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Little bit of aapnu Amdavad in China
2010. 7 March
by Suranjana Roy Bhattacharya
(timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
India is all set to woo the world with
bamboo, Buddhism and a bit of Ahmedabad in China. Sidi Syed ni Jali, the
unofficial symbol of Ahmedabad, will be assured of a 70 million strong audience
when it is unveiled at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in May.
The 16th
century stonework will take a wooden incarnation on top of giant gateway to the
India pavilion, which would cost Rs 40 crore. Not only does the ‘tree of
life’ makes for an impressive entrance, but it is also the theme around
which designer DR Naidu has created his ‘city of harmony’, the
Sanchi Stupa.
Naidu, senior creative director of Design-C, a
Delhi-based company designing and executing the project for India Trade
Promotion Organisation, explains how the Indian showpiece will pack in a number
of firsts. This will be the largest dome in the world made of bamboo, an
architectural marvel worked out by Columbian designer Simon
Velez.
Buddhism too comes in a high-tech package with the designers
opting for a holographic projection for visitors, while Gujarat gets pride of
place with its industrial muscle.
Naidu’s team went to Anji,
the bamboo grove of China, to choose the right kind of stuff. Interestingly, a
factory which produced only chopsticks thus far was converted to deliver giant
sized bamboo, strong enough to form a 17 meter high dome. The exterior of this
dome will be interwoven with copper plates, the motif once again being the Sidi
Syed ni Jali.
Indian designers are competing with the big billions
and cutting-edge technology. Naidu, along with well-known architects and
engineers Sanjay Prakash, Pradeep Sachdeva and Prem Krishna, have had to think
outside the box. The challenge was to package a secular India, its silks and
handicrafts with the industrial age, while fitting into the expo’s theme
of ‘Better City Better Life’.
The Shanghai Expo is
essentially about governments around the world showing off their best
alternative energy strategies to build cities of the future. Getting this giant
operation off the ground is Arindam Roy Choudhury, who co-ordinates with the
Chinese engineers and workers, racing to meet the deadline. The pavilion
integrates solar, wind and rainwater harvesting in a smart way.
The
six-month-long World Expo, which starts on May 1, takes place every four years.
The 1200-acre site in Shanghai will host the biggest fair in history and the
Shanghai administration has trained 70,000 volunteers for the event with the
local Chinese taking crash courses in English.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com