Located near the banks of Sabmarti, if you look it up online, Ahmedabad comes up as the most populous city in the state of Gujarat. Considering that, moderate would be the last word that would come to mind, thinking of this city. Sitting on the soothing carpet of the Sabarmati River, the city of Ahmedabad has all its jewels on display for the city to twinkle with, and twinkle it indeed does. The floating reflections of the city on the surface of the water brings another meaning altogether to the life of the people residing. There is a holistic beauty to it, composed of the culture, the people, the ethnicity and the bustling of life that comes with it.
Project Name: Eolic – Wind-powered Kinetic Sculpture
Office Name: Craft Quest
Office Website: https://craftquest.in
Firm Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Completion Year: 2022
Gross Built Area (m2/ ft2): 15 m2 / 160 ft2
Project Location: Atal pedestrian bridge, Ahmedabad, India
Program / Use / Building Function: To engage people with public art
Lead Architects: Tarun Kumar, Urvi Sheth
Photo Credits: Mahrshi Bisani
Ahmedabad is both historically significant and technologically advanced. This is mirrored in the people who live here. They feel linked to their Indian culture’s heritage by participating in the colorful celebrations of many festivals by every sect of the society. Uttrayan being one of the most celebrated, our vision was to provide an inkling of familiarity along with the beauty of the festival.
Situated near the riverfront, we have attempted to capture the essence of the city through Eolic. The 20-foot-long artwork at the center of the new foot-over bridge in Ahmedabad features five different-sized poles and 13 wind catchers in total. We decided to give the wind catchers the shape of kites. With the motion of the wind, the wind catchers move, proffering an illusion of kites flying in the sky.
The idea behind the installation was to make a kinetic sculpture powered solely, and without any motors, by the wind to generate interest among the visitors and tourists and to spread awareness about the action or the power of wind. As a result, it began to engage more with the environment around it, being visible differently from various distances and open to all and any interpretation.The sculpture is composed of mild steel and is black in color. The wind catchers have one side painted in patina green and the other in a rustic color.
Kinetic artists frequently exhibited works of art that relied on mechanized movement or that somehow highlighted modern society’s urge toward mechanization and scientific understanding. Those influenced by Constructivism believed that by embracing the machine, art might incorporate itself into everyday life, taking on a fresh central position in future Utopian society.The idea behind the installation was to make a kinetic sculpture powered solely, and without any motors, by the wind to generate interest among the visitors and tourists and to spread awareness about the action or the power of wind, in other terms also known ans Eolic
