Museum Report _ 29.7.15

EVALUATION OF INFORMATION CENTRE AND CITY MUSEUM, DWARKA

CITY HRIDAY PLANEvaluation of Information Centre and City Museum

Dwarka, Gujarat

Prepared by

URAN MANAGEMENT CENTRE

A-202, GCP Business Centre,Opposite Memnagar Fire Station

Navarangpura, Ahmedabad- 380009

Evaluation of information centre and city museum, Dwarka

Prepared by Urban Management Centre (UMC)July 2015 All photographs are by UMC unless otherwise mentioned. Data from this document may be used and quoted with due acknowledgement to the organization and HRIDAY Project.

Project Team:Manvita Baradi, MeghnaMalhotra, Anurag Anthony, Munindra Joshi, Krunal Parmar, Ilesh Dharek, Rujul Joshi and Bharti Sikri.

The Urban Management Centre (UMC) is a women promoted not-for-profit organization, that works towards professionalizing urban management in India and worldwide. UMC provides technical assistance and support to city governments and facilitates change through peer-to-peer learning processes. It enhances the capacity of city governments by providing expertise and ready access to innovations on good governance implemented in India and abroad. UMC extensively works in the areas of urban water and sanitation, heritage management, planning, urban health, municipal finance, urban management, urban transportation and institutional restructuring. UMC is a legacy organization of International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and hence is also known as ICMA-South Asia. For more information, visit our website: www.umcasia.org .

http://www.umcasia.org/



Table of Contents1

1. Tourist information cum exhibition centre................................................................................7

1.1. Location and connectivity...................................................................................................7

1.2. History of the information cum exhibition centre.............................................................8

1.3. Condition of existing information and exhibition centre..................................................8

1.5. Architecture and design......................................................................................................9

1.6. Infrastructure and tourist facilities..................................................................................10

1.7. Tourist footfall...................................................................................................................11

1.8. Operation and maintenance..............................................................................................11

2. Dwarka City Museum...............................................................................................................12

2.1. Location and connectivity.................................................................................................12

2.2. Existing surrounding features...........................................................................................13

2.3. Architecture and design concept for the museum...........................................................14

2.4. Key segments of the museums...........................................................................................18

2.5. Infrastructure and tourist facilities..................................................................................18

2.6. Cost estimation...................................................................................................................19

2.7. Operation and maintenance..............................................................................................19

2.8. Promotional activities........................................................................................................19


List of figures

Figure 1Exiting exhibition centre, Dwarka & Dwarka city museum under construction.......................6Figure 2 Vegetable market around Dwarkadhish temple.......................................................................7Figure 3Exhibition in the information centre.........................................................................................9Figure 4 Plan for the existing tourist information cum exhibition centre...............................................9Figure 5 Location and surroundings of the exhibition Centre..............................................................10Figure 6 Architecture of the information cum exhibition centre..........................................................10Figure 7 Museum under construction in Dwarka.................................................................................12Figure 8 Location of surroundings, Dwarka........................................................................................13Figure 9 Museum under construction, Dwarka....................................................................................13Figure 10 Prepared views of the galleries and the museum in Dwarka................................................17

List of Maps

Map 1Location of the exhibition centres and museums in Dwarka.......................................................6Map 2 Location map for existing information cum exhibition centre....................................................7Map 3 Location of new city museum Dwarka.....................................................................................12Map 4 Site of the museum , Dwarka....................................................................................................15Map 5 Ground floor plan.....................................................................................................................16Map 6 First floor plan..........................................................................................................................16Map 7 Second floor plan.....................................................................................................................17

List of tables

Table 1 Area program for information cum exhibition centre...............................................................8Table 2 Area program for Dwarka city museum..................................................................................14


Introduction

The ancient city of Dwarka is located on the extreme West Coast of India. The city is one of the Chardhams of the Hindu pilgrim circuit. The history of the city dates back to mythological periods having associations with lord Krishna. It has rich religious and cultural significance in the Hindu religion because of its association with Lord Krishna. This great religious, historic, architectural, cultural and associational values attracts tourists to Dwarka and its surroundings.

