Bharat Bhavan | Plug IN, with Akasa Architecture

Bharat Bhawan 1.0  was conceived in 1982 as a repository for tangible and intangible heritage that could be passed down the generations with its intentions relevant to the times. Post the economic liberalization in the early 90s where the country opened its economy to globalization, India has grown at a phenomenal rate. The country saw the rise of satellite cities which is where the new India resides. But they pose some pertinent challenges, one of which is IDENTITY. This is the India without the baggage of its past. It forms a New CULTURE or the Un-CULTURE. The proposal for Bharat Bhawan 2.0 chooses to address this IDENTITY of UN-CULTURE to showcase the multi-facets of the country to the world. Bharat Bhavan 2.0 was conceived as an idea that was designed on the aspirations of the user, evolving lifestyles and cultural contexts. The design operates on the notion that instead of creating a singular destination where people go to experience culture a, PLUG-IN is designed that takes culture to the public.    

The functions of the Bharat Bhavan 2.0 are the same and more, but it is the setting that redefines the way they are perceived. A space is evaluated through an entirely reorganized vocabulary: no longer is it geometrically composed or visualized, but computed, calibrated, assessed, predicted & optimized. Analogically drawn from the original lifelines of India – its Rivers, Bharat Bhawan 2.0 looks at cultural reinvigoration through a fluid, seamless, continuous flow of ‘CULTURE‘ that is not isolated and displaced but rather as a set of Plug-Ins that could permeate any contextual setting. The design draws its inspiration from the rivers of India and its ghats in a series of paths and platforms and the concept of PLUG IN which connects the BHARAT BHAVAN 2.0 to the people as they transgress through their daily lives. The idea is that one doesn’t need to go to culture but it happens all around you. The design is conceived as a journey rather than a destination.