The bold, wavy patterns in red, blue, yellow and black on the walls of the recently-inaugurated sports complex are visible from a distance to those who enter the National Institute of Fashion Technology campus in Madhapur, Hyderabad. The anterior portion of the sports building is a work of art by students and faculty of the Department of Fashion and Lifestyle accessories. For nearly a month, the students and faculty would begin work around dusk and continue till 1 or 2am, armed with brushes and paints. Strapped with harnesses to ensure safety, the students would ascend the scaffolding and paint for hours.
The wavy pattern resembling the yarn is a metaphor for the textile’s raw material and shuttles’ movement in the badminton court within the sports complex. The choice of colours — red, blue, yellow and black — is a nod to the design ethos of the Hyderabad NIFT campus. Inaugurated in 1999, the campus was designed by architect Sanjay Mohe. The spacious campus, designed to allow plenty of natural light and ventilation, is in muted shades of grey, occasionally intercepted by bursts of primary colours of red, yellow and blue.
“For the Hyderabad campus, Mohe’s design inspiration was an outfit designed by Yves Saint Laurent, which was in turn a homage to a Piet Mondrian painting with its striking composition of these colours,” explains Uthaman MK, professor, design and lifestyle department, who spearheaded the wall art project.
