The vision for this project is "to conceive a best in class science museum which is both educating and entertaining (edutainment), and to expose the visitor to new ways of thinking about science, to experience science and inspire innovations to serve the general public". The site of the Museum is located to the north of Bhujiyo Dungar. The North-South axis acts as a pedestrian path and connects with the East-West axis of the proposed site along which all the galleries are placed. The form of each gallery is inspired by traditional architectural forms of bhungas, circular in nature allowing easy flow and creates smooth transitional space for the visitors to get unique experience.
Site Area : 10 Acres Builtup Area: 63,000 SF Services : Feasibility Study, Programming, Master planning, Building Design - Architecture, MEPF Engineering, Interior Design, Art & Exhibit Curation, PMC, Structure Engineering, Landscape Design, AV/Acoustics, Lighting Design, Infrastructure Engineering Collaboration : Kling Consult
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A Place to Learn and Play with Science
With an intention to bring experiential Science learning closer to people in Gujarat, the
Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUjCOST) set up 5 science museums of which
this one is located at Bhuj in the state’s Kutch district. Sitting north of the local legendary hill,
Bhujiyo Dungar, on a vast landscaped site, this museum intends to educate while entertaining
young and old visitors, presenting scientific phenomena in an experiential and exploratory set
up and hoping to inspire applications for public good. INI’s design harmonises with the
geographical context of its location while enabling visitors to wander freely among the exhibits
and have fun witnessing the wonders of science up close.
Blending in with Local Built-Forms
The design takes inspiration from ‘Bhungas’, this region’s
traditional shelters which are arranged in interaction- enabling
clusters of mud plastered, bamboo framed cylindrical built
forms. These acclimatize well with the surrounding desert,
allowing easy flow of cool breezes and strong, potentially
destabilizing winds around their curvilinear walls. Similarly, the
museum’s individual galleries are housed in cylindrical
envelopes that cluster around the common spaces, allowing a
fluid transition of visitors through wide passages flowing around
to connect them. Elliptical in plan, each of these galleries rise up
to 6 to 8 meters, casting cooling shadows on the rest of the
layout, while landscaped spaces for outdoor exhibits and
step-down courtyards within the structure get carved out of the
curved intermittent niches. The galleries are treated with a dry
stone cladding system to harmonize with the local context and
further reduce the energy requirement.
Immersive Experiences Enabled by Design and Technology
The programmatic arrangement sees the blocks housing Space, Nanotech, Energy and Marine
Navigation galleries aligned along the east-west ‘science’ axis, whereas the admin and
library/workshop blocks along with the Noble/ Bonsai galleries and central plaza courtyard
align with a north-south ‘cultural’ axis. While this consolidates the physical network,
technological aids like the 5D theatre, interactive media and application pods complete the
immersive, hands-on experience.
Demonstrating
the Coexistence
of Technological
Advancement
and Cultural
Context
"Education & Entertainment Delivered in a
Sustainable State-of-the-Art Package.”
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