Bharat Bhavan 2020
Discovering Indian culture through architecture
OVERVIEW
Indian culture and architecture
Img 1: A view of Taj, Uttar Pradesh
Since independence, the administration of India has always strived to balance its past, present and future. This involved not only building the necessary infrastructure for housing, transportation and food security - but various institutions that had the ability to house the rich culture of India. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first prime minister), India saw the formation of various new academies and retrofitting of heritage buildings with cultural institutions.
This was done to bring arts and traditional crafts into the urban limelight. After his death, the vision was carried forward by the forthcoming governments in the 1970s. A new draft stating the need for cultural revival and sustaining India’s intangible and tangible heritage was drawn. The intent was to give a platform for practitioners of this traditional art form and educate others about these in an accessible urban forum.
This is how the vision of ‘India House’ or ‘Bharat Bhavan’ was born, envisioned to be built in each of the 21 states (in 1970). It was imagined to be a cultural center that spoke this vision through a series of galleries and exhibition/performance spaces.
The Pioneer
The first commission of this vision went to Architect Charles Correa where he was endowed with the responsibility to design the first-ever Bharat Bhavan, in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).
This multi-art centre set-up created interactive proximity between the verbal, visual and performing arts. It provided space for contemporary expression, thought, quest and innovation for creative pursuits grassroots from the rural to urban areas. It sought to provide a thought-provoking context to those who wished to contribute something new and meaningful in the realm of contemporary fine arts, literature, theatre, cinema, dance and music. It currently houses some of the best and most lasting creations that were created within the towns, villages and forests of India. India has embraced similar public venues and cultural institutions after this building, however, this was the only ‘India House' built. The original plan of having one in each state did not reach realization.
If we could ever implement this vision where every state could have a Bharat Bhavan in the context of today, how would it be?
Brief
Img 4: Key Monastery, Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh
If we perceive a similar vision made possible today, what story would you tell about the place through architecture? How will this new cultural venue bridge the ideas of the place - country and the world? How will your design speak of the newer interpretations and aspirations of its people, its culture, its daily life and its embodiment into a particular center like this?
Design Challenge: To build a new Bharat Bhavan in the context of 2020, encapsulating things that have Made India and are Made in India. This thought can extend to its art forms, to people, culture, technologies, foods, techniques, theatre, performing arts, dance, rituals, film, music, fine arts and a lot more.
Objectives
These objectives can be a point of beginning to conceive this design. Participants can assume their own contexts and users before initiating their design process.
- Vision: Define the purpose, vision and Intent of the Bharat Bhavan.
- Site: Define/Justify a site for the same in any one of the cities of India.
- Functions: Define all the functions and spaces that will be a part of this Bharat Bhavan
- Interpretation: Embodying all these into an architectural outcome that connects - Place - Country - World.
Location
The site for India House/Bharat Bhavan 2020, can be chosen in any one city (with a population above 1 Million) of India.The proposed functions and design of the intervention should be inspired by the inquiry of the local arts of the chosen region. It is visualized to be a local and an international level venue.
The minimum site area of this facility is 3 Acres (12140 sqm.) and maximum of 5 Acres (20234 sqm.). Following local development guidelines is optional. The city of Bhopal is exempted from the probable sites for this competition.
