Patna: Witnessing its zenith of contemporary architecture / Dr. Prashant Das

The Man and the City

Today’s Patna is perhaps at its modern architectural zenith. The ancient glory of downtown Patliputra -through nothing short of an architectural renaissance- is rejuvenated with the help of Mr. Chanchal Kumar, IAS. Thanks to some new iconic buildings, in which Mr. Kumar’s administrative role was pivotal, Patna now boasts of an improved architectural taste.

Until a few years ago, contemporary buildings of Patna could easily disappoint architecture enthusiasts. Barring very few exceptions, the city was devoid of anything modern in the urban-landscape that could impress architecturally. Tastelessly designed concrete buildings with half-hearted façade treatment are still commonplace. In particular, plainly-painted building fronts with dazzlingly bright (and extremely colorful) awning bands, beams, columns, and cornices serve as eye-sores. Although with an avant-garde design for its times, even some of the iconic Towers – which characterized the downtown skyline for decades- have met with a similar fate. Ambling in the city, a visitor was only left with a sense of thirst for presentable architecture.

Those days of embarrassment are over. The city has some good architectural presence now. Most prominently, design of the Bihar museum was commissioned to the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. Architect Maki -among his other projects- is famous for the World Trade Center (New York) and is a recipient of the coveted Pritzker Prize in architecture. The modernist form of the building is adorned by a unique façade treatment. Mr. Kumar speaks about the “Corten steel” façade panels applied to the iconic museum building. “The steel façade oxidizes uniformly on its surface creating a self-protective and interestingly tinted film of rust which protects it against further rusting”, says Mr. Kumar pointing at a glass covered mural of Gandhi (made of the same material) hanging in his living room, tugging to rust uniformly in the indoor environment.

Another appealing new construction is the “Gyan Bhavan” right in the heart of the city by the historic Gandhi Maidan having Bapu Sabhagara just beside it with a mammoth 5,000 persons capacity. Although a bit dated, its post-modernist architectural vocabulary adds to the city’s promise of staying abreast with the global architectural trends, if not ahead. When this article is being written, the "Police Bhawan," an open arm architecture building is in the pipeline to be inaugurated. The base isolation technique applied in this design is aimed at withstanding high intensity earthquakes.

Earlier, it was a pity that despite being the land where Buddha spent the most critical years of his life -most prominently during Nirvana- the Buddhist destinations in Bihar were either minimal, or developed by foreign entities. Today, another remarkable project is the Buddha Smriti Park in which Mr. Kumar played an important role. The park exhibits rare Buddhist relics in its sanctuary including the holy ashes of Buddha himself. An architectural marvel, the park also hosts three holy trees developed from saplings of an ancient banyan tree believed to be directly in contact with Buddha.

The walls in Mr. Kumar’s prominently located, yet humble government residence are embellished with original paintings from all over the world. He takes a keen interest in collecting art work –including those painted indigenously by Bihari artists- and delving deep into the stories they tell. Mr. Kumar is among the few holding a distinct achievement of single-digit all-India-rank in both the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance exam and the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exam. At every-juncture of his ever rising career-path where we got to interact with him, he came across as a man of integrity, depth and humility. Among his many other matchless achievements (including those nuanced on the cultural front) the changing urban-landscape of Patna is, perhaps, the master-stroke.

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Author- Dr. Prashant Das
Photographs- Hemant Das 'Him'
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The author Dr. Prashant Das is an associate professor of real estate Finance in Switzerland. The article was written with inputs from Hemant Das 'Him' of BihariDhamaka.org.