The city of Dwarka, therefore needs a city museum to acknowledge, integrate and built awareness among people for the heritage of the city and its surroundings. The city museum and the exhibitions will help the local community to foster a sense of belonging for their assets and enable them to feel an integral part of the heritage. The museum will also help the floating population in Building awareness about the heritage of the region and informing them about the art, architecture and culture of Dwarka. The education on heritage to the local population will also help in developing responsiveness among the host population thus generating local economy.

Dwarka has rich cultural significance that exists in form of time, place and people .Dwarka is rich in architectural heritage as it has large number of temples from 12th-15th century, large number of water structures in form of kunds, sarovars and Ghats etc. The city was under marine archaeological excavations which has led to a large number of explorations in the region. (2500 to 1500 BCE). ).The oldest excavations found in the region belong to the Harappa period, demonstrating it as a trading dockyard. The people in Dwarka and the sub region are involved in the local art, called the rayka art which is in the form of hand embroidery carried out on clothing material. The exhibition in the museum will help in promotional of the local art and architecture in the region and therefore making it more significant.

Urban Management Centre aims to prepare a report for the evaluation of the existing museums in Dwarka under the city HRIDAY plan. The intention of the report is to assess the condition of the existing museums in the city and provide recommendations and a renovation plan for the museums so that they can be used efficiently.

The city HRIDAY plan intends to analyse the following for the improvements of museums in the city

Museum site and location Infrastructure and tourist facilities Current tourist footfall Study of applicable byelaws Exhibition and display facilities Area programing Stake holder consultation Architecture designing and concept Cost estimation and funding opportunities Operation and maintenance Promotional activities

Dwarka has a tourist information cum exhibition centre that lies in the historic core of the city. The information centre is inadequate to exhibit the large heritage of Dwarka. Therefore, in order to showcase the vast heritage of Dwarka there is a proposal for a new city museum by the state department of museum Gujarat. The museum is under construction and is expected to get completed by 2017. The site surveys and analysis done by Urban Management centre will provide recommendations and the concept plan for the two exhibition centres so as to improve the visitor amenities in the region.


Figure 1Exiting exhibition centre, Dwarka & Dwarka city museum under construction

Map 1Location of the exhibition centres and museums in Dwarka


1. Tourist information cum exhibition centre

Dwarka has a tourist information cum exhibition centre operated by the state information department, Gujarat. The Centre lies in the historic core near the main Dwarkadhish temple. The centre is in operation on the first floor and provides information to the tourists with exhibition spaces showcasing the architectural, natural, ecological and cultural heritage of Gujarat.

1.1. Location and connectivity

The structure is located in the premises of the Swami Narayan temple. The nearest landmark to the building is the vegetable market square which is a major junction for all the vehicular and the pedestrian movements. The junction is also called the teen batti chowk, one of the major node leading to the Dwarkadhish temple. The building is well connected with the all the internal and the arterial roads leading to Bet Dwarka and within the town.

Issues: The signage for the Centre are not appropriately located that lead people to the Centre hence lies in isolation with very less tourist visiting the centre. The city needs proper signage to inform people about this information centre.

Map 2 Location map for existing information cum exhibition centre

Figure 2 Vegetable market around Dwarkadhish temple


1.2. History of the information cum exhibition centre

The information cum exhibition Centre is a part of the colonial building built in the 18th century in the temple premises of the Swami Narayan temple. The building was historically a British guest house. The information centre is an adaptive reuse of the colonial structure that was started in 2004, by the state information department, Gujarat in order to cater to the large floating population in Dwarka.

1.3. Condition of existing information and exhibition centre

The adaptive reuse of the colonial building into an exhibition Centre exhibits the information on the history, archaeology, local tribes, folk art and music, fishing and bio diversity of the area of GujaratWith less focus on Dwarka and its surroundings.

The building is a 70 years old structure constructed in lime plaster and timber. The structure lies in neglect with improper repairs done to the structural cracks and loose masonry on the ground and the first floor. It needa proper restoration and reuse plan in order to make the information Centre more efficient for the use of public. The building is rectangular in plan with an area of 80 sq. metres. The ground floor is not in use whereas only the first floor of the building is used as the exhibition cum information centre. The building does not have proper utilities and infrastructure facilities for the physically handicapped and senior citizens.

