Combining the aesthetics of art and the technicalities of architecture, a city-based artist has brought out a series of artworks that highlight the need for sustainable designing of buildings.
In his debut solo show titled “Soul In Structure,” architect Vidur Bharadwaj (VB) will “amalgamate” the design elements of historical monuments and cities with his own artistic interpretation of sustainability and environment.
“Architecture and real estate development has been a part of the sustainable path that I have been following. This exhibition is my expression of amalgamating what I love in art and what I am passionate about is sustainability in architecture.
“People relate more to art than to sustainable architecture from a layman’s point of view. So, that is my way to showcase everything together,” says VB.
The show that will begin on September 16 at the Visual Art Gallery here will have on exhibit 15 artworks in mix media.
The artist has fused photographs of historical locations from across the country with acrylic on canvas and superimposed them with his own architectural projects across NCR.
“The process I have used is to combine photographs of my projects with elements that inspire me as an architect, be it nature, monuments or moments.
“My architectural works are from NCR and the inspirations are from the famous monuments from across the country like Fatehpur Sikri, the ghats of Benaras, Jag Mandir in Udaipur among others,” says VB, who is the director of ‘The 3C Company’ here.
For instance, in one of his images one can see an ancient haveli surrounded by trees and in the courtyard is a pool of water. The artwork is superimposed with the image of the Wipro Campus in Gurgaon that has been designed by VB.
“This is the first Wipro headquarter building in north India. And because it was in a region like Gurgaon, it did not have many sceneries around it. So, we created a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the building to make an environment conducive for people to come out.
“We made it shaded, we put water and air cabinets to have a mist effect and essentially it represents a courtyard in a haveli that most of us were brought up in,” says VB.
Images of a child and a sun are omnipresent in all his artworks to emphasise the need for sustainability for the generations to come.
“Sun is the source of all energy and a child represents the future. So, the whole idea is that we need to make this earth greener and sustainable for the future generations,” he says.
According to VB, in an era of glass buildings, basic qualities that made structures sustainable are getting lost so constructing green buildings that “use minimum amount of carbon footprint,” has become a necessity.
“I have always tried to make my projects socially, economically and environmentally responsible buildings. The idea is to show that if we take values of what our ancient architecture was all about, it can be adapted to create sustainable green buildings today,” he says.
The famous ghats of Benaras have inspired the design concept of IHDP Business Park in Noida. The painting highlights the pictures of the project with the spiritual experiences rendered by the ceremonies taking place on the river banks.
“The work seeks to highlight the pious ‘aarti’ time on the ghats. Hanging lanterns and water troughs below with ‘diyas’ and flowers will be installed to create the aura of evening ‘aarti’ on the ghats of Benaras,” says the artist.
The week long show is a moving exhibition that is scheduled to travel across the development sector to “show people how they can live green.”
It is set to continue here till September 22.
