Mumbai City Museum Architecture Competition, Indian Architectural Contest

Mumbai City Museum Competition

Design Contest in India

6 + 5 Dec 2013

Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum Architecture Contest

Mumbai City Museum Competition

MUMBAI CITY MUSEUM DESIGN COMPETITION LAUNCHED

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is delighted to announce a two-stage competition to find a design team for a new north wing to the Mumbai City Museum, also known as the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. One of India’s leading cultural institutions, it is in the process of creating a new dynamic identity for itself as a cultural hub in Mumbai.

MRC is managing the competition on behalf of the Museum and further details of the project and how to register for the competition are available on the dedicated competition microsite:

http://competitions.malcolmreading.co.uk/mumbai

Mumbai Museum building:

photograph © MRC

The new addition to the existing Museum is expected to be 8,000 to 10,000 m2 (85,000 – 110,000 sq ft), providing new galleries and facilities including an interpretation centre, a library, an archive, conservation facilities and a new museum shop and café. At the heart of the new wing will be a permanent gallery to showcase contemporary Mumbai, focusing on important milestones in the city’s development and highlighting its cultural achievements, as well as temporary exhibition space to international standards capable of taking major touring exhibitions.

photograph © MRC

The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum is a sister museum to the V&A in London and has collaborated with the Guggenheim and MOMA, New York and the Fondazione Zegna, Italy. Its original building, now beautifully restored, dates from the late 19th Century and is considered a masterpiece – a rare combination within India of Palladian architecture with high Victorian interiors.

Mumbai Museum – Main Entrance:

photograph © MRC

Mrs Tasneem Mehta, Trustee and Honorary Director of the Museum said:
‘The Museum was originally intended to capture the arts and culture of the time; some commentators have called it India’s first contemporary arts museum. Building new facilities will allow us to develop our contemporary content so as Mumbai develops as a global city, we will be able to reflect its culture and achievements. We are hugely enthusiastic about the project and look forward to the process of selecting a design team.’

photograph © MRC

Malcolm Reading, competition organiser said:
‘This is an exceptional project, full of architectural potential on a wonderful site next to the existing Museum. We are searching the globe for designers who have clarity of expression to address the contemporary needs of the Museum but who also have sensitivity to the sense of place. We encourage local, regional and international expressions of interest and will be selecting a shortlist in late January who will be asked to make concept proposals.’

The two stage competition has a fast-track timetable with the winner selected by April 2014. Site preparation is anticipated to begin in October 2014 at the end of the monsoon.

photograph © MRC

5 Nov 2013

Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum Design Contest

Mumbai City Museum Architecture Competition

MALCOLM READING CONSULTANTS TO RUN DESIGN COMPETITION FOR NEW WING OF MUMBAI CITY MUSEUM

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) has been appointed to run the design competition for a major new wing to the Mumbai City Museum in India, known as the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum.

The competition, which will be launched worldwide at the beginning of December, will seek a design team for a building expected to be 8,000 to 10,000 m2, providing new galleries and facilities including, an interpretation centre, a library, an archive, conservation facilities and a new museum shop and café.

At the heart of the new wing will be a permanent gallery to showcase contemporary Mumbai, focusing on important milestones in the city’s development and highlighting its cultural achievements as well as temporary exhibition space to international standards capable of taking blockbuster touring exhibitions.

The Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, dates from the late 19th Century and recently underwent a major renovation, winning a UNESCO Conservation Award in 2005. It is one of India’s most outward-looking cultural institutions and hosts regular international events, including the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

The new building will be set in a landscape adjacent to the existing museum and next to the Veermata Jijabai Udyan Zoo.

Mumbai Museum – Existing Interior:

photo © MRC

Malcolm Reading, competition organiser said: ‘This is a unique cultural moment for the museum as it reaches out towards new audiences inside India and internationally. The new facilities will allow a greater diversity of activity and enable events like travelling international exhibitions to be held, which are impossible in the original heritage building. We will be looking for very creative teams with expertise in contemporary design and landscaping as the museum stands in one of the few green spaces in south Mumbai.‘

Mumbai Museum – View from Entrance Gates:

photo © MRC

The two stage competition has a fast-track timetable with a launch in December and the winner selected by March 2014. Site preparation is anticipated to begin in October 2014 at the end of the monsoon. MRC will shape the design brief for the project, develop the design criteria, advise on jury selection, launch and promote the competition through a dedicated microsite and manage the tender process.

The museum is a sister museum to Britain’s V&A, for whom MRC ran the Exhibition Road competition. Recent MRC competitions include those for the Natural History Museum, Canterbury Cathedral, the Queen’s College, Oxford and the Cadogan Estate.

Mumbai Museum – Main Staircase:

photo © MRC

Mumbai City Museum Design Competition

Mumbai City Museum Architecture Competition Background

The Dr Bhau Daji Lad, Mumbai City Museum, is Mumbai’s oldest museum and showcases the history and culture of the city. It was intensively restored between 2003 and 2008 and won the 2005 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation Award of Excellence, the highest international award in this field. The Citation comments, ‘The building stands as a unique testimony to the development of Victorian architecture in the context of the hybrid building and crafts traditions of 19th Century India, as well as to the civic traditions embodied in one of the country’s earliest museums.’

Dr Bhau Daji Lad (1824-1874), full name, Ramkrishna Vithal Lad, was a polymath. An eminent physician and surgeon, he conducted original research into the use of Indian drugs to cure leprosy in its early stages. He was the first native sheriff of Bombay, as well as holding positions in all the city’s educational societies. Intensely interested in archaeology, he did pivotal research in the identification of the markings and writings at Elephanta. He was a champion of his fellow countrymen and agitated for their rights, education and development. He was the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in Bombay, which was renamed in his honour.

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is a strategic architectural consultancy, which specialises in heritage master-planning and the selection of contemporary designers. Highly experienced in both these areas, they are enthusiastic advocates of the power of design to create new perceptions and act as an inspiration – whether at the local level, or internationally. MRC has advised on some of the leading heritage projects in the UK, notably Westminster Abbey, the National Maritime Museum and St Martin-in-the-Fields, the latter winning the European Union’s prestigious Europa Nostra award.

They offer a service to find the very best designers for clients with new building projects, whether through open-international, or private-invited competitions. Recent work in this area includes competitions for the Natural History Museum, the Queen’s College, Oxford, the Cadogan Estate, the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the Aberdeen City Garden project, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Exhibition Road project, the UK Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010 and the Glasgow School of Art.
www.malcolmreading.co.uk

Location: Mumbai, India