1.4. Area program

The exhibition Centre has a total area of 80 sq.mt. It as a longitudinal building with a front façade of 30 metres and width 15 metres. The building is under the private ownership of the Swami Narayan temple trust. The ground floor of the building is not in use, whereas the first floor is rented by the state information department Gujarat, which runs the information cum exhibition hall on the first floor. The floor has a large hall which is used for exhibition. The exhibitions in the hall are mounted on the walls in form of information panels. Others are in the form of glass showcases that display artefacts describing the local art and culture of the region.

Table 1 Area program for information cum exhibition centre

S. No Space Area1. Exhibition hall 57 sq. m2. Administrative space 23sq. m3. utilities 10 sq. m

The exhibitions in the Centre are in the form of permanent displays with no space for temporary and short term exhibitions. There are no provision for audio visual presentations and theatre that can show small documentary and films on the history of Dwarka. There artefacts and information panels do not have proper lighting that makes it difficult for the handicapped and senior citizen’s to read the information panels.


Figure 3Exhibition in the information centre

1.5. Architecture and design

Figure 4 Plan for the existing tourist information cum exhibition centre

Architecture of the Building

Colonial heritage sites are an important part of the history and landscape of Dwarka. They provide tangible and intangible links to the past and have great potential to play significant roles in the future of the city. The buildings are of great historic, cultural, social, architectural and scientific values. The building is a residential guesthouse of the 18th century built during the colonial period. The building is rectangular in plan type with the longitudinal façade measuring 30 metres and breadth 15 metres. The building has colonial architectural elements in form of semi-circular arches and key stone.

There are repair works carried out on façade of the building. The closing of the semi-circular arches on the ground floor using the concrete and stone jalis are done are done as a part of restoration and renovation of the structure in an improper manners that changes the overall character of the building. The repairs should be carried out in the manner so as the building does not loses its overall character.

The first floor of the building has large halls for exhibition and adjoining rooms are used for official and administrative purposes.


Figure 5 Location and surroundings of the exhibition Centre

Figure 6 Architecture of the information cum exhibition centre

1.6. Infrastructure and tourist facilities

Visitor needs and amenities

The exhibition centre is small in size and does not cater to the floating population of Dwarka. The centre does not have any facilities for the physically handicapped and senior citizens like ramps, special toiles, lifts etc. Which makes it difficult for the people to access the exhibition hall on the first floor. The exhibition space in the museum is not enough to display the architectural, natural and cultural heritage of Dwarka and Bet Dwarka.

The information centre does not have any reception and information counter for visitor enquiry. The exhibition galleries have no proper sun light for the display of exhibition items. The artificial light inside the museum galleries is not enough for the display of items on the wall and showcasing thus causing a difficulty to read the information on the panels.

The information cum exhibition hall does not have any facilities in form of audio visual media, educational spaces, practical workshops, cultural display galleries and museum theatre for the entertainment and education of visitors.

The toilets facilities have recently been added to the building but are not properly maintained. The tourist information centre does not provide any tourist facilities in form of signage, cloakroom for luggage, physically handicapped access, café, souvenir shop etc. for the visitors. The space in the exhibition centre is inadequate for providing all these facilities compared to the number of people visiting the museum hence needs improvement in all infrastructure aspects.


The displays and information in the Centre are in the regional language causing a readability issues for the people coming from other parts of the country therefore must be multi lingual. The curation in the museum also needs proper improvement.

1.7. Tourist footfall

The tourist information centre has a daily footfall of 30-35 tourist per day (Manager, 2015). The number increases to 100-200 people during the festival season like Janamashtmi, holy etc. Therefore the average number of people visiting the Centre are 3000 on the monthly basis.

1.8. Operation and maintenanceThe tourist information cum exhibition centre is operated by the State Information Department of Gujarat. The centre was started in 2002 undertaking the increase in the tourist footfall of the pilgrim’s in Dwarka. There is no charging fee for the tourist visiting the centre. The centre is under maintenance by the same department.


