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Innovation
Back to the Future!
Indian independence forms the theme of an award-winning architectural
installation built in stainless steel and glass.
Meet Kirtisagar Bollar, creator of Crysteel Reflections.
That's the name of the winning entry at the Stainless Innovation
Awards 2007, organised by Jindal Stainless Ltd, in the professional
category of 'Innovation in application of stainless steel
in building and architecture'.
Bollar proposes an interactive forum - an architectural installation
built in stainless steel and glass - on one of India's best
known landmarks, Mumbai's Marine Drive. He conceives a plaza
that people can walk through, which will house statues of
freedom fighters. There will also be a blank space for the
visitor to stand - this is symbolic of the fact that Bollar
believes all of us can do something for our country, and that
an inner hero resides inside us all. Cut-outs in the façade
will allow interaction with the outside world so there is
a blending of all elements.
"Artists, musicians, filmmakers and sculptors have used
new mediums, canvases, digital tools and technologies to recreate
India's glorious past of freedom struggle and subsequent years
of nation building to reach out to the present generation,"
says Bollar.
"But there has been a void in architecture of late when
it comes to the theme of communicating and highlighting our
glorious past." Bollar seeks to fill this void. Created
using advanced digital and construction technologies, Crysteel
Reflections is an attempt to reach out and inspire today's
generation and display India's technological potential and
futuristic vision.
So why did he choose stainless steel for his installation?
"Stainless steel has natural corrosion resistance,"
he responds. "And owing to better structural abilities,
carefully engineered stainless steel structures have uncommon
degrees of legibility and profound expression. Today, in an
era of architectural pluralism and engineering innovation,
the use of stainless steel has gained new levels of expression
and technical sophistication.
Crysteel Reflections is an attempt to reaffirm the importance
of stainless steel as an index of modernity."
The site for Crysteel Reflections - Marine Drive, known as
the Queen's Necklace - has also been chosen with care. "The
structure forms part of the public space making it communicative,
associative and inspiring," says Bollar. "It is
a 'canvas' that will link the past, present and the future
through tangibility. A blank face represents the common man
and forms part of the composition, inspiring people to do
something for the country and to be part of the facade someday."
Bollar is even more eloquent when he explains the cut-outs
in the façade. "This symbolic unification of natural
elements like wind, water, sky and light creates a spatial
narrative that is sensory and experiential," he says.
"Communication between the subject and the perceiver
happens at a basic human plane, rendering it timeless."
And beautiful.
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