Gandhi Peace Centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
20,000 sq ft Built up area
2020
The Gandhi Peace Centre at Bhubaneswar is located near the historical Khandagiri and Udaygiri Caves. It is a digital Interactive museum, under the aegis of the Aditya Birla Family and supported by the Aditya Birla Group companies and Government of Odisha.
The Museum narrates the story of Mahatma interlaced with cutting edge technology in Hindi, English and Odia.
The site was an existing Interpretation centre built by the Government of Odisha in 2013. It was an unused circular ground storey structure set on a 5 acre plot of land. In keeping with our concept of adaptive re-use and restoration, promoting use of local materials combined with modern materials and cutting edge technology, we retained the character of the building by restoring and repairing the exposed Khandolite stone masonary and carved stone columns. We used an earthy material palette of grey leather finished stone for the plazas, matt anti-skid tiles for corridors and galleries and rustic red for steps and ramps. We introduced glass and metal roofs for the plazas and courtyards. The glass roofs juxtaposed with exposed ‘Khandolite’ stone give a striking yet subdued character to the digital museum. They generate enclosed usable spaces, flooded with natural light and interesting shadow effects. The circular shape of the building is interpreted and treated as the ‘Dharmachakra’. The entry plaza also called the Ahinsa Square has an Ahimsa emblem in leather finish granite and brass, embedded in the floor. The central focal point in the central courtyard is a 22ft height Ahinsa pillar which is inspired by the great Ashoka Pillar. It is cast using custom designed moulds of GRC material from Birla White Cement. It depicts the ten important words related to Mahatma Gandhi in 3 languages of English, Hindi and Odia. There are 6 galleries, starting with the Ahinsa Gallery and tracing Gandhiji’s journey till he became the Mahatma and then Bapu ( the father of the nation). Each gallery has custom designed wall panels with interactive touch screens interspersed with a unique collection of articles from Gandhiji’s life journey. The Pool of Silence is a unique space for introspection after the Hinsa gallery. A water feature with inward flow of water allows one to introspect on the violence and bloodshed that has happened in the world thus far. Two wall installations, again custom built with Birla White GRC conveying messages of Gandhiji are placed on either side walls. The backdrop of the water feature is a ‘Jali’ installation using the 3 words of Satya, Ahimsa and Prem. The 3 courtyards are designed as open installations characterised by adding wooden louvred panels on either side walls, glass finned roof and a central granite pedestal which has a bronze bust installation which weighs 100 kg and has been indigenously scaled up into a 3D model by scanning images of Mahatma Gandhi using Photogrammetry techniques. The last gallery called the ‘Inspiration Gallery’ is an engagement zone where there is a selfie booth for a photo with the Mahatma, Gandhiji’s signature and a Testimonial Booth. It is also the Eternal Gandhi store which offers memorabilia and artefacts inspired by the message of the Mahatma. An amphitheatre incorporated into the building will host public events and gatherings.
Completed Projects
BACK