Mumbai City Museum Design Competition Launched

By Team IAnD

Photography: Courtesy MRC

Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai

An exceptional design team is being sought for the North Wing project of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, through an international competition via electronic submission within the next 35 days...

The Mumbai City Museum, also known as the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, one of India’s leading cultural institutions and the oldest museum that showcases the history and culture of Mumbai is in the process of creating a new dynamic identity for itself as a cultural hub in Mumbai.  

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Although its original building, now beautifully restored (It also won the 2005 UNESCO

Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation Award of Excellence, the highest international award in this field), dates from the late 19th Century and is considered a masterpiece – a rare combination within India of Palladian architecture with high Victorian interiors, its latest international associations – with the Guggenheim Lab, MOMA and Fondazione Zegna, Italy and its regular calendar of engaging seminars across the spectrum of design, art and architecture spearheads its reaching out to new audiences in 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.

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Malcolm Reading Consultants - London-based architectural consultancy, which specialises in heritage master-planning and the selection of contemporary designers  is in charge of managing the competition on behalf of the Museum and are inviting competition entries from multi-disciplinary creative teams with expertise in contemporary design and landscaping as the museum stands in one of the few green spaces in south Mumbai. The competition encourages collaborations with local practices, and is split into 2 phases with a fast-track timetable: launch in December 2013; shortlist announcement in late January 2014; winner selection in early April 2014 and site preparation in October 2014.

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The new building is expected to be spread across 85,000 - 110,000 square feet, 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 large-scale touring exhibitions.

For details and registration, visit http://competitions.malcolmreading.co.uk/mumbai