EXTERIOR

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LOCATION
ARCHITECT ACCESS SITE
GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT ARCOP ASSOCIATES The museum occupies a prominent place

CONCEPT
SHAPOORJI PALLONJI &COMPANY on the north-west flange of the city at the
Gandhinagar's main bus stand, The apex of cone is a large
PRIVATE LTD Pathik Ashram- 3 kms culmination point of a green-belt
circular skylight.
CLIENT :Roads & Buildings opposite the Capitol Complex of
Gandhinagar railway station Gandhinagar. It is spread on a plot of 6- The low height circular plaza The architects from CEPT, Ahmedabad conceptualized the stark white
Department, and Sports, around the cone have the
hectares (60,000 square meters) humongous cone-shaped structure of the monument emulating these

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Youth & Culture Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport administrative area and
surrounded by an approach road on all salt mounds on salt pans dedicated to Salt March, the very important
Goverment of GUJARAT -30km waiting lounge
sides. event in Gandhi’s fight for freedom. Befitting the grand stature of
A suspended footbridge provides a Gandhi, the structure rises to a stupendous height and has become
ceremonial entry to the museum from one of the most important landmarks of the planned city of
the south-east side where a large Gandhinagar.
Convention Centre has been built. The brief from the chief Architect was to make the main conical
.
ABOUT Construction phases:
The salt mound, sand pan and water
structure of museum look like lit in a moon light! The building scheme

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The construction was done in 4 phases- takes inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi's freedom fight incident of
Phase 1A includes three convention halls, canal are surrounded by beautifully
Mahatma Mandir Convention & Exhibition Salt march which took place in Gujarat’s Dandi village. It has four main
3 exhibition halls, 4 seminar halls, meeting landscaped gardens. elements that needed to be distinctly lit with a certain hierarchy. The
Centre is India's largest purpose-built Convention Centre. room
Close to 22,000 sq. mt. of air-conditioned facilities sprawled And service area.
41m high and 90m dia salt mound has been discreetly lit with precise
across 34 acres and built to accommodate 15,000 delegates, Phase 1 B includes food court, photo gallery, optics to impart utmost visual comfort and prevent light pollution.

INTERIOR
The Mahatma Mandir Convention & Exhibition Centre ccomprises Development of
landscape and pathways around the
- Heads of States CentreConvention facilities, Exhibition halls, an convention centre
This hollow conical envelope

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open-to-air Phase 2A includes salt museum, Gandhi
amphitheatre, expansive lawns, Retail shops and easy access to garden, parking and KH accommodates 3-level museum building
road.
Dandi Kutir, India's largest & only museum on the life & inside it. All the levels of the museum are
Phase 2B includes the cable stayed bridge,
principles of Mahatma Gandhi. salt museum internal well connected by elevators and steel-
Awarded Vishwakarma Award 2018 for best urban infrastructure structure, Landscape and roof garden
and-glass catwalks. A giant skylight at the
apex of the cone lit the interiors in a

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dramatic way.

LIGHTING
Vision for salt mount by night is to see it as an iconic message
canvas, bearing layers of history and culture of Gandhian era
and its continuation in current and coming generations. They
used the architecture as a screen to display message of

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Gandhiji’s life and character, his state and country and to bring
it out at a large scale in an artistic manner. This way lighting
helps extend the message of museum outside the shell also.

SUSPENDED BRIDGE

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The design philosophy & key elements of the bridge are as
follows: 41 meters high
90 meters wide
EXHIBITION HALL – Turbine together with blades of wind mill symbolizing
Charkha.
10700 sqm of museum area
3500 sqm of exhibition area
3 pillar-less air-conditioned Exhibition halls with Viewing – Cables symbolizing threads spun by Charkha. 89 minutes of multimedia
galleries and spaces for LEVEL 03
– Bridge span length symbolizing woven cloth. experience
Exhibitor's offices 14 multimedia technologies
– Power generation through wind mill symbolizing Third Floor - L-1: Mohandas to

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On entering the museum, visitors are actually taken by elevator from ground
Flexible, heavy duty floor for showcasing heavy machinery and sustainability. Mahatma-l - Mohandas &
domestic Satyagraha straight to third floor where begins the L-1, and the beginning of Mahatma's
other industrial/medical equipments – The cables are anchored in the RCC pylon, which evolution
Service trenches with electrical & water based exhibitions. symbolize the wheel supports. LEVEL 03 -> 02
The sequence is followed as L-2 on second floor; L-3 on first fioor, and L-4 on
ground
Easy plug & play SRS Facilities and telecommunication where the show ends with "The Legacy of Gandhi.
systems.
Wide alley back of the house service areas to aid
MATERIALS
swift movement of exhibits and equipment.

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Adequate storage facilities within the Exhibition halls. The materials for construction, structure and TICKETS AND TIMINGS
A nominal fee of INR 10 is payable at the museum which is open form 10:30 am to 5:00 pm.
finishes were chosen according to how they
LEVEL 02
responded to respective performances, ease of
CONVENTION CENTRE maintenance, contextual appropriateness and Second Floor - L-2. Mohandas
to Mahatma-ll - Gandhi &
good aesthetic meaning.
Main Convention Hall and the VIP Viewing Galleries-5500 community Satyagraha
delegates in theatre style.

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Main Convention Hall-divisible into 3 halls
Ceiling height of 11m, multi-purpose pillar-less air-conditioned MERITS LEVEL 02 -> 01
space of 93m x 58m
8 Simultaneous Interpretation booths for multi- lingual Ease of circulation
translations
The museum is an interpretive narrative museum, which
Movable modular stage-pieces, lighting trusses, in-built uses technology and multimedia as tools to create the LEVEL 01
hanging hooks with a capability to hold up to two tonnes
experience and this cannot be viewed as a standard exhibit

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First Floor - L-3: Mohandas to
20 additional meeting venues to accommodate parallel or object-oriented museum. Mahatma-ll- Mahatma &
sessions ranging from 6-1000 delegates national Satyagraha
Heavy maintenance dependant and water consuming
Plug and Play Sound Reinforcement System Controlled LEVEL 01 -> LOBBY
temperature and lighting for thermal and visual comfort landscape has been avoided
Sizeable pantry Easyto maintain infrastructure
Accessibility for maintenance has been intergrated into the
design

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Interactive museum

Dandi Kutir is the oldest and largest museum in India that is

built around the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. It has
DEMERITS LEVEL 00
Ground Floor - L-4. The Legacy

been specially designed to portray the biography of the Father

of Gandhi - Satyagragh around INFERENCE
Use of high energy Independence
of the Nation.
Language stands as a problem Experience was very different from usual still museums.
a unique architectural and experiential edifice providing

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No enough space for seating Eventhough built in different phases it had a sense of unity as a whole
visitors a forward-looking space to contemplate Gandhian Have proximity towards secretariate improved public attraction
principles and reflect on their singular and our collective
futures.