The annual IIA convention for 2005 was organized by Bhopal Centre of IIA Madhya Pradesh Chapter on 23rd and 24th of December 2005 at the prestigious Minto Hall (Old Vidhan Sabha of undivided Madhya Pradesh). The theme of the convention was ‘Metamorphosis of Public Places in India’. The convention had four technical sessions along-with inaugural and valedictory functions. An IIA General Body Meeting was also held on 24th December after the valedictory session. In addition to the above a Building Materials and Lifestyle exhibition was also organized at the venue with seventy organizations setting up their stalls in the exhibition. The convention was a great success as there were more than hundred delegates from all over the country who enjoyed the convention, exhibition and the scenic beauty of Bhopal.

On 23rd December, 2006, in the inaugural function, Sh. Jayant Mallaiya, Hon. Minister for Urban Development and Housing Environment, Government of M.P. was the chief guest. Sh. Sunil Sood, Mayor of Bhopal was the guest of honour. The other dignitaries on the dais were the office bearers of the IIA. The session started with traditional lamp lighting ceremony.

The first event was presentation of IIA Madhav Achwal Gold Medal for lifetime contribution to the field of architectural education to Ar. (Prof.) Jitendra Singh, Vice Chancellor, Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya, Chhapra, Bihar and presentation of IIA Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal for lifetime contribution to the field of architectural practice to Ar. Probir Mitra, Kolkata. These awards were given by the chief guest.

The coordinator NATCON 2005, Ar. Amogh Gupta then gave his welcome address and convener NATCON 2005 Ar. Rakesh Singh Kushwah introduced the theme and highlights of the convention. The audience was then addressed by the guest of honour, the mayor of Bhopal Sh. Sunil Sood, who in his address emphasized on the needs of the people and the urgency of architects to understand these needs.

The ceremonial chain was formally presented to the president IIA, Ar. Gurunath Dalvi by Ar. Divya Kush, vice president IIA. Ar. Pandurang Potnis, Hon. Secretary introduced Ar. Gurunath Dalvi, president IIA, who then gave his presidential address. In his address he highlighted contemporary issues faced by the profession.

The vote of thanks was proposed by Ar. Lawkesh Tiwari, Chairman of IIA Madhya Pradesh Chapter. The function was compered by Ar. Nakul Dhagat and Ar. Manmohan Kapshe.

For the technical sessions there was a panel of speakers from different parts of the country, who spoke on the various aspects of the theme and the sub-themes.

On 23rd December the first session had Ar. Rajiv Kathpalia from Ahmedabad who presented works of public places like Cinema Theater, Bhuj Earthquake Memorial, Housing project in Durgapur, and Hyderabad inner city redevelopment. He talked mainly on the variety of spaces and the emotions of the people in public places; whether it be in Italy or in rural India. He also touched the aspect of influence of IT on common man and then its impact on public places. The second speaker Ar. Chandrashekhar Prabhu from Mumbai, spoke at length on the various meanings, definitions and explanations of the keywords of the theme of this convention; ‘metamorphosis’, ‘public place’ ‘public space’. He gave the interpretations by quoting dictionaries, encyclopedia, UN Documents etc. He also remarked that the approach of design for public places should change from the present one of ‘architect ? politician(or bureaucrat)? people’ to ‘architect ? people ? politician (or bureaucrat)’.

In the second session on day one, the first speaker Ar. Soumitra Ghosh from Bangalore, explained his thoughts on the theme through competition entries, some of which his office had won and some which they did not. He gave a very graphical presentation on his award winning entry of Freedom Park, Bangalore, his entries of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Memorial and Minto Hall redevelopment. His was a more personalized approach to design and more people centric. Ar. Brajesh Bhatta from Ahmedabad, gave details of two infrastructure projects being executed in Ahmedabad at the Sabarmati river front and at Kankaria Lake. Both these areas of Ahmedabad were taken up for study and analysis. The final proposal stratified all the diverse aspects such as pedestrian movement, leisure activities, slow vehicular traffic, fast vehicular traffic, informal sector food carts etc. and assigned a clear cut location and space for each of them, thus segregating and streamlining all issues.

In the third technical session Ar. Jitendra Singh from Patna, with his vast experience and knowledge enlightened the audience of the various types of public places of different cities of the world. He also covered a variety of architectural examples like railway stations, memorials, offices, plazas, shopping malls etc. In his discourse the design and technological aspects were dealt at great length.

On 24th December 2006, the fourth session started with a brief introduction to the theme by the session chairman Ar. Balbir Verma. At the onset of the session, the souvenir of NATCON 2005 was released by Ar. Balbir Verma. The souvenir edited by Ar. Vinay Mohan Das, Ar. Yogesh K. Garg and Ar. Rahul Agarwal contained messages by the Hon. Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Balram Jakhad, President IIA and other dignitaries. Thirteen papers and works of sixteen architects from various parts of the country were published in it.

The first presentation of the session was on Chandigarh city centre, by Ar. Sangita Bagga from Chandigarh. She spoke about various phases of development of Chandigarh and shaping of its plazas under different influences, such as the conceptual vision of Le-Corbusier. She advocated an approach of modern heritage conservation while fulfilling the aspirations of people. There was a lively participation from the audience.

The second presentation was by Ar. Prsahant Shrivastva and Ar. Kalpa Karthik from Bhopal, who presented their consolation prize winning entry for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Memorial. The presentation started with a few photographs highlighting the tragic flaw on the economic development and its effect on the lives of people. In the second part they elaborated design concepts and the design details. They concluded the presentation with a video clip from the movie ‘Bhopal Express’ taking the audience two decades back and forcing them to relive the tragedy that has haunted the city of Bhopal even today.

The presentation by Ar. Smita Dalvi from Navi Mumbai focused on the significance of urban talavs and the need for conserving them as public places. She also suggested the possible amendments in the framework of heritage norms for the conservation of these urban water bodies. She stressed on the need of public participation as an important tool in conservation, management and maintenance of these water bodies. Her presentation has as strong argument for the creation of a dynamic model for legislating the reactivation as valuable spaces. Interspersed amongst the technical presentations were the commercial presentations by the major sponsors of the event. These presentations were by ‘Copper Council’, ‘Noveon’, ‘Jaypee Cement’ and ‘Johnson Lifts’.

Through these deliberations of two days there was an almost unanimous opinion that the changes in cities’ public places are inevitable and necessary. However, these changes should be brought about keeping in view the available infrastructure and the demands that the new development would make on it. The public places are those places which ‘one would like to see’ and where ‘one would like to be seen’. The socio-cultural dynamism and technology would definitely play a role in shaping the public places and spaces in a city. People’s participation and their consent for new proposals, that is a grass-root approach is a better option than a top-down approach.

In true Indian tradition, all efforts were made for comfortable stay of delegates and their spouses. On both days thematic cultural functions were arranged in the evenings and tours were arranged for spouses and children in the day.

The convention was concluded with a valedictory function in which mementos and certificates were given to IIA chapters for their annual performances. Individuals were also felicitated for their contributions towards the successful completion of the convention. The awards and mementos were given away by the IIA President Ar. Gurunath Dalvi. The summary of the deliberations of the convention was presented by Ar. Vinay Mohan Das. The vote of thanks was proposed by Ar. Rakesh Singh Kushwah, convener of the NATCON 2005 thus formally ending the IIA national convention NATCON 2005.