JMRCL for their active support & guidance.
The project was also assisted very ably by 5 of our senior Fashion design students, for whom the experience was extremely energising and rewarding.
The students Sujit Kumar, Chaitali Verma & recent alumnus, Nagendra Gupta, guided by our faculty, worked full time on the project for two months, with Deepa Bhati, and another recently passed out alumnus, Harshad Jain, contributing whenever they could.
There isn’t a shadow of doubt that the ‘Jaipur Metro Uniform Design‘ project is yet another feather in our cap! We definitely can congratulate ourselves on this success.