Name of the Project: A hybrid Urban Insert

Description of the project:

In our cities, art has been set on a pedestal. It has been intellectualized and made quite inaccessible to the masses. The idea of the project is to bring together art, the city, and the masses. There is a growing need for public art and well-structured public spaces in developing cities and this can be exploited to bring about a change in the way public art is displayed and even perceived. 

The obvious need for art in public spaces, the cosmopolitan nature of the city and the lack of an urban arts commission led to choosing Bangalore for the project and this could perhaps become a template to guide an art movement in urban contexts in the country on larger scale. 

The project aims at creating a hybrid urban platform for expression. The site chosen was driven by the program and required to be central with high footfall and multiple possibilities. A site in the C.B.D., on M.G Road, currently a police ground was chosen. The site, to me, was a physical manifestation of my idea of the spirit of Bangalore city. Set in one of the most bustling locations, a metro line cutting across, signifying the kinetism of the city, it had potential to transform into something beyond its current use. Also, it opened up pan opportunity to give back to the city, an essential lung space.

Driven by the site forces, a public plaza was proposed on the edge towards the street. The concrete retaining wall of the metro line was used as an element that disintegrated and gradually merged with the plaza and the landscape as a metaphor of the disintegration of urbanity to facilitate art and the masses. These walls could become a canvas for the city, a backdrop for a variety of functions. The built structure houses the core functions and the landscape could become an extension of Caraiappa Park, a relief from the chaos of the city. A place that could adapt to the ever changing

“Although it’s difficult to isolate the monetary impacts of public art, the social and cultural effects are invaluable. Public art enhances and often creates the identity of public spaces. It transforms cities as well as the way people recognize and contemplate the world around them. It has become an essential tool for making cities standout and attract new businesses and young professionals”.

‘Art for public spaces- why do cities need public art?’

HYPOTHESIS

To deliberate on these questions:

What is that line that separates art from architecture? The artistic, from the intellectual? That man from the one who can say a hue from a tone?

Does art like architecture have to take a prime place on the accent wall of one’s living room or can it like some architecture subdue and tame itself to become a part of the backdrop where it just facilitates, it functions and yet does it so beautifully that it becomes timeless (and vice versa)

Is architecture something that grasps one’s attention for a second too long or is it like the art that one sinks into as he falls towards its endless depths?

What is art? What is architecture? How do they meet? Should they meet at all?

If Calatrava is a sculptor, so is Mies.

If Dali and Van Gogh are great, so are Klien and Barnett Newman.

Who does architecture label as a sculptor and why? why doesn’t art do the same? Or does it?

The need to create a space that, like art, evolves. For all we know what is art today may be rendered as garbage tomorrow. 

OBJECTIVE OR INTENT OF THE THESIS

To relook at the containers of art, in an urban context.

To make an enquiry into the museum typology to see if there are other ways to contextually or otherwise, displaying art and also making it more accessible to the public. Also, to question if this approach can change the way Indian cities perceive art.

To create a layering of functions, the densification of which will lead to the built form such that the line between the built and the un-built is blurred.

METHODOLOGY

Identifying potential urban spaces where art can thrive and become a part of the urban fabric;

Spaces where it can stand devoid of the pedestal it is generally set on. 

Identifying M.G. Road and metro line clubbed with a new Rangoli Pavilion as a very powerful and apt site for the vision of this project.

Studying how visual art forms have evolved in the city and the present day need for art in Bangalore. Studying the current trends in art, the views and perceptions associated with it in the urban context. A detailed study of the types of galleries in terms of their area, visitors, expected numbers, frequency of shows etc.

Also a detailed study of the user groups and the nature of the public spaces in the city, listing out pros and cons.

To channelize the public through the project, more or less, treating it like a transit point, a pause in the landscape; avail that is not quite present but is indispensable. 

Attempt to find a fine balance between the public and spaces for the display of ‘prescribed’ art.

To bleed these spaces into one another such that at intervals they become one. 

Make a larger urban comment on the status of the art in the city and how the public should or rather can, perceive it.

Finally, derive from all this a well-integrated urban form that blurs the line between the art and the city as well as questions the containers of art.