Mumbai's newest arts space at Ballard Estate merges the old with the contemporary

Architecture art and design experiments have a new home in the citymdashinside a 142yearold ice factory Refashioned as IFBE it will host exhibitions performances and workshops and house a restaurant cafeacute gift shop and a libraryThe Ice Factory will be a venue for architectureled exhibitions film screenings performances conferences workshops and private eventsA strip of road mdash tracing its name to traders from Keralarsquos coastal town of Calicut todayrsquos Kozhikode who settled there mdash divides the institutional heritage of the leafy charming Ballard Estate from its industrial counterpart A few steps into Calicut Street the Edwardian streetscape fades away and scrappy aluminium sheets and tarpaulins usher us in Itrsquos where in 1880 Nanabhoy Byramjee Jeejeebhoy along with JA Forbes established the Bombay Ice Manufacturing Co freezing the monopoly of a European firm We learn this while wilting under the muggy Mumbai heat standing in the 142yearold ice factory which once gave the city affordable ice Come this weekend the 10000sq ft space will open its doors as an experimental art architecture and design hub called IFBE Ice Factory at Ballard Estate The Cathedral will function as an exhibition space It overlooks inset The Banyan Tree Cafeacute which will be an allday space serving up farmtotable healthy fareAn initiative by partners Kamal Malik Abhijit Mehta and Amardeep Tony Singh IFBE will house exhibition spaces a performance venue a library a gift shop a restaurant and a cafeacute Malik an architect shares that they stumbled upon the ice factory in 2018 when it was Ambico Ice Factory Pvt Ltd ldquoOver the years theyrsquove had to lease out parts to different entitiesrdquo Malikrsquos son Arjun informs us The Clearing House is their next door neighbour An interplay of north light a giant banyan tree and a chance to collaborate with likeminded creatives to conserve heritage lured them ldquoWe fought decay and damage it was consuming but beautiful mdash architects have an affinity to step into history and meaningfully dialogue with itrdquo he addsAmbico Ice FactoryWhat emerged after three years and surviving a pandemic is a sprawling rustic space that bears testament to its past and opens its doors to chronicle new stories Most of the original architecture has been retained including an overhead crane ldquoThe language stems from the old but moves into the contemporaryrdquo Malik notes The acronym thus stands for lsquoifrsquo and lsquobersquo mdash suggestive of possibilities dialogues and resolutionsA freezing apparatus used in the factory preserved inside the premisesThe factory comprises five sections mdash The Substation a reading room for art architecture and design material The Cathedral an exhibition area The Banyan Tree Cafeacute serving healthy fare Native Bombay a restaurant and bar that will whip up regional Indian cuisine and The Ice Factory a performance spaceA preIFBE view of the Calicut Street entryMalik who grew up around Shimlarsquos rolling hills hopes IFBE will be a live example of the fact that we donrsquot need to demolish the old to make way for the new As we stand awed by the hide and seek of the sunlight Malik reminds us ldquoArchitecture isnrsquot about buildings itrsquos about responding to life and naturerdquoThe Cochin Street side where Native Bombay will come upOpens April 17 10 am to 7 pmAt 1012 Calicut Street Ballard EstateLog on to ifbespace on InstagramAmardeep Tony Singh Abhijit Mehta Arjun and Kamal MalikWhat to expect IFBE will have a group of independent programmers It will launch with the exhibit Refraction The ReMaking of the Ice Factory curated by Arjun and Parul Thacker that will showcase its past and present architecture till April 30 The launch night will also feature dance performances by Ankh Dance Collective and two talks Over two weeks catch film screenings by Amit Dutta a movement piece by Elise Ruth a rudra veena performance by Bahauddin Dagar and a photo exhibit by Sunhil Sippy among other events