Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya

Project Description

The ashram was originally established at the Kocharab Bungalow of Jivanlal Desai on 25 May 1915. The ashram was then shifted on 17 June 1917 to a piece of open land on the banks of the river Sabarmati. Reasons for this shift included Gandhi wanted to do some experiments in living (e.g. farming, animal husbandry, cow breeding, khadi and related construction activities for which he was in search of a barren land). Mahatma Gandhi lived at the ashram on the banks of the river Sabaramati between 1917 and 1930. It is from here that he commenced his salt march Dandi.

Charles Correa was asked to design a memorial museum and study center in 1958 to house a treasure of some 30,000 letters written to and by Gandhi, photographs and documents including several hundred volumes edited by his secretary Mahadev Desai. Jawaharlal Nehru India's first Prime Minister inaugurated the building. It preserves and makes available tons of thousands of books concerning Gandhi, his philosophies and India's independence.

The architects design for this memorial institution of Mahatma Gandhi was designed and built from 1958 to 1963. The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya is an excellent example of combining the Hindu Architectural or cosmological idea of isotropy can be seen in Hindu temples on their fa?§ade by applying repeated small infinitely scalable structures. The ashram is made up of the main ashram pavilion, two guest houses, open prayer ground and a museum. Handcrafted paper and fabric are produced here and are the main attraction for tourists. The modular pavilion unit is designed for easy extension and emphasizes the accumulation of a single element to make a whole. Correa placed five distinctly programmed interior spaces within the asymmetrical grid plan. The plan of the museum has also been compared to village houses in India's Banni region. Instead of a single volume, the house consists of five huts each with a different function which surround to make a courtyard. The inhabitants walk back and forth across the open outside space to use different rooms.

Critical Project Description

The architecture of Sabramathi Ashram interprets the form of space through material and construction techniques. He chooses these means in consonance with the purpose and it is the nature of purpose which provides the sense of space for which the form stands for. This building has five interior rooms which has the collection of the museum, the rooms are covered by brick walls and wooden louvered screens. All the five rooms are a part of 6mt square module and Correa's subtle changes of the enclosure allow for variety in the modules lighting, temperature and visual permeability.

Correa used simple and naturally available materials and pure forms such as hollowed cubes and pyramid roof made out of stone, clay tiles, timber which represents the simplicity of the structure and also the reliance on local materials. The modular simplicity of the structure is continued in the basic materials like stone floors, brick walls, wooden doors and louvered windows devoid of glass. These choices strongly adhere to the philosophy of Gandhi advocated and practiced in his life.  I don't want my house to be walled on all sides and my windows be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to blow above house as freely as possible, but I refuse to be blown off my feet by any of them. This statement seems to be the basis for the architect's choice of pavilion form. The simplest derivatives of natural forms are the cuboids and the pyramids which are open from open from sides and sheltered from above. The sense of enclosure is seen from the assembly of these two forms and leaves all the sides open to all directions on the side of river bank.

The building design is based on the modular pattern and pavilion module measures 6mt square and has a roof height of about 2.10mt under the channel beam supported over four ?H' shaped brick piers. The channel beam in turn supports a pyramid shaped roof made from timber which is cladded with bolts from inside and Mangalore bricks from outside. The pavilion in the ashram is open from all the sides and is very flexible for connections on the sides and for further expansion. The pavilion gives an impression of a floating plane as it is lifted off the ground level.

The plan of ashram is similar to the village houses of Banni region in India where a central courtyard is provide instead of a single volume and the huts are constructed on the perimeter of the site. The inhabitants can walk back and forth to use different rooms. The ashram consists of a square uncovered shallow pool located in between five rooms and each room has different functions such as letters, office, meetings, books, photos and paintings.

In Ahmedabad, the dry season is mostly clear, and the wet season is mostly cloudy but the temperature is hot throughout the year. The temperature throughout the year typically varies from 20 degree Celsius to 42 degree Celsius. The architect keeping in mind the harsh summer temperatures of Ahmedabad designed the building with a central water court and on the banks of Sabramati river in such a way that the cooled air can be introduced into the building. This is because of the fact that the water has high latent heat of vaporization, it absorbs large amount of heat from the surrounding air for evaporation and then introduces cool air into the building.

This building is completely build keeping in mind the Vastu system in India. Th directions according to vastu as follows

1. North East: As books are considered as the symbol of positive energy they are placed in north east direction. Light reaches this room around 4am to 6am so it is best suited for pooja, yoga, meditation, studying. This part is called as Ishana.
2. North West and West: This direction is considered as the house of wind and water god so the toilet is placed in this direction with louvered windows.
3. East: This direction is ruled by Sun God and the river Sabramathi flows in the direction of east and south east it is believed that the morning sun purifies water and the water is germ free and so the building is placed accordingly.
4. South East: This is dedicated to god of fire so a snack shop is proposed in this direction.
5. South: Office is placed in this direction so that good ventilation is attained.
6. South West: This direction is dedicated for ancestors or pitru. This part of the building is for store and living spaces and hence the building entry and open gallery starts from this direction.
7. Site entry is from the West.

The construction and the scale of the building merges very well with the environment and the surrounding structures which was built as the residence of Gandhi and other dignitaries who were visiting him time and again while he stayed there. The overall image of the ashram gives it an image of a ?place' rather than a confined ?limited space'.

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