Reimagining Industrial Heritage as Public Space
Mysore Lamp Works, Malleshwaram
Bengaluru’s growth story is often told through its technology parks and glass towers. But the city’s deeper identity lies in its industrial past — in its factories, workshops, and public enterprises that once powered a self-reliant Mysore State.
Many of these large government-owned industrial campuses now lie dormant.
What if they became the city’s next great public spaces?
Bengaluru has a similar opportunity.
Large campuses such as Mysore Lamp Works (est. 1936), NGEF, and other state-owned enterprises represent not just land assets — but collective history. They are repositories of labour, production, innovation and community.
Rather than erasing these landscapes, we propose to reinterpret them.
Project
Bengaluru Belaku @ Mysore Lamp Works Ltd.
Year
2020 – 2022
What We Did
Concept and Programme Development, Stakeholder Identification and Co-ordination
Status
On Hold
The Site: Mysore Lamp Works Ltd.
Established in 1936 in Malleshwaram, Mysore Lamp Works was once a symbol of industrial modernity under the patronage of the Mysore State. Today, the site remains a significant green asset in the heart of the city — surrounded by IISc, Yeshwantpur, Subramanyanagar and major transport links.
The Vision
Bengaluru Belaku
“Belaku” means light.
Bengaluru Belaku proposes to transform the former factory into a multi-layered public campus — a place to visualise, experience, learn and imagine the future of the city.
The programming includes:
Bengaluru City Lab
A large-scale physical model of the city with dynamic projections and personal interactive screens — enabling citizens to understand urban growth, infrastructure and environmental change.
Spatial Planning Centre
A data-driven platform using digital twin technology for simulations, urban analysis and cross-agency collaboration — bridging the gap between governance and public understanding.
Urban Tech & Innovation Hub
Incubators, hackathons and collaborative platforms focused on solving real urban challenges.
Showcasing Bengaluru’s rich tech history
Food Street
Celebrating Karnataka’s diverse food cultures through immersive culinary storytelling in an accessible public space.
Public Parks
Sculpture park, children’s park and open green spaces that retain and enhance the site’s ecological value, and provide outdoor experiences using the city’s existing green cover.