2. Dwarka City MuseumThere is a proposal of a new city museum in Dwarka. The museum is funded by the Department of Museum, Gujarat. The design of the museum is a proposal prepared by DPVIC Consultants, Surat. The museum building was started in 2007 and is expected to get completed by 2017.

Figure 7 Museum under construction in Dwarka

2.1. Location and connectivity

The site is located at the State highway as a tourism corridor linking two places Dwarka and Bet Dwarka. The site lies outside the historic core of the city in order to reduce pressure of the tourist at the central core of the city the museum is adjacent to the main highway NH 8E which is the primary approach road to the city of Dwarka. As Dwarka is longitudinally divided into east and west, the site of the museum lies on the eastern territory on the new development area in Dwarka.

The site is well connected through the national highway NH 8E, and lies on the outskirts to the heritage core. The site is well connected to the adjacent heritage structures in the core city like the Dwarkadhish temple, Ravala Lake, Rukshmani temple etc. The museum is about 1.2 km from the Dwarkadhish temple and 1.5 km from Ravala Lake. The site is at a distance of 2 km from the Bus stand in the west and 2.5 km from the railway station in the east. Museum being located on the state highway is well connected through road, the site is also easily accessible through the Okha port.

There is a need to improve the local non-motorized public transport in the city that can help in visiting the museum. The transport facilities must also cater to the needs of senior citizens and physically handicapped.


Map 3 Location of new city museum Dwarka

2.2. Existing surrounding features.

The site is majorly a flat land with minimal green cover. The museum is located at a distance of 2 km from the historic core of the city. The area around the site is majorly open with scope of new development in the coming years.The immediate surroundings have a private hotels, mobile tower and electric cables passing above the museum site.

Figure 8 Location of surroundings, Dwarka

Applicable bylaws

Dwarka being a municipality, the bylaws are guided by the district collectorate. A museum is an institutional building as per the development plan of Dwarka 2018. The site follows institutional building byelaws with a minimum FSI of 1.2 and minimum ground coverage of 40% of the total site area.

The building has a permissible building height of 30m from the ground .The building is permitted to have a basement with minimum height of 2 meters. Since the new building is not surrounded by any ASI protected heritage structure there are no heritage byelaws applicable on site. The under construction museum building follows the development byelaws applicable on site.


Figure 9 Museum under construction, Dwarka

Other features

The Museum building is under construction, with the building structure complete on the ground and the first floor. The finishes on the building façade are under the state of implementation.

The exhibitions and the display in the museum will be brought from the museums of Surat, Kutch, and Gandhi Nagar etc. The artefacts found as a part of marine archaeology in Dwarka and the surroundings are available with National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. The Department of museum will apply the institute for the excavated artefacts and install them in the gallery of marine archaeology. A number of galleries have need identified for variety of artefacts to be placed.


Area program

The new city museum in Dwarka has a proposal for the following area program to be incorporated in the plan do as to cater to the needs of the new museum.

Table 2 Area program for Dwarka city museum

S. No. Requirement Total area1. Available Land Area 3600 sq.mt.2. Built up on ground 1500 sq.mt3. Positive spaces 4000 sq.mt.4. Circulation 1200 sq.mt. (Max 20%)5. Entrance lobby/Tourist Information Centre 100 sq.mt.6. Reception 20 sq.mt.7. Emporiums and Boutiques 100 sq.mt8. Exhibition spaces (Paths) 2000 sq.mt9. Art Galleries/Audio Visual 1000 sq.mt10. Path Of History 100 to 150 sq.mt.11. Path of marine history marine archaeology and

marine ecology100 to 150 sq.mt

12. Cultural path : rural heritage and handicraft 100 to 150 sq.mt13. Mythological inheritance centre 300 sq.mt.14. cafeteria 500 sq.mt15. Service and utility 50 sq.mt.16. Storage spaces 60 sq.mt.17. Library as potential expansion in basement: adult

section and children section400 sq.mt.

