MCD to set up glass-themed park near LSR

Senior civic officials aware of the details said the Fantasy Kingdom park will be MCD’s first to showcase public art exhibits made out of glass.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will set up the ‘Fantasy Kingdom’ park near the Lady Shri Ram College in south Delhi, an extension of the civic body’s project to set up public spaces adorned by art installations moulded out of scrap material.

The 10-acreFantasy Kingdom Park will feature replicas of animals, birds, plants, flowers and other decorative articles --- all made of waste glass. (HT Photo)

Senior civic officials aware of the details said the Fantasy Kingdom park will be MCD’s first to showcase public art exhibits made out of glass. So far, the civic body has set up three parks across the city having statues, monuments and personalities made out of scrap metal.

The 10-acre Fantasy Kingdom Park will feature replicas of animals, birds, plants, flowers and other decorative articles --- all made of waste glass.

Glass for the articles to be displayed in the park will be sourced from municipal yards, old vehicle windscreens, scrap dealers, NGOs and organisations that collect glass-based waste material bottles, etc.

The officials said the civic body has invited bids for setting up the park under a ₹3.5 crore project which is likely to be completed by April next year. “Instead of using discarded metallic objects and vehicles at scrapyards, we will use glass bottles, mirrors, windscreens and other items to build exhibits for the park. The artists will choose material based on its make and colour. It will then be cleaned, and impurities will be removed before making it ready for remoulding. The glass will then be used to make shapes of different animals and plants,” an MCD official said asking not to be named.

According to the detailed project, the theme park will have 21 exhibits starting with a 25-feet-long and 10-foot-high entry. It will also have a plants and flowers moulded out of glass. The park will feature replicas of life-sized animals from a 5-foot-high lion to a 16-foot giraffe sculpture. It will also showcase figures of a tiger, a herd of deer, elephant, bear, rhinoceros, gorilla and crocodile. The series of bird replicas will include flamingos, saras, swans, peacock and parrots.

“The whole park will be lined with glass butterflies, flowers and various plant figures. We also plan to set up four 10 feet high and 8 feet wide glass trees. There will be a miniature glass castle at the centre of the facility,” the official said. The project report states that the park is estimated to take six months to develop.

MCD currently operates three waste-to-art them parks -- Waste to Wonder park in Sarai Kale Khan, showcasing replicas of Seven Wonders of the World, Bharat Darshan Park in Punjabi Bagh featuring replicas of renowned Indian monuments and Shaheedi Park at ITO where galleries related to Indian history and freedom struggle have been developed to mark the 75 years of Indian independence.

The civic official says that the artists will be using glassblowing and etching techniques to create various textures. Glassblowing is a technique involving inflating molten glass into a bubble with the help of a blowpipe with the glass smith later shaping it into various objects. “While the previous parks involved deployment of large number of welders and cutters, we will need a a large number of artists and sculptors who have experience of working with glass,” official added.