Sanskar Kendra is a museum at

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, India, designed by the architect

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. It is a city museum depicting history, art, culture and architecture of Ahmedabad. Another Patang Kite Museum is there which includes a collection of kites, photographs, and other artifacts. The campus is located at the west end of Sardar Bridge near Paldi.

History

The museum was designed in the Modernist style by the Swiss-French architect

. It was named ''Museum of Knowledge'' during designing. It was originally a part of a large complex of ''Cultural Centre of Ahmedabad'' which had separate pavilions and areas for different subjects like anthropology, natural history, archaeology, monumental sculptures, workshops and depots, folklores in open air. It also included a pavilion for theatre called ''miracle box''. But out of whole planned cultural centre, only museum was built. Its foundation stone was laid on 9 April 1954. The museum was closed in March 2020 following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was kept closed for renovation since.

Modernist architecture

It rests on his signature

piloti Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in e ...

s, that are high there. The building's exterior is of plain brick with exposed elements of raw concrete (''Béton brut'') structure. The structural grid is . The building is designed to protect against the hot climate. On the roof there are several large basins originally intended as planters. One enters from underneath the building where there is an open court with a large pool and a ramp that leads to the exhibition spaces. The interior spaces are finished in plaster. The museum is similar to other museum projects by

, such as the "Museum of unlimited extension" project, the

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was established on June 10, 1959 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

, in that the plan is based on a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

and is designed to be expanded.

Collections

Museum have various sections related to history of city, art, photography,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, Indian independence struggle, various religious communities of

. It houses the tallest incense stick of the world of 4.5 m. The building includes a Kite Museum, which includes a collection of kites, photographs, and other artifacts. Foundation block of Ellis Bridge was moved to Sanskar Kendra. It reads: :''"The Ellis Bridge - So named by Government after Sir Barrow Helbert Ellis : K.G.S.I. was built in 1869 and 1870. At a cost of Rs:549,210 destroyed by the great flood of 22nd September 1875 and rebuilt in 1890 and 1895 by Government, Local Bodies and Private Subscribers. At a further cost of Rs. 407564. This the First Stone of the new bridge was laid by His Excellency Donald James eleventh Lord Reay C.C.I.E.LL.D. Governor of Bombay December 19th, 1889."''

Photo gallery

Image:Inside of Sanskar Kendra.JPG, Museum on

s, and item displayed. Image:Chabutra in sanskar kendra.JPG, Chabutra and brick walls. Image:A statue in sanskar kendra.JPG, Fountain; was originally at Fuwara, Kalupur. Image:FIRE KING.jpg, Ahmedabad Fire brigade 1907 Image:Queen victoria statue in sanskar kendra.JPG, Queen Victoria statue Image:Info (sanskar kendra).JPG, Re-inauguration Plaque

History

Modernist architecture

Collections

Photo gallery

See also

References

Further reading