Lofty Designs

By Tanvi Shenoy, Express News Service With an aim to communicate the role of “good design” in urban spaces, a travelling exhibition, titled “Death of Architecture: Circa 2000”, was inaugurated Friday evening at the Nehru Science Centre in Worli. At least 13 architecture firms from across the country are participating in the event, which ends on till March 4. The exhibition runs over a 100 metres, showcasing models, installations and video clips on the theme. In store over the next few days are walking tours, guided by architects like Rupali Gupte, Prasad Shetty, Vikas Dilwani, Zameer Basrai and Samira Rathod, between February 26 and March 1 from 3pm to 5pm. Film screenings and discussions will also be held on March 3. “The exhibition is a way to look at architectural practice and highlight the importance of good design. There is a lack of dignity towards our environment. We want to create awareness and make people demand better environment to live in. That is why we have displays showing concepts like nostalgia, change, demise and the birth,” says Samira Rathod, key organizer of the show. Staying close to the theme, dark soil covers the floor at the beginning of the show, and horizontal exhibits are then placed on the ground. The exhibits include artwork by the architecture firms, exploring the themes of identity and change associated with Thiropur, the temple town, Connaught Place in Delhi, Halasuru Road in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune among others. “All the materials for the exhibition consist of debris supplied from places like the dockyards, free of cost. Even the sand, covering the floor will be returned to the vendors once the exhibition is wrapped up,” said Anish Bajaj, event organizer, Design Owl. The opening evening began with a talk on “Mumbai Modern: A Study of Modern Buildings in the 19th-20th Century Mumbai” by Anuj Daga, School of Environment and Architecture. Tanvi Shenoy is a student of NSoJ and is an intern with The Indian Express, Mumbai