A Design Competition to create an Architectural and Engineering Symbol for Contemporary India

Since time immemorial, Symbols have been the stamps of civilisations—a commemoration of humankind’s endeavours and progress shaped with creativity.  Symbolically, architecture has been and remains the largest signature statement to mark the kinetics of a nation—capturing the soul and pulse of its people as it transgresses through eras of evolution.  For long, architects and engineers have strived to shape the character and aspirations of a country as architectural Symbols—omnipresent and omnipotent in their continued ability to inspire us as much now as in the time that they were built. In India, as well, legacies of excellence have been marked in the past through architectural idioms like the Taj Mahal or the Gateway of India, which have stood as symbols of their time; regaling stories of past glories.

But India, today, has a different story to tell.  Poised to be one of the largest economic, intellectual and cultural powers of the future, India is a nation on the move.  From manpower to market and media to the mind, contemporary India is an emblem of a dynamic nation in a global playground that will only rise in influence in the coming years.  But in India itself, there seems to be no architectural expression of that flux. There is a complete absence of the evocation that is contemporary. What shape do the billion ambitions of its people take? How does one capture the movement that is and will be India?  Where is the ‘Symbol’ that IS contemporary India?

Given this background, we at IA&B (Indian Architect & Builder), India’s premier architecture magazine, and Tata Structura, India’s leading brand in steel hollow sections, feel that this is the ideal time to capture the momentum that defines the India of today.  It is with that objective that we invite the architects and engineers of India to partake of their responsibility in moulding a vision that is consistent for India now and in the future. It is the intent of ‘NOTIONS OF A NATION’, a progressive design competition, to give contemporary India its due architectural and engineering ‘Symbol’—an embodiment that acknowledges, recognises and celebrates its very spirit. As a design competition dedicated to the nation, it hopes to create an imprint that would grow to be the ‘Symbol’ for India’s presence and inspire people to establish its mark on the world.

As architects and engineers, it is your passionate involvement with this project that we hope will reflect the tremendous onus that our nation endows you with.  As your partners, it is our commitment that the winning entry will be realised and installed at a site, which is befitting of a ‘Symbol’ of this stature.

May the best ‘Symbol’ win and all the very best,

From
The team of IA&B (Indian Architect & Builder)
The team of Tata Structura Steel Hollow Sections
The entire Nation