No other art museum in the world can boast as much space in as central a location, the architects of the new NGMA wing tell Kishore Singh.
Twenty-three-and-a-half years in the making, it’s taken longer than even the Taj Mahal, but the new wing of the National Gallery of Modern Art, a somewhat uninspiring block when viewed from the central vista of the India Gate complex, could be the most important addition to Lutyens’s Delhi since the building of the capital, and definitely since the Charles Blomfield-designed, art-deco Jaipur House was commissioned in 1938.
The Rs 72 crore project brings to Delhi — and to India — its most modern museum-gallery, something that should help put art in the domain of the public more than the existing gallery at Jaipur House has ever aspired to do.
Importantly, the architects A R Ramanathan and Snehanshu Mukherjee of Team have avoided the common folly of putting in a structure totally at variance from the existing Jaipur House, so though it is contemporary in many ways, not excluding the pink dholpur and red agra stone façade, the interiors leave you gasping for there, as Mukherjee says, “It is the art that is dominant, not the architecture” — exactly the way a gallery should be. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The NGMA has a collection of artworks that number upwards of 17,000, of which barely 2-3 per cent are shown at Jaipur House, and at the gallery in Mumbai — a third NGMA, in Bangalore, is expected to be completed “very soon”, even possibly next month, according to one source — so when over 500 works were displayed for the opening by Sonia Gandhi last week (and there’s ample space for displaying at least twice that number), it became possible, for the first time, to air some of the rare treasures that have been held in the storage vaults of Jaipur House.
If the annex wing was so long in the making, the principal reason was litigation — the outhouses of the building were occupied by trespassers who then went to court — and because later, even though not imperative, a fresh administration sanction was sought.
Once work began, in 2003, once again there were hiccups caused by delays in the flow of funds. What kept the architects going — they had won the award against 12 serious competitors, and had established their firm to take on the task — was, as NGMA director Rajeev Lochan quotes Ramanathan as saying, “I have spent so much time on the project, I have nothing more to lose.” “Initially,” Mukherjee laughs good-naturedly, “we refused all other work till we were close to bankruptcy.” Still, they clung obstinately to the idea of completing what for them was an extraordinary project. “Where again would we ever have a chance to work on such a site?” asks Ramanthan.
For Lochan, who took over as director in 2001, and had waded through thick files to understand the enormity of the past and future of the extension wing, the moment of epiphany came when a Picasso show had to be held not at NGMA but at the National Museum for security reasons. “I pushed Jagmohan,” he recalls — Jagmohan was then a minister in the BJP-led government — fortunately the next incumbent, Jaipal Reddy in the Congress-led alliance at the Centre, did not prove lax either, and work continued.
The new wing in the eight-acre complex is in three blocks, two of which house the galleries with 12,000 sq m of display space, basements seven metres down at two levels for 9,000 sq m of storage, and a third wing to house a 200-seat auditorium, a 90-seat preview theatre, a 100-cover cafeteria (“similar to but better than at Triveni” laughs culture secretary Jawhar Sircar), conference rooms, lecture halls, a conservation laboratory and a reference library.
Few changes were made between the concept and actual execution — one of these was a replacement of the courtyards between the blocks with overhead bridges that permit free-flowing spaces underneath — and Team adhered to their plans that kept in mind the ancient trees, none of which was cut.
A colonnade of pillars forms the visual link between the old and new buildings, and the annex was sunk a little to keep it below the level of the original structure despite the four levels that have been created within. “The buildings aren’t a symmetrical composition,” explains Mukherjee, with Ramanathan adding that screens have been used to adhere to an impression of the classical façade while being essentially contemporary in character.
“The screen walls don’t allow sunlight to penetrate, while recessed windows allow natural light to offer the best rendition for viewing the paintings.”
Inside, the four levels open out into 40m x 40m galleries with flexible walls “so you can see all the galleries, and exhibits, simultaneously”. Intra- and inter-block ramps between contiguous levels and recessed or hidden alcoves allow for an element of surprise in displaying art and combating museum fatigue.
The sandblasted, black granite flooring cuts down on glare and keeps the focus on the walls, while the T5 fluorescent, sensor lighting adjusts to the quality of light outside with highlighters picking out elements. Skylights allow in natural light, decreasing the dependence on artificial light.
“You can have a Rodin exhibition here, a Picasso exhibition, any exhibition” Mukherjee grins cheekily, “even simultaneous shows in the galleries, film screenings, lectures, workshops, seminars, even a banquet all in the same spot without having to leave the premises.” The architects have made it possible despite the long years it took, but Lochan says, in their commendation, “I understood their sincerity and integrity.” Now art lovers can see it too.
