CRAFT’S VILLAGE, PRAGATI MAIDAN, NEW DELHI

 INTRODUCTION

 The National Handicrafts Museum is designed by Charles Correa. It is one of the largest
museums of India and was established in 1956.
 The aim of the project is to preserve the diminishing heritage of art and craft in different
regions of the country.
 The museum holds more than 35,000 artifacts made of different materials such as stone,
wood, terracotta etc.
 There are five galleries in the complex namely Bhutta Gallery, Folk and Tribal Art
Gallery, Cultic Objects Gallery, Courtly Crafts Gallery and Textile Gallery.
 There is one Reference Library containing around 15,000 that can be used by scholars,
designers, craftsmen etc.
 Charles Correa designed the building complex, integrating the traditional architectural
language in a contemporary way, where all art and crafts are placed.
 The whole museum replicates traditional Indian Village with some huts of mud and hay.
 There were two constraints in the designing of the complex, one there was a need of a
robust (pucca) structure to preserve the art and craft and second, the building had not to
overshadow its neighboring building i.e. Purana Quila.
 The art, the activities and the artisans complement each other.
 In addition, there is a village complex, designed in a rural setting and has 15 structures
depicting villages complete with courtyards and temples from all over the country.
 There are also research facilities, a conservation laboratory, an audio visual room, a café,
a gift shop and a library.
 The materials used in construction of the complex are wood, bamboo, steel, fabric, PVC
sheets etc.
 GUIDING PLAN FOR THE VISITORS
 SPACES INSIDE THE CRAFT’S MUSEUM
(a) The Lota Gift Shop:
 On the entrance, we first see the gift shop which has a variety of artifacts like sculptures,
handicrafts, daily use objects etc. The shop has been constructed with RCC and like the
whole complex it has a vernacular style touch on the exterior while the interiors are
mostly give a feeling of modern architectural style.
 The shop is having a small storage room within its area.
 The display shelves are made up of steel platforms, wooden racks and wooden tables.
 Earlier the shop was made for the storage of the artifacts produced by the artisans and not
for sale.
 It is handled by HHEC (Handloom Export Corporation) and has now become totally
commercial.

(b) The Lota Café

 It was initially an eating place for the artisans to take a break and gather around in a
common area. It had a very few seats and a typical “Dhaba” theme.
 Now the café has been modernized and expanded, has ample number of seats for the
people to eat and is perfectly in sync with the village theme.
 The ambience is traditional yet elegant and has minimal interiors with thread and mirror
paintings on the walls and plenty of vegetation in which the existing big trees have been
preserved.
 The ambience is made more authentic with traditional dim yellow lights and simple
wooden furniture.
 The height of the restaurant is about 2.5m.
 Use of natural lighting has been done to a great extent.
 There is a eating space with furniture with a kitchen and toilets for the visitors.

(c) The audio-visual room

 The audio visual room was crafted by Sona Bai, belonging to a rural tribe in
Chhattisgarh.
 The clay models are the objects we see in our daily life i.e. trees, animals, tribal figures
etc.
 The room is used for meetings, workshops and seminars by scholars, students and
artisans.
 The room can accommodate 50 people at a time.
 Along with the clay work, this room also has a kothi (grain storing system) which is
commonly found in Indian villages.
 The walls depict the traditional way of construction of walls in India. First, traditional
clay bricks are put together, then a layer of “pili mitti” is applied on the walls and after
that a layer of cow dung is applied.
This is because cow dung is considered as a purifier which kills bacteria present in the air
and also keeps the space warm in winters and cool in summers.
 The wall is finally plastered with “khadiya mitti” alabaster and patterns are made.

(d) Galleries:

To reach the gallery space one has to walk through an aisle 2.5m wide with wooden
colonnades and reach a courtyard. The first door on the right is the Bhuta Gallery.

