Gandhi's Charkha bags award

Mention India abroad and chances are people will immediately think of the marble marvel, the Taj Mahal. But what architectural symbol stands for contemporary India? To find the answer, a leading architecture magazine and a Tata company ran a design competition. The winner is a futuristic version of the other symbol you think of when you say India - the Mahatma's Charkha. See it in 3-D and you get a sense of what this award-winning piece of architecture is attempting to celebrate - Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel or charkha and all that it has stood for in the last 60 years and will stand for in future. ''We were taken by it not purely by the image of the charkha but the philosophy behind it, that it stood for non-violence, self reliance of an individual, self sustainability. It stood for national pride,'' said Nuru Karim, VOID Architects. There were 110 entries for Notions of a Nation, the competition run by Tata Structura and the Indian Architect and Builders magazine. A jury including architect BV Doshi pruned that to 12 and Nuru Karim's charkha made the final cut. ''It was a combination of rootedness, it was a combination of the contemporary, it was a combination of the interpretation of the charkha. I think they were really excited with that when they said it exploded into the future. I think that really clinched it,'' said Sarita Vijayan, IA&B Magazine. For Mumbai-based Nuru Karim, the entire experience has been life-changing. ''More than the prize money or winning the competition or coming out tops, we have discovered the Indian in our selves. That was the icing on the cake for us,'' said Karim. The futuristic charkha, which will stand almost 60 feet tall, will be located at Pune over a 3 acre plot. No date of completion just yet but the charka hopes symbolize India for at least the whole of the 21st century.
Courtesy: NDTV.com - India - by Monideepa Banerjie - August 14, 2007