The UB City mall was intended to carry primarily international luxury brands.
However, it was completed just as the global economy started its nose dive so much of the mall remains empty although it does contain and Apple Store, Louis Vutton and a few others. It currently exists in an interesting space where Bangalore young and wealthy come to see and be seen.
It provides the branded lifestyle-experience, without nearly enough opportunities for purchase to make sustainable enterprise. Maybe they could just charge a fee at the door, acknowledging the fact that it is a theme park.
A little tacky, sure, but its more honest, and I am sure most wealthy Bangalorians wouldn’t mind.
But there is just not very much shopping to be done, so there is a lot of milling about. Because of the perceived rules of admittance (you must have this much money, be of this caste, be a foreigner and/or be dressed very well) there are just not that many people inside. It has a strange feeling of being a fairly empty but possibly accessible semi-public space. I would love to see an artist arrange a meal / parade in the mall for the 95% of Bangalorians that will never step foot inside. Now that is Art in the Mall I can down with.
The architecture itself is a chintzy pastiche that on first glance might make only a truly cynical post-modernist smirk, but for everyone else it’s a little cringe worthy. This is the Neo-Liberal style at its worst. On the other hand, there is a very nice elevated open space, with a ring of restaurants, in the center of the mall that connects the hotel, convention center and shopping areas of the complex. It is one of the more interesting open spaces I have seen in contemporary urban Indian architecture.
Granted, it is in a mall, and not open to the general public, but it looks on what remains of the beuatiful trees in India’s “Garden City”. After a while, I am wondering if the unapologetic tackiness of the place doesn’t just end growing on us?
I wish I could show you more images but I was told repeatedly by guards that I could not take pictures. Even though I was photographing buildings not in the complex! I felt bad for the guards because they have no idea why that rule is in place or why they should have to hassle me. Not wanting to waste any more of their time or energy I grabbed a few pics, and left the mall. Perhaps the reason one can’t take pictures is because the mall (which is many stories) is constructed right next to the owners mansion! I bet if you look out the right window you can see into Vijay Mallya’s yard, but I didn’t want to hang around any longer than I had to.
Vijay Mallya is the Indian Billionaire known for his parties and being the Chairman of the United Breweries Group, which owns Kingfisher beer and Kingfisher airlines. As a side note: Kingfisher beer is a dreadful lager that is a step below PBR and a step above Natural Ice.
However, it is the only beer on tap almost anywhere in Bangalore. A few other beers are available in bottles (Budweiser, Fosters, Carona). I have been told by a few people that Kingfisher enforces its monopoly by providing kegs and perks to bars if they promise to only have KF on tap.
Plus, most of all of my peers have grown up on KF and never tasted a yummy beer, so there is no demand for anything else. (Sounds like a good opportunity for a sustainable micro-brew as art-project to me 
One Comment
First, you should have asked to speak with their manager.
Second, c’mon now. Everywhere has a story, and I’m willing to bet that UB City has plenty of them, even if they are relatively new. Think of New York. All those buildings were built by wealthy industrialists, and no one seems to discount them (though there is architectural critique).
Third, what about the friezes? There are a ton of portraits and landscapes depicted. What do they say…or are they trying to represent?
Fourth, like it or not UB City has one of the better public spaces in the city..i.e. somewhere open where people (theoretically) can gather. Where else do you have wide steps and public performance spaces? Certainly not the government buildings. Cubbon perhaps, but then they are rule-driven too.
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