Museum · Regionalism
Balkrishna Doshi · Ahmedabad, India · 1995
Key featuresUnderground cave of domed shells covered in broken tile mosaic and lit by skylight eyes.
Amdavad ni Gufa () is an underground art gallery in Ahmedabad, India. Designed by the architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, it exhibits works of the Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain. The gallery represents a unique juxtaposition of architecture and art. The cave-like underground structure has a roof made of multiple interconnected domes, covered with a mosaic of tiles. On the inside, irregular tree-like columns support the domes. It was earlier known as Husain-Doshi ni Gufa.
The gallery space is below ground level. A partially hidden staircase leads to a circular door which opens into a cave-like space. Though designed to display paintings, the cave has no straight walls, instead using a continuation of the curved dome structure which extends down to the floor. The domes themselves are supported by irregularly shaped inclined columns, similar to those found in natural caves. They are also said to resemble the trunks of trees. The entire design is made up of circles and ellipses. Light arrives though snouts, creating spots of light on the floor which move around as the day progresses, intended to create a mystic atmosphere.
Shortened from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
