Archives at NCBS | Public Lecture Series
https://www.ncbs.res.in/events/apls
59th edition
 
Monthly talks framed around explorations in and around archives. Discussions by artists, archivists, academics, lawyers, teachers, journalists and others.
 
Building (for) Biology: The NCBS campus
 
in collaboration with the NCBS Communications Office
 
Thu, Oct 19, 2023
3pm: NCBS Reception: Starting point for a historical walk through campus
5pm: Lecture Hall - 1: Talk on the architecture and landscaping of NCBS
 
 
 
 
Abstract:
In October 2016, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) celebrated its 25th anniversary (https://archives.ncbs.res.in/node/786). More on this history here: http://stories.archives.ncbs.res.in/exhibit/13ways/. 
 
Students, faculty and staff moved into the current NCBS campus at GKVK between 1997 and 1998. For this edition of the Archives Public Lecture Series, we do a ~25-year look back at these buildings for biology. The campus walkthrough is an experiment in seeing the space as a historical site, and to understand the evolution of its architecture and landscaping, the things that are first visible to any newcomer. This will be followed by a moderated discussion with a panel of people who were instrumental in the early steering of the physical form of an NCBS. There will be audio excerpts from past interviews, old photographs and videos, and hopefully, a space for people to contribute to an archive from their personal collections. We, of course, especially welcome anyone who was around in the late 1990s and early 2000s to join and offer their perspective during the discussion session.
 
The event is a small attempt to understand the environment built for doing science, how space shapes the culture of science, and how science, too, is shaped by the space it inhabits. 
 
Bio:
The walks and discussions will be led by past and present campus members who have overseen the building of the campus. While there are too many to name, we highlight two retired members who will reflect on this: TM Sahadevan served as the first administrative officer at NCBS and also holds the distinction of perhaps being the first TIFR person to help set up its satellite centres in Bangalore in the late 1970s. And UB Poornima was the first architect for NCBS in the mid 1990s, while also helping liaise with the external architect, Raj Rewal, on the design of the new NCBS on an agricultural sciences campus. In addition to them, we look forward to hearing from staff, faculty and students who witnessed the development of the NCBS campus and its early growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s.