Bhubaneswar, Sept. 12: Designer tiles from a country known for football and Samba are creating waves on capital streets.
For the first time in Odisha, designer wave-pattern tiles, brought in vogue by noted Brazilian landscape architect and conservationist Roberto Burle Marx, are being laid on the pavements of the capital city to beautify the sidewalks.
The wave pattern tiles are unique as Burle based its design on various plants found in the Brazilian rainforests.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has laid these tiles on the stretch between the AG Square and Governor House Square. According to the civic body’s beautification plan, the pavements from the new airport terminal square to AG Square will also adorn the wavy look.
The corporation also plans to send Burle’s wave pattern on a circular journey. The futuristic plan envisages a circular wavy path that will start from AG Square, touch Rabindra Mandap Square, 120 Battalion, Police Commissioner’s building, Governor’s House Square before returning to its point of origin.
“Known as Burle’s wave pattern, the designs are used the world over to provide a special look to public space, pavements, parks, sea and river front development sites where people sit and roam around,” said municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra.
Chief horticulturist of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Ashok N. Dhar said: “As Burle’s patterns look good and are aesthetically suitable for covering wide spaces, we have started the project from near Biju Patnaik Park.
As suggested, the job has already been done between AG Square and Bhubaneswar Club because the place is more than 12ft wide. In the West, the patterns are widely used in front of public buildings, parks, sea beaches and also along river fronts where people hang out.”
The development authority is also planning to cover the footpaths in front of the Indira Gandhi Park (both on the PMG Square and Jayadev Bhavan sides) with the wave pattern tiles. But before the authorities embark on the project, they will be working out the financial feasibility of the project.
“Generally, the tile is meant for walkways. As the PMG Square side of the IG Park is a wider space and will be used for parking, we are doubtful whether the tiles will be able to withstand the burden of four-wheelers. If engineers, agree then we will definitely go for that but it also means more investment,” Dhar added.
“We will ask other government departments to lay these wave pattern tiles to make the buildings in the backdrop look better aesthetically,” the horticulturist added.
Officials of the corporation said the cost of beautification would be borne by a leading mining company and not the civic body. He added that the Burle inspiration would not be limited to the tiles. Landscape designs using selected pebbles, plants, grass and stones would be done to set the city in sync with the tile pattern. Work on these lines has already started on the airport road.
The state government is also planning to have Burle’s wave pattern designs at the entrance of Ekamra Haat, which will be executed by the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation. Similarly, public space at the entrance of Bhubaneswar Railway Station will be done up with similar patterns by the East Coast Railway.
“All this will be in continuation of the road from the under-construction new terminal building of Biju Patnaik airport. The 670 metre-long stretch from Airport Square to Ekamra Square will have exclusive art installations, green patches, fountains and traditional art work,’’ the municipal commissioner said.
On the stretch between AG Square and Raj Bhavan Square, BK College of Arts has taken up the task of reviving the wall paintings, which were lying neglected for years.
The work was done during 2008-2009 when the corporation had taken up the renovation work for the first time in the city.
