A Conversation with Susanta Shibani Paul

12/31/2025

On Temporary Architecture in Kolkata

"Spaces have temporary characteristics in the city owing to the changing installations which change how that space is perceived every year. That makes the permanent identity of the city that of the temporary Durga Puja pandals."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKvgoPLvZEk

Durga puja from the skies

• what influences material choice? what are some common materials? where do they come from? what happens to them after? policies ban thermocol but are there any other policies that affect these choices? do you need to train the labor to work with specific materials? do you use certain materials to encourage their use owing to sustainability or cultural significance?

• is labor easily available and skilled? what about idolmakers? do you make/design your own idols?

• experience of your family in kumartuli?

• when you design, how do you think about the experience of the locals in that neighborhood during the construction of the pandal? does it affect daily life, how do people respond to it?

• are there certain government policies or attitudes towards the urban space that you dont like? for example you mentioned the white and blue colors. what expression would you want to see in the cities urban fabric?

• As a society we splurge on the unnecessities but do not invest in our architectural heritage. This is something we need to correct. this is something you said ten years ago, do you think kolkata as a city is doing this now? what are your opinions on some newer constructions in the city? do you know about the redevelopment project of kumartuli that was suggested 15 yrs ago? the beautification of the ghat?

• durga puja has obvious imapct on the urban fabric during the festival but do you think it has or should have a permanent impact? make space for the pandals or have more permanent infrastructure to support it?

• what does the design process look like? physical drawings, digital models?

• Badamtala Ashar Sangha Durgotsab: painted and created an overall urban palette which stayed for two years, on walls and floors. cleaned up the space.

when do laborers start coming in, where do they live?

affects pf unesco heritage

which jobs are specialized and hard to replace vs general labor

rain and climate related challenges

What materials create the biggest bottlenecks (availability, transport, storage, skilled handling)?

what urban outcomes are the most lasting: impact on neighborhoods

A. Materials, sourcing, afterlife, and policy constraints

1) Material choice drivers

Main question: What influences your material choices for a pandal each year?Follow-ups: Budget, timeline, sponsor expectations, safety, crowd load, weather, storage, reusability, transport constraints, and the theme language.

2) Common materials and where they come from

Main question: What are the most common materials you use, and where do they typically come from in or outside Kolkata?Follow-ups: Bamboo, wood, fabric, metal frames, paper/board, clay elements, paint systems, lighting, printed skins, projections. Ask which markets and which vendor networks.

3) Afterlife of materials

Main question: What happens to the pandal materials after Dashami: reuse, resale, storage, scrap, disposal, or redistribution? Who manages that?Follow-ups: What gets planned for reuse versus what gets forced into waste because of time and storage. Who captures value after dismantling.

4) Policies beyond thermocol that shape material choice

Main question: Thermocol is restricted. What other rules push you toward or away from certain materials, finishes, banners, paint, or effects?Follow-ups (name these to prompt specifics):

• WBPCB undertaking: no polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration; no plastic/PVC banners under 100 microns. West Bengal Pollution Control Board

• Idol rules that affect finishes: clay and biodegradable materials, no Plaster of Paris, and avoid toxic heavy-metal paints. West Bengal Pollution Control Board

• Police safety guidance that affects build systems: ventilation, entry/exit widths, wiring, crowd circulation space, fire precautions. Bidhannagar Police

• Ask if enforcement varies by neighbourhood, scale, or sponsor visibility.

B. Labor ecology, skill, training, and logistics

5) Labor availability and skill

Main question: Is labor easily available and skilled today, or is it becoming harder to find trained crews?Follow-ups: Which roles are hardest to replace (structure, finishing, lighting, painting, sculpture, rigging, printing). Which are treated as general labor.

6) Training and accommodation

Main question: Do teams need training for specific materials or techniques, and where do workers live during peak construction weeks?Follow-ups: On-site safety routines, tool training, new materials, and whether committees train volunteers for circulation and crowd management. Bidhannagar Police

C. Idols and Kumartuli links

7) Idol ecosystem and his involvement

Main question: How do you work with idolmakers? Do you design the idol concept yourself, commission it, or keep it separate from the pandal concept?Follow-ups: What changes when the idol is clay-based, height-limited, and paint-restricted. West Bengal Pollution Control Board

8) Relationship to Kumartuli (only if appropriate)

Main question: Do you have personal or professional links with Kumartuli, and how do you see its role inside the larger Puja economy today?Follow-ups: If he’s comfortable: family connections, long-term collaborators, how Kumartuli labor/material cycles connect to clubs across the city.

D. Neighbourhood experience and construction impacts

9) Local life during build-up

Main question: When you design, how do you account for the daily life of residents around the pandal during construction and peak footfall?Follow-ups: Noise, blocked lanes, dust, deliveries, waterlogging, night work, safety, waste, toilets, and how residents respond over time.

E. Long-term urban legacy, aesthetics, heritage, and “what should remain”

10) Permanent impact and city vision

Main question: Durga Puja transforms the city temporarily. Should it also shape permanent urban infrastructure or public space, and if yes, what should remain?Follow-ups:

• Permanent service infrastructure (power, drainage, crowd corridors, toilets, storage yards).

• Whether UNESCO ICH recognition changed attitudes, tourism pressure, or city governance around Puja. UNESCO PCI+1

• Your heritage question: You once said we splurge on the unnecessary but neglect architectural heritage. Do you think Kolkata is correcting that now?

• Governance and aesthetics prompt (your “blue and white” note): What kind of expression do you want to see in Kolkata’s everyday urban fabric, beyond festival time?

• Climate/rain: “What design decisions change when rain hits or waterlogging happens?”

• Bottlenecks: “Which materials bottleneck first: availability, transport, storage, skilled handling?”

• Badamtala example: “In projects like Badamtala Ashar Sangha where the ‘palette’ and cleanup lingered, what made that possible, and what stops more clubs from doing it?”