(i) The Bhuta Gallery:

 It is interconnected with the Folk and Tribal Art Gallery.
 It has 42 unique wooden sculptures from Udapi district, Karnataka that are 300 years old
and made from jackfruit wood.
 It also has bamboo and terracotta work from the North East India.
Then we enter into the next courtyard which has a massive chariot called the “Ram Rath” which
is made from teak wood.

Ram Rath

(ii) The Folk and Tribal Art Gallery

 The display racks are of different sizes ranging from 0.5m to 1m.
 Walking passage is about 2m wide.
 Use of levels has been done to create the space interesting.
 Task Lighting and Ambient Lighting has been done.
 All the doors and windows are highly detailed and sculpted with perfection. Being made
of teak wood, they are very solidly built with typical carvings from Rajasthan and Gujrat.
 There is a separate room dedicated solely to the Madhubani Paintings from Bihar.

(iii) Cultic Objects Gallery

 This gallery has a display of Bronze sculptures and objects from the different regions of
the country.
 The gallery has a passageway of 3m.
 Natural and Artificial lighting has been used to illuminate the space.
 Different modes of display have been used. There were objects inside and outside the
racks and also on a raised platform in between the passageway.
(iv) The Textile Gallery
 There is a gallery of textiles dedicated to different regions of India.
 The gallery is in two levels and has over 800 unique textiles from across the country.
 There are also display of shawls from Jammu and Kashmir, chicken work from Lucknow
etc.

(v) The Courtly Crafts Gallery

 This gallery has artifacts from the states of Rajasthan and Gujrat including bullock carts,
wooden and iron containers, wooden jharokhas.
 In the center of the gallery space is a step down square with a water body and is open to
sky. This was also used to know the timing of the day.
 Reference Library
 The library has been kept minimalistic with its architecture.
 It has over 10,000 books and articles and serves as a reference library to the students and
scholars.
 People can‟t issue the books but can come and read the books while sitting in the library.
 The library also hold a museum catalogue that can be referred to know about the types of
crafts displayed in the museum.
 It has very simple wooden benches, reception desk, lockers and tables and traditional
looking shelves to maintain a village theme.
 The display racks reach upto a height of 2m.
 Dimensions of the table used were 1.5mX0.75mX0.75m.

 The Saranga Theatre

  The amphitheater provides a platform to perform folk dances, traditional plays to spread
awareness on how different communities do their festive rituals.
 The step dimension for seating is
- Tread: 600mm
- Riser: 450mm
 The stage dimension is 7.2m X 7.2m.

 The Central Space for practicing

There is a central space for dancers and musicians to practice their art.

 The Village Complex

 It is designed in a rural setting and has 15 structures depicting villages complete with
courtyards and temples from all over the country.
 A visitor gets a complete experience of the culture, tradition and lifestyle in Indian
villages in various parts of the country.
 Taking a walk through the museum, one would come across fully open and semi-open
passages with architecture-based crafts like sloping tiled terracotta roofs, wall paintings,
old carved wooden jharokhas etc.
 Display of artefacts
 There is a gallery of textiles dedicated to different regions of India.
 People have displayed the textiles and also made it available for sale to the public.

 Conservation Lab
 A conservation laboratory was made for the conservation of destroyed artifacts. (Wasn‟t
accessible at the time of visit)
 Services
 Electric Power Plant

 Drinking Water

 Restrooms
 Planning Aspects
 Galleries, store, administrative areas and library situated around a series of open to sky
courts with unique rustic ambience coupled with modern functionality.
 The space flows in a hierarchical pattern and has continuity.
 Free flowing internal spaces offer flexibility in display galleries.
 Exhibits, in the village court, lie along the path in the connected courtyards.
 In the larger court, a huge model of „rath‟ has been kept which changes the skyline of
museum.
 Platforms are varying levels are used to articulate the space.
 Architectural Character
 Each court has a display symbolizing tradition. E.g.: - Tulsi
 Local construction material
 Mud plaster and terracotta tile
 Contemporary expression–carved windows, perforated iron screens

Section at different levels

 Area Analysis
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 Reference Library