By Ar. Ajay Sonar
Cave-like Paper Museum made from papier-mâché |
Designing the Paper Museum in Pune has been an opportunity
to connect with a glorious past and develop a recreational space that
experientially interacts with the hoi polloi in a multiple format.
We, as architects, are very much interested in
understanding the urban setting in which the project sits before designing it. In
this case, we reversed the thinking process by starting with the urban analysis
before coming to the individual programs of the project per se.
We were asked to design a showroom for paper display; reorganize
and refurbish an old office structure; and develop a multi-dimensional exterior
landscape and eatery; in all create a vibrant happening public space.
The entrance |
So, what is a public space? - a question
we asked, looking at the crowded streets, hawkers and lack of space for
recreation of thousands of students and working class in the centre of Pune
city. The answer was to perforate or blur the boundaries of a government
institute, to allow public intrusion into the campus, which had huge old trees
and a fairly large vacant ground for activities.
Cave-like interiors of Museum |
Display alcoves carved into the dome |
The challenge in designing the museum then was to
create an impact rather than just focus on functional integrities, to make
people aware about handmade paper, its strength and a multiple application to
prove its relevance in the modern era of plastic and glass.
Play of light |
After understanding the properties and character of
handmade paper, we decided to do a papier-mâché installation in a 75 year-old
existing pitched roof. Using papier-mâché seemed more sensitive for a place,
where handmade paper and paper products were made using similar technique; this space has the essence
of a cave, which we consider to be the purest embodiment of space.
Office Interiors |
In contrast, the office
space provided an opportunity to experiment with restoration. Like at an
archeological site, the challenge was not so much to create something new but
rather to discover the hidden structures and virtues that the building was
composed of; to rediscover the purity of an old architecture hidden away behind
gypsum sheets.
Painting Gallery |
Additionally, outdoor activities include an open-air painting gallery that completely rejects conventional closed exhibition spaces and creates a unique experience with free-standing brick walls as display panels and an open-air amphitheater, which is used as a restaurant by day and a live performance space by night.
All these activities together create
an art village open for every local walking on the streets.
where is this place exactly in pune?
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