Art, Resources and Teaching (A.R.T.) presents

A New Public Language of architecture:

Cement and the Composition of the
Modern Home in Bangalore, 1950 - 1980

by Curt Gambetta

@ Colab Art & Architecture
Saturday 18^th June 2005 at 6.30 p.m.

In this paper, Curt will discuss the loose genealogy of architectural elements in the home facades of 1950's, 60's and 70's in Bangalore. He will argue that the new public language of architecture circulating in this period was drawn from the surfaces and patterns of daily life. It was articulated by the informal builder in the expanding economy of modern materials such as colored paint, welded grill work and cement plaster. The sources for this façade-oriented design work ranged from public experience of the hotel or cinema hall to the more intimate and tactile experiences of looking at or feeling furniture ornamentation and other small details.

By discussing examples of this design work, he hopes to explore how the making of popular architecture as a process and set of demands by patrons and builders was meditated by the discourses and realities of the modern city.

COLAB,
202 Shah Sultan,
Cunningham Road,
Bangalore 560052.
Phone + 91 80 51148932

For more information about COLAB and details of the upcoming programme for 2005, please contact Suman Gopinath or Edgar Demello at arched@vsnl.com or colab_aa@yahoo.com

Cover image from Retrospective as Artwork, at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland, 2004, a project curated by Suman Gopinath and Grant Watson .