The Vision
IFBE is a place to pause and reflect; a repository of ideas, intent and action. It aims to be a backdrop for different minds to come together and engage with challenges and chances, to work with advocacy and alternatives and to combine creativity with concern.
IFBE seeks to be the plinth that brings people from architecture, design, and the arts to meet with the community. It seeks to work towards unwiring and rewiring our responses and contributions to ever- evolving cultural narratives, both local and global.
The Mission
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To enable
active unlearning of dated ways of viewing and experiencing the world.
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To connect
with those who propagate design as a potent force for meaningful change.
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To celebrate
exemplars in the realm of conservation, re-use and regenerative design.
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To collaborate
with urban communities and engage with private and public institutions towards realising the vision of the collective.
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To inspire
the revitalisation of the built and unbuilt heritage of Mumbai’s port area.
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To inspire
a space for architects, designers, civic agencies and citizens to collaborate for a richer, more inclusive urban fabric for Mumbai.
Architecture
IFBE reimagines Mumbai’s historic Ice Factory, seamlessly blending preservation with innovation. Every detail, from exposed brickwork to salvaged industrial elements, tells a story of transformation. Thoughtful restoration and contemporary interventions create a space where history, design, and purpose converge—offering a living dialogue between the past and the future.
The Noun
THE ICE FACTORY AT BALLARD ESTATE IS NOW IFBE.
IFBE alludes to two of the simplest words in the English language – 'IF' and 'BE'.
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if
is a challenge to the normative, a suggestion of endless possibilities. ‘IF’ denotes a sense of hope and of wonder. It allows us to push the boundaries of our knowledge. Questions like “What if the earth isn’t flat?” or “What if the earth isn’t the centre of the universe?” were revolutionary.
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be
speaks of the act of being. It stands for the truth of unity and of multiplicity. It is the counterbalance that allows (re)solutions and revisions, manifestations and tangibles.
ifbe is a liminal space.
The word ‘liminal’ comes from the Latin word 'limen', which means threshold. It is the space between ‘what has been’ and ‘what if’ or ‘what can be’ - a projection of the future with a keen awareness of the past.
ifbe's identity is connected by a dot. A culmination of several concentric realities.
IFBE explores how architecture, design and the arts impact life. It aims to open up discussions in a nurturing space that encourages spontaneity. A place that belongs to ideas, not to ideology.
Of ‘what IF’, of all that ‘can BE’.