Curatorial Question

What is a civic identity?

“‘The place is magical’, Vishaan said, ‘and PAU feels forever attached to it.’”

Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder and creative director of PAU in New York, immigrated to the United States from Kolkata, India with his sister; father, a molecular biophysicist and biochemist in eye research; and his mother, a librarian and classic Bengali singer. Family travels imparted a love of cities, architecture, and art to young Vishaan. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona, then in the suburbs of Boston, where he experienced violent racism that affected him for many years. 

His wife is architect Maria Alataris, whose firm focuses on residential architecture and interiors. Son Evan, daughter Avia, and canine companions Hero and Rosie complete their family.

Vishaan said the team learned a tremendous amount during the fabrication, projection, and lighting of their installation. He said the site and installation are in the most symbiotic dance. Both design and installation were enormous challenges. 

The group feels close to Columbus through meetings, Zoom calls, drinks, and ice cream sundaes.

Despite PAU being eight years old, this installation will be their first built work, soon to be followed by the Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn, the Federal Aviation Administration’’s next generation of regional air traffic control towers, a major expansion of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Princeton’s Hobson College, an Underground Railroad Memorial for Freedom Seekers at Niagara Falls, Schuylkill Yards Phase One, and a new Pennsylvania Station for New York City. Building in Columbus, he said, fulfills a life-long dream. 

Mark Faulkner is an associate principal at PAU whose mother was also a librarian. His father was an elementary school teacher and later a computer programmer, and they were both performing musicians. His childhood memories take him to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, where he learned to look under the surface of this world, think about science, and discover the world for himself. He discovered his career in second grade and told his mother he wanted to be an inventor. In high school, he was drawn to art and mechanical drawing classes and that is when architecture (“practically the same thing as an inventor!”) came into focus.  

Mark’s first professional architecture assignment was handwriting the names for a Quaker cemetery grave book that members insisted be reproduced by hand. Among his mentors is Joyce Hwang, a previous Exhibit Columbus participant and one of his college professors. He said she taught him to become comfortable with his brain and his own way of thinking. 

He and his architect wife have two children, ages 3 and 6. He has taught them to draw floor plans and building elevations; they know the significant buildings of the New York City skyline; and they enjoy building with blocks. 

Working on InterOculus has brought him close to several Indiana steel fabricators. Such direct connections are often lost on larger projects, he said, but there is an intimacy to Columbus and Exhibit Columbus that is unavoidable.

Mark said there were many challenges in creating the project, but that is part of the excitement with a project like this one. The most challenging issue was the time frame from design to completion since architecture is generally a slow process over the years. By comparison, he said, Exhibit Columbus is an Indy 500 race.

This excerpt is from the 2023 Field Guide. Download it here.