Name of the student SHUBHAM BASAK

Class/ Section 5th year, Section B Date: 04/01/19

Topic of Thesis Museum of Modern Art, Kolkata

Typology of thesis
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Introduction & Brief Description of the topic:

• Context

Every city in India has an old town and the new modern city. Similarly the evolution of
Kolkata is such that what is known as Central & North Kolkata form the old town while the
newly developed east Kolkata area is 'new city'.
This modern city is created with a dream to bring the dying, old and often called dead
Kolkata to life. A planned city with the amenities of a modern world-class city was
conceptualized in early 2000's.

Among the attractions of New Town is the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art. Located in the
main thoroughfare of the new city right next to the iconic Eco-Park, the site is placed on a
corner plot on the Rajarhat Expressway. However, due to bureaucratic problems no such
Museum has been built yet.

Objective is to design a MoMa, a building that will showcase the rich culture of art in Bengal
& look forward into the prosperous and bright future of Kolkata.

• Reason for selection of topic

A city with a tradition of folk and popular art, Calcutta was also the site of India’s first
School of Art in the mid-nineteenth century. At the heart of India’s avant-garde in the
colonial and post-colonial eras, the School and the city became a laboratory of ideas and
techniques that coupled Indian and Western art practices and played a formative role in
the development of Indian Modernism. This artistic legacy continues to this day, with
Kolkata continuing its role as a centre for contemporary art production.

Designing a Museum of Modern Art for Kolkata, would not only spread cultural awareness
through educational and interactive programmes and, thereby, promote cultural
philanthropy but also providea platform for intellectual dialogue and multi-disciplinary
interaction.
• Need

The new Kolkata Museum of Modern Art will represent Kolkata’s cultural renown by
establishing itself as an ‘Art City’, bringing modern and contemporary, national and
international art together with performing arts, music, cinema, photography, literature,
fine art and sculpture.

Programs ranging from gallery and art restoration facilities, to artist studios and an outdoor
performance theatre to behold different workshops, will empower the young and
experienced artists, so that they can play a critical role in the evolution of their community
and also provide valuable intangible benefits for our society by defining its national,
regional, and local identities

• History of MOMA

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and its multiple expansions over the past century
encompass a variety of architectural types, each revealing distinct qualities about the
modernism out of which they were respectively born. Modernity can be described as an
overarching condition comprised of many modernisms—cultural, social, and aesthetic—
each of which employs singular shifting approaches toward the notion of progress. Yet
common to these sub-projects persists a preoccupation with the relationship between old
and new. The MoMA, and more broadly, the modern art museum grew out of a
rearrangement of the cultural field of the nineteenth century centered upon societal
“lifting” of a new mass public—the art museum bases its history in civic unity, through the
idealistic transposition of private aesthetically valued objects into the public sphere for
viewing. In terms of its future, the MoMA has the exceptional potential to culturally
reinvent.

The Museum maintains an active schedule of modern and contemporary art exhibitions
addressing a wide range of subject matters, mediums, and time periods, highlighting
significant recent developments in the visual arts and new interpretations of major artists
and art historical movements. Works of art from its collection are displayed in rotating
installations so that the public may regularly expect to find new works on display. Ongoing
programs of classic and contemporary films range from retrospectives and historical
surveys to introductions of the work of independent and experimental film- and video
makers. Visitors also enjoy access to bookstores offering an assortment of publications,
and a design store offering objects related to modern and contemporary art and design.
• Aim
To design a Museum and modern art complex with facilities like high-end galleries
and artist studios to empower the local artists and to embrace the cultural past of
Kolkata.

To achieve its goals The Museum of Modern Art recognizes:

 That modern and contemporary art originated in the exploration of the ideals
and interests generated in the new artistic traditions that began in the late
nineteenth century and continued today with its progress from Kolkata to
Newtown.

 That modern and contemporary art transcend national boundaries and involve
all forms of visual expression, including painting and sculpture, drawings, prints
and illustrated books, photography, architecture and design, and film and
video, as well as new forms yet to be developed or understood, that reflect
and explore the artistic issues of the era.

 That these forms of visual expression are an open-ended series of arguments

and counter arguments that can be explored through exhibitions and
installations and are reflected in the Museum’s varied collection.

 That it is essential to affirm the importance of contemporary art and artists if

the Museum is to honour the ideals with which it was founded and to remain
vital and engaged with the present.

 That this commitment to contemporary art enlivens and informs our evolving
understanding of the traditions of modern art.

 That to remain at the forefront of its field, the Museum must have an
outstanding professional staff and must periodically revaluate itself,
responding to new ideas and initiatives with insight, imagination, and
intelligence. The process of revaluation is mandated by the Museum’s
tradition, which encourages openness and a willingness to evolve and change.

In sum, The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the established
and the experimental, the past and the present, of Calcutta, in an environment that is
responsive to the issues of modern and contemporary art, while being accessible to a
public that ranges from scholars to youngsters.
• Objectives
 To merge modern and contemporary, national and international art together with
performing arts, music, photography, literature, fine art and sculpture.

 To represent Kolkata’s cultural heritage by establishing itself as an “Art City”

 To expand the multiple functions that support a traditional contemporary
museum to provide a platform for artists, scholars, students and visitors alike to
have an enhanced experienced of the critical role art and museum play in the
community.

 To provide interactive spaces, commercial spaces and exhibition spaces and give
a seamless connection between them.
 To design creative spaces that provide inspiration to artists and performers

 Designing environments that help integrate people into the community and
enables them to appreciate the contemporary and modern expressions of art.

 Requirements
1. Orientation theatre
2. Educational centre
3. Convention centre
4. Multipurpose central hall
5. Shops
6. Café
7. Library
8. Entrance block including reception and office
9. Gallery
10. restaurant
11. Exhibition areas
12. Admin and institute block
13. Artist’s village
14. Artist Studios
15. Storage
16. Auditorium
17. Interactive spaces
 Methodology

• STUDY
• Aim and objective
• Research problems and design questions
• Design considerations
• Literature review and bye-laws
Literature Case Study
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, San Francisco.
• Live Case Study
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai

• ANALYSIS
• SWOT analysis of the site
• Review of case studies
• Design guidelines analysis

• DESIGN
• Requirements
• Zoning
• Preliminary design
• Final design

 Scope and limitations:

 A huge transition in the form of the architecture style and fabric, been observed from
North Calcutta’s vanishing colonial harmony to South Calcutta’s developing ‘Art Deco’
style of art. Newtown, as any other upcoming towns in India is somewhere still thriving
for its architecture style, which is a challenge to keep up with.

 To come up with something unique which is still a blend and melting pot of the
traditional values and modern and contemporary art of Calcutta, may be challenging.
 Kolkata Museum Of Modern Art

Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA)

is a proposed art museum to be built in Rajarhat, Kolkata

The KMOMA had been estimated to cost about Rs 500 crore, the museum has
been allotted a 10-acre plot in the satellite township of New Town by the state
government

It is designed by acclaimed Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who created

the Bird' Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics, with Abin Design Studio as the
associate Architect.

The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had laid the foundation
stone for this project in November 2013, yet the construction haven’t been
started as of now in 2019.

The park will be surrounded by the New Town Eco Park and Kolkata
International Convention Center on the North, the upcoming Central Business
District and International Financial Hub on the east.

SITE : Action Area II, New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal 700157
AREA : 10-acre , 41600 sq.m (160m x 260m)

The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the established and
the experimental in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern and
contemporary art. My intention is to propose a design that possibly connects the true
essence of the Calcutta with the present-day structural innovation in expression of art
and architecture.

(Signature of Student) (Signature of Co-ordinator )