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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Know Your City: Bangalore International Centre, an engaging community space in a fast-growing metropolis
As the city expands and the 'old Bengaluru' that long-time residents were nostalgic about slowly fades, the conversation around the city's public spaces has emerged. Often, these are centuries-old lakes and monuments, and parks dating back to the era of the Raj. But just as worthy of conversation are those public spaces that bring visitors together to share culture, music, or art. One of the foremost such spaces in the city today is the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), located in Domlur, just off Indiranagar's 1st Main Road. Scroll through the list of events being held here, and you might see a prominent local musician performing, an interview with an internationally known author, or an exhibit of the works of a legendary cartoonist. The venue has seen events from cricketer Javagal Srinath discussing the physics of a cricket ball, to conversations with RBI governors. Recently, it even hosted writer-translator duo Deepa Bhasti and Banu Mushtaq, barely weeks before Mushtaq's short story collection The Heart Lamp won the International Booker. While the BIC has operated out of its own premises since 2019, when it originally started up in 2005, events were hosted on the premises of the southern regional centre of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Bengaluru. According to V Ravichandar, who became a member of BIC's board in 2010, the India International Centre in New Delhi served as an inspiration. He said, 'November 20, 2005, was when Abdul Kalam came to inaugurate the centre (BIC)…we continued using the TERI premises until 2019 as the building project took nine years.' He recalled, 'We used to average about five events a month – now it is closer to 40. Now that we have our own centre we have been able to ramp up to about 480 programmes per year.' Ravichandar noted that a committee of around 15 members is responsible for coordinating the events at the centre. There are three main sources for these events – walk-in inquiries where people approach the centre regarding a programme; programmes with partners such as the Science Gallery Bengaluru; and in-house efforts to conduct programmes. An example of in-house efforts is the upcoming June 7 event for World Environment Day, which will feature exhibitions on topics as diverse as coffee and cartoons, alongside children's workshops and film screenings with discussions. On how the centre keeps the process funded, Ravichandar said, 'We have about 1,100 members paying about Rs 7,500 per year as an annual subscription, who are doing it because they believe Bengaluru needs a place like BIC. It is not a club, which is more exclusive, but an inclusive space that is free to attend. Another source is the rental of the space for events with objectives similar to BIC, such conversation, art and culture.' Prominent persons had also pitched in to cover two-thirds of the costs for the building and land in Domlur, including Nandan and Rohini Nilekani, the Azim Premji Foundation and Mohandas Pai, to name but a few, with members covering up the rest of the cost. Ravichandar recalled a competition in around 2011 where 84 architects from around the world applied to design the BIC and Bijoy Ramachandran of Hundredhands was selected through a jury. 'We always joke that we wanted two acres by the lake but got half an acre by the drain. The location was a challenge. The question was how do you build a public space in a residential area? The scale cannot be different. How do you build a space that looks spacious in not that much space? Bijoy has achieved this very well,' Ravichandran said. Sharing the thought behind the building with The Indian Express, architect Bijoy Ramachandran described it as an unusual project for an architect. 'Something that is open for everybody to use….a lot of what we did is examine what it means to make a public building, what kind of space is truly public, what about its space, materiality, its connection to the outside and what makes it feel like a communal space?….we realised that the holding was smaller than what we did in the competition. We had to completely reform the building in the new site boundary. The real challenge was to have this kind of public building which feels generous and open in a very tight site,' Ramachandran said. Those interested in attending events at the BIC may consult their website at Events are largely free, with a few rare exceptions, though some have RSVP requirements to manage effective seating.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Conserving Sabha: Walking the heritage talk
' ', a , opened recently after a decided to renovate a 160-year-old heritage building that stopped functioning as a school a decade ago. The initiative bears an important message: restoring privately held heritage structures adds a rich layer of cultural depth and urban memory to the ever-evolving tapestry of Bengaluru's identity When he set out to renovate a 160-year-old building on Kamaraj Road, Ravichandar V, the man who gave Bengaluru its own international centre BIC, knew well what he was up against. A heritage structure that had fallen into disuse, construction technologies that were at least a few centuries old and walls baring their bricks! Driven by a deep love for managing public spaces, Ravichandar searched for nearly five years to find a sponsor who could help him restore the building that once hosted the Chaturveda Siddhanta Sabha (CVS) School. