A group of students from Punjab's Lovely Professional University (LPU) has created a miniature version of their 600-acre institution and displayed the same at the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) here.
Envisioned and built by students of five different streams, the 300-square metre miniature park showcases over half of the 60 blocks of the actual university, which is spread in nearly 600-acres near Punjab's Jalandhar city, 150 km from Chandigarh.
The miniature park has been built on a scale of 1:40.
"This is the first comparable miniature park made on such a large scale in the country vis-a-vis the miniature versions of cities, towers, trains, etc. developed and exhibited in countries like Germany, China, Netherlands, US and many more," senior LPU functionary Aman Mittal told IANS.
"This model is the mini representation of the actual 600-spread acres of the LPU Campus," he said.
Creating the miniature version of the university and bringing it to the IITF was not an easy task.
"It was a big challenge for us to build, carry and exhibit LPU Miniature Park model at the IITF. However, we took the help of related software and designed the basic structure," Ravi Kant, a first year Bachelor of Technology student at LPU, told IANS.
"We accorded 1:40 ratio dimensions to the model in comparison to the original. We mainly focused on the specialties of the original structure to give the model a perfect shape."
The designing and execution of the miniature model took a lot of effort from the students.
"We have spent a lot of time a lot of time in giving finishing touches to the LPU model. It was really difficult for us to make, shape and decorate the different portions to look similar to the original," said Ritesh, a final year Master of Design student.
"We had to work long hours to achieve that. The appreciation of people visiting the LPU counter at IITF gives us a lot of satisfaction and encouragement," he said.
Laveen, a B.Tech final year student said students even got innovative by including a futuristic thing in the miniature model.
"We have undertaken an initiative to see tram running inside the vast LPU campus covering all the university-areas for the benefit of students and staff-members," he said.
The design covers fine details of the actual buildings of the LPU campus, touted as the largest private university campus in the country.
The university has nearly 30,000 on-campus students, including hundreds from other states and countries.
LPU chancellor Ashok Mittal told IANS: "LPU is a symbol of inclusive and continuous growth as it has grown over large areas since its inception.
"I am quite sure that this model from our diligent students will win attention and admiration of the people who would be visiting the trade fair. I am happy to note that our students have worked day and night to give factual shape to the model."
"The highlight of the model is the architecture of the campus, including a man-made lake and India's largest open air theatre," Mittal said.
Students from the fields of architecture, interior design, civil engineering, fine arts and animation were involved in the project.
The students behind the project say that once the IITF gets over, the miniature model will be brought back to the LPU campus and expanded further. They also propose to include national and international monuments in the expansion.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
