Mumbai-based architecture & design firm ETT Studio in collaboration with DDIR has designed a temporary pavilion called ‘The Spectrum’ as part of the Index Fair, an annual trade event held in Mumbai every year. The pavilion is an experiment in colour, where the experience and sense of space is sought to be created solely by use of colour with minimal reliance on any other spatial device.
The space of 5 x 5 metres available for the pavilion was developed as a path woven around itself to form a rich variety of space within a tight cuboidal envelope, with colour as the sole medium defining the space. Visitors entering the pavilion experience a space of warmth, that slowly transforms in mood across the colour spectrum, finally leading them out through a space almost frigid in its nature.
The pavilion was built on a skeletal budget of under US $1000 with waste plywood and salvaged metal, and put together by voluntary teams over three days and three nights.
“The four days of the trade fair during which the pavilion stood were an interesting exercise in tracking crowd dynamics and gauging people’s reactions to the concept. On the first day, we found that a number of people walked past the installation rather than through it, given the nature of the fair it formed part of.” explains Jude D’Souza, Founder of ETT Studio.
D’Souza added, “We decided that people needed some persuasion, and on the second day, put up some more direct communication letting people know that it really was fine for them to enter – infact we’d love them to! We saw results almost immediately. People walked up to the entrance, read about the concept, saw the Entry sign on the floor and understanding the idea behind the installation, plunged right in. Almost always they came out with a smile, some returning to experience the space again – this time peacefully and slowly.”
The pavilion as an experiment with colour was a success – it proved that it was possible to create a rich variety of spatial experience within a space that is less than 25 square meter in area – with no more than a few sheets of plywood and 18 different shades of paint!
Project Details:
Architects: ETT Studio
Concept Collaborators: DDIR
Construction: Rahul Associates
Photography: Bhavya Vora
Construciton Sponsors
+ IFJ
