The Economic Times Architecture & Design Summit charmed Chennai with the inaugural session on July 15. This Summit, in its 4^th edition this year, showcased the world of design, its trends and impacts not just in India but across the globe.

The summit had industry sleuths deliberate on new trends like disruptive change – new design thinking for new times and new generation where eminent architect Sheila Sriprakash addressed the audience. She spoke about the trends and innovation in the design industry. She further elucidated on the upcoming technological innovations like the role of artificial intelligence in the industry. Architecture and design has become a profession where women are increasingly seeing more foothold and voice through their work.

Commenting on the event, Sunita Quadros, Business Head, Times Conferences Limited said “We are pleased to kickstart the first episode of A&D summit in Chennai. The ideas and conversations at the summit were around texture and design, because this theme has an universal appeal. Today most designers and architects across the industry.are taking about innovations and new trends in texture which is catching the fancy of the market.”

Apart from presenting a casy study on Principles of Design explained using texture, the event also facilitated discussions on elements and principles of design through texture and impact of texture on built environment. Addressing the topic, industry stalwart Abhishek Somany, MD, Somany Ceramics elaborated on the international best practices in the design space and the impact of texture, which are the key drivers of the next phase of growth for the A&D industry.

The panellists came from different industries and professions who gave their feedback on texture and design through their industry point of view.

The summit was the first episode among the other scheduled across five regional markets, highlighting the work from top designers in each region. The culmination event will be a grand finale in Mumbai which will showcase top designers from across the globe. The curtain closure event will be a star studded evening hosting the Crème de la crème of the design fraternity.