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now With little help coming forth, he decided to bet on it on his own. "I told my wife Hema 'let's do this as art philanthropy, our own contribution to the city'. So we set up a family trust called Ammini Trust," says Ravichandar, who has been working on various city issues since 2000. "I normally raise money from others for projects that I undertake. This one is our personal philanthropy, and a first," he says. The hard work of over two years has paid off now — from just a relic, the restorers have brought back a past that continues to breathe, an elegant edifice of earthy tones, the Sabha. The space, right on Kamaraj Road and a 15-minute walk from the MG Road metro station, has already begun hosting public events and is seeing record footfalls. The project area is 7,500 square feet, including another 130-year-old building. The property belongs to RBANM's Educational Charities, founded by Rai Bahadur Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliar (1827-1910), a prominent philanthropist and a businessman who has created his own legacy in the city's history. Mudaliar was also the contractor for Attara Kacheri, an important heritage structure in the city that now houses the High Court of Karnataka. The Trust has leased out Sabha for 15 years as a public space. Assembling a team The first thing Ravichandar did after taking up the project was to assemble his team. He roped in renowned Ahmedabad-based architect Prof Rabindra Vasavada, BIC architect Bijoy Ramachandran, of Hundredhands, BIC colleague Raghu Tenkayala, and specialist teams from Kerala and Mumbai to handle woodwork and lime-mortar masonry. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Professor Vasavada advised us on how to go about this conservation project because we were just babes in the woods. I'm not even an architect. We wanted to be true to the principles of conservation. So we really worked hard to retain every detail as original as possible, including the Madras Terrace roof," says Ravichandar. The three reasons Ravichandar says he had three reasons to commit himself to the project. "One was to create a public space, because that interests me significantly." The second motivation was to set a unique example in a city where "so many people have been pulling down old buildings". (Three people have already got in touch with him saying they were planning to bring down an old building, but are having second thoughts after visiting Sabha). His third and last reason is to inspire other philanthropists to say 'why don't we do it?'. The conservation An architect with a Masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and practice of 20 years, Sabha was Bijoy's first conservation work. So, naturally, he planned extensively for the project. "Conservation work has its own set of protocols and methodologies by which one does the work. In fact, different countries have different protocols for how heritage structures are handled. While we (in India) are a little more relaxed in terms of how we engage with our heritage structures, in the UK, for instance, the heritage conservation agencies are quite fastidious about how one goes about every detail. In India, a lot of it is your own personal responsibility …in how far you want to go with changing what you had encountered when you first got there," says Bijoy. He researched extensively, and looked up past projects and protocols before taking up the project. "We were fortunate to have had Professor Vasavada as adviser, who had come down from Ahmedabad for four days early on in the process. He told us about these methods of seeing," says Bijoy. "What kind of drawings you make, categorise everything that you're seeing in terms of structural damage or surface damage, water seepage etc. Like good students, we just made sure that we remembered everything that he told us. The first step in the process – observation and internalising the existing condition – is really important. " This helped the team understand the challenges, the opportunities, the qualities of the existing building that need to be retained and elements that have been added over time, which are easy to spot and remove. "We were lucky to have found Nilesh Thakkar, a Mumbai-based restorer who has already been doing projects in Bengaluru. We also got the reference for S C Shaju, a very specialised roofing and carpentry expert from Kozhikode, Kerala," says Bijoy. One of the most challenging and incredibly satisfying episodes, according to Bijoy, was how the team managed to retain the 160-year-old Madras Terrace roofing while changing the timber support structure underneath. A Madras Terrace roof is made out of brick, laid at an angle and spanning over secondary wooden beams. What holds them together is a very rich, sticky mortar (made out of a mix of lime, jaggery and an organic additive called kadukkai). This entire brick system then rests on a set of primary wooden beams. "The problem with the Madras Terrace roof here was that the primary wooden beams were sagging beyond the permissible extent. It was resting on 16 such beams, and the challenge was to replace them without disturbing the original brick roof because redoing this would've made the project really unviable," says Bijoy. "Our brilliant restorers managed to replace all of the primary beams without disturbing the original Madras Terrace roof. " The removed beams were repurposed to make new windows and other woodwork for the two buildings. Bijoy added a few new elements too — a cafe, restrooms, and a service block, which he says is "responding appropriately to an existing context". "The old buildings have a very strong character in terms of the architecture and scale, and we had to be very sensitive that the new additions met the old elegantly." 'Let's incentivise conservation' Ravichandar laments the fact that Bengaluru as a city lacks a law to preserve its privately-held heritage buildings. Mumbai was the first city in India to bring in something to that effect with a heritage listing. "That's perhaps why a lot of old buildings are coming down. There is no incentive for people to maintain heritage structures they own," he says. "I would have liked a policy where you get some tax waiver, for example, a 50% tax off when you're doing conservation work. Now we pay 18% GST of the total cost, making restoration an expensive affair." The Sabha project, Ravichandar says, cost him 40% more than what it would have if it were a greenfield project of the same scale.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
BBMP enters transition phase as Governor clears Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill
With Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot granting assent to the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill 2024, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has officially entered a transition period. As a first step, the government will define the boundaries of the Greater Bengaluru area. The BBMP will continue to function temporarily until the changes outlined in the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act (GBGA) 2024 are completed. The Act clearly specifies transitional provisions. These provisions ensure continuity during the shift from the earlier legal framework to the newly enacted Act. The provisions state that any rule, order, notification, or appointment made under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, or the BBMP Act, 2020, will remain in force after the new Act takes effect, provided they are not inconsistent with its provisions. Existing instruments will be deemed to have been issued under the new Act and will remain valid until amended, replaced, or withdrawn through new measures enacted under the new law. This prevents any legal vacuum and enables the BBMP and related bodies to operate smoothly during the legal transition. It also allows the government to gradually introduce changes under the new Act while preserving governance continuity and administrative stability in Bengaluru's municipal system. What's next Experts suggest it may take eight to nine months to implement changes. The Urban Development Department (UDD) will soon begin this process. The first step is defining the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) area. Currently, the BBMP spans 709 sq km, which will expand under the new structure. V. Ravichandar, a member of the Brand Bengaluru Committee (BBC), said, 'Defining the area for the GBA is the primary step towards implementing the Act.' Estimating population growth Mr. Ravichandar added that the UDD will then need to redraw wards based on census blocks. Estimating population growth from 2011 to 2025 is crucial. The last census was conducted in 2011. Mr. Ravichandar noted, 'A constraint during the creation of the 243 wards was the reliance on Census 2011 data. It's imperative to update this at the census block level to estimate the 2025 population. This ensures new wards are balanced across corporations. Relying solely on 2011 data would render the ward exercise flawed. Updated data, like the latest electoral rolls, can act as proxies for growth indicators across Bengaluru.' Following the redrawing of wards, corporations will be established, and wards assigned accordingly. The government must consider revenue aspects while allocating wards to ensure balanced property tax collection. The UDD may also determine ward reservations in preparation for elections. Once this is done, a draft notification will be issued, inviting public objections before the final notification. Upon final notification, the BBMP in its current form will cease to exist.
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- General
- Indian Express
160-year-old Bengaluru heritage building gets new lease of life as public space for a noble cause
As you walk down Kamaraj Street in Bengaluru, a newcomer may not realise that the building opposite the Sri Vittoba Temple is over a century old. Known as Sabha, it has undergone significant changes over the years but has now been restored to its original appearance, reminiscent of the time when Rao Bahadur Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliar, a well-known philanthropist, built it over 160 years ago. RBANM's Educational Charities, founded by Mudaliar, owns the building and seemed to have been run as a school for some time past 1945, according to surviving documents. The premises lay unused for over a decade when the Ammini Trust undertook the restoration efforts. V Ravichandar, who runs the trust alongside his wife Hema, said, 'I was aware of the building about five-six years ago and brought some potential donors to restore it, but it did not work out. We decided to do it ourselves as it was a project worth doing.' Ravichandar was previously involved in constructing another public space, the Bangalore International Centre, and is one of the major forces behind the Bangalore Literature Festival each year. He added, 'We have shrinking public spaces in the city… A lot of buildings like this are coming down. Hopefully, somebody else could be inspired to restore a building like this instead of bringing it down.' Apart from two courtyards, the location has two buildings. The older one, dating back 160 years, is a flat-roofed 'Madras terrace' reinforced from below with teak wood beams. The other building, around 130 years old, features sloped roofs and circular rose windows that were in vogue then. Due to the various complications and damage from age and water, he estimated that the project cost was 40 per cent higher than building it from scratch. (Express Photo) However, it was not all smooth sailing. The age of the building necessitated the aid of specialist carpenters from Kerala and a veteran adviser in the field from Vadodara, R J Vasavada. Ravichandar noted, 'These buildings were made with lime mortar with jaggery as a binder. We have followed the same principles to restore the Madras terrace. Several wooden beams had to be replaced, with the bent beams re-used as rafters… We have stayed true to the design principles which were followed at that time.' Due to the various complications and damage from age and water, he estimated that the project cost was 40 per cent higher than building it from scratch. Architect Bijoy Ramachandran, who also worked on the Bangalore International Centre, said, 'This is a low-lying area close to the Ulsoor Lake, so there is a lot of underground water just three or four feet below the surface. So a lot of the walls were damaged by water rising from below.' 'By inserting stone into the wall along the periphery, we stopped the water from climbing up the masonry and damaging it. We also added a set of perforated pipes under the floor so any water enters a drainage system. The roofs were also badly damaged over the replaced large portions of both the roofs,' added Ramachandran. According to Ravichandar, Sabha is intended to be a self-sustaining venue. While it is owned by RBANM, the Ammini Trust will manage Sabha, which will be rented out for artistic and cultural events. Surplus income will be used to benefit underprivileged children, sixty of whom have signed up for art classes at the venue, which was formally opened on April 12. Interested visitors may find the building opposite the Sri Vittoba Temple on Kamaraj Road, some distance past Commercial Street, and can enter the building using a side entrance.
