Minerals and Mining Museum, Nagpur

Anant Raje; National Institute of Design (NID); Mahendra Raj; Sharad R. Shah

The architecture of the museum and for that matter any building is expressed through space and material. Light, natural light, reveals the character of this space. The museum space is a special event in time. The past records passing through the present must direct towards the future which is unknown yet predictable. The architecture of the museum must look for this backdrop, whatever may be its shape, size and form. It should create a kinship both for the objects and the space which enhance the true nature of these objects. Man is a part of the entire record in which only the present is comprehensible for him. The true kinship between the spaces and the object can accelerate and help encompass the full story of which he is part.

The museum is a realized in the form of a sequence of spaces stepping down from the grade level on the north-west side to almost 24’-0” below grade on the south-east side. The south-west side provides access to the auditorium, workshops, stores, etc. The working of the auditorium, workshop etc. is independent of the functioning of the exhibits in the Museum.

The climate of Nagpur fluctuates between two extremes – very hot in summer and very cold in winter – and can be described as hot and dry. To protect the exhibits from such a climate, the museum spaces are dug in the ground. We have part of our cultural heritage, examples of such buildings in the stepped wells of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The museum spaces and the exhibits are thus protected and at the same time isolated from the other activities on the site. It has also given an opportunity to simulate those conditions which prevail in the underground mines and the experience that is offered is that of participation and discovery.

The various insights inside the museum have given a freedom to organize the exhibits which have different scales and sizes. Each floor is a horizontal section, where you go around the periphery to get an introduction to very large exhibition spaces. Inside these are chambers, which are being worked out in conjunction with the National Institute of Design.The building which is linear with its major axis running north-west/south-east has one entry for the museum on the north-west side of the site and an other entry, (to the Auditorium) on the south-east side. The auditorium is located above grade level and is connected through the foyer to the lower part of the museum by means of stairs and an elevator. It can function independently of the museum and is outside the main circulation to the museum. Both entrances have parking places for cars and scooters adjacent to them. Besides the parking of the cards, the A.C. plant and workshops can be approached directly from the auditorium side.[1]

The nine story office building which is under construction occupies the site towards the north-east.[2] Besides the proposed main entrance to the site, two more entrances are proposed. One on the south-west side and the other on the south-east side of the boundary line towards the auditorium. It is desired that the water supply and drainage lines be hooked up with the drainage lines proposed for the office building under construction.

— Anant Raje, undated text

Concept sketches

Note 1: The chambers are in the form of 'Kivas' - the Anasazi chambers of initiation - recalling my experiences and observations of the Chaco Canyon in the American southwest.

Note 2: Adjacent to the site was a horrendous high-rise. With that building so close, what kind of a superstructure could I have designed for the museum? Also, the subject matter suggested that one would have to go deep into the ground. That may not sound convincing, but it helped me to push the entire building down into the ground.