Sanskar Kendra is a museum at

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: 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 (per t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, designed by the architect

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

. 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.

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 ele ...

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 museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was es ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

, in that the plan is based on a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:

Collections

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

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, 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:A photo in sanskar kendra.JPG, First Mayor of Ahmedabad after whom this museum named Image:Info (sanskar kendra).JPG, Re-inauguration Plaque

History

Modernist architecture

Collections

Photo gallery

See also

References

Further reading