The exceptionally gifted Giraben Sarabhai, who died at 97 on July 15 at Ahmedabad, was the youngest and last surviving of the eight Sarabhai siblings. She was an architect, designer and the co-founder of the National Institute of Design (NID) and creator of the Calico Museum of Textiles.
Giraben who was trained under American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Wisconsin, returned to India with an understanding and sense of space that were instrumental in realising the vision that she and his brother, Gautam shared for the building of the NID on the banks of the Sabarmati river.
In a report, “Ahmedabad based graphic designer Subrata Bhowmick (75) said, “Giraben was the design mother of this country as every designer in the country who has grown from NID had gone through her touch. The entire design education is her baby. Any designer who had come to India is because of her. It is really a sad day for the design community.”