18. Open space 1500 sq.mt.19. Landscape court 30 sq.mt. 20. Children play area 150 sq.mt. 21. Parking 50 sq.mt.

d2.3. Architecture and design concept for the museum

The concept of the museum was based on the “notion of time”. The galleries are designed so as to take people through the different periods of history Dwarka has seen in the past. Heritage of Dwarka is to be perceived as a living dynamics of its context. An effort has been made towards achieving a morphisms of spaces as a display corridor which can be conceived through time and technology. The building is designed so as to conceive a space displaying the past, present and future and representing an interesting dialect between the built vocabularies in form of spaces.

For the better planning and design of the museum the sun movements were studied and a sense of micro environment was carried out in order to have better daylight and interaction spaces in the museum. The wind as a dynamics of nature and an integrated part of the micro-environment is well integrated in the planning. The intention was to regulate the wind capturing in order to achieve a breeze in key spaces within which the visitors can move easily.The planning efforts were made to generate a museum space of centuries captured in time of sequence, notion of transitions and Vermont of pauses one experiences. The museum was designed to have good circulation patterns, services, utilities and micro environment needs.

The exhibition galleries were designed to reflect the historical senses by the use of technology in the exhibitions. The building intends to use of local material for construction with a sensibility of the contemporary existence.


Museum is designed as a learning experience that raises the spirits high and and shall lead to an intellectual indulgence by the quality of its built environment and visual configuration.

Planning Approach:

The planning is based on displaying the entities by placing them in to the notion of time and then comprehending them in terms of its required ambiguity of display. The galleries by itself tell a story that makes a visitor almost pass through a sequence of experiences defined by the paths as a movement corridor. The vertical movement in contemporary sense is a confined experience of closed space of ramp, which almost makes an individual jump from one display to other, this shall be reviewed carefully so that transition by itself is a phenomenon of experience representing the spatial interpretation of historical spaces. The visual connectivity within the transition zone, is a primary consideration by use of technology. The circulation within the museum is with an intention of conceiving the notion of time by creating spaces that makes an individual with the display in true sense at the same time creates a micro-environment of similar time.

Site plan of the museum

Map 4 Site of the museum , Dwarka


Ground Floor Plan

Map 5 Ground floor plan

s.no. Ground floor activities1. Information centre2. Sunken 3. Handicraft shops and art display4. Parking area5. Open court

First floor plan

Map 6 First floor plan


Second floor plan

Map 7 Second floor plan

s.no. first floor activities1. Historic display level 12. Historic display level 23. Historic display level 34. Cultural area display5. Library and research6. Administrative area

Second floors7. Marine archaeology section8. terrace

Figure 10 Prepared views of the galleries and the museum in Dwarka


2.4.Key segments of the museums

Path of History: The gallery is to display the historic significance of Dwarka and the surroundings.

The gallery and its exhibits will take people back in time to describe the history of Dwarka during the

mythological time periods of lord Krishna. And inform about the history till present date.

Marine archelogy section: the section will inform people about the excavation works carried out in

Dwarka and the region. The excavated materials will be out to display for the people, so as they could

be informed about the submerged Dwarka. The marine archaeology section would also provide

information about the marine ecology in the coastal areas of the Saurashtra region. The section will

also provide information about the flora and fauna of the region. The species of plants and animals

could be put to display.

Cultural display: This section will provide information about the culture of people in the region, the

display of local art and craft will be put to display, the regional dresses, ornaments etc. will be

exhibited in the showcases.

2.5. Infrastructure and tourist facilities

The new museum building in Dwarka which is under construction has a proposal of better infrastructure and tourist facilities in the area program chart as made available by the department of museum, Gujarat.

Entrance and the open plaza: The entrance has a ticketing counter for the maintenance and revenue generation. The museum has the security check for the people which leads visitors to central point where visitors can gather information and supervised by the member of staff to answer enquiries. The open plaza also acts as a common interaction space for informal activities.

Recommendations by HCA

The central plaza must incorporate gallery maps, events leaflets and information desks that has staff to guide people to the museum information and display galleries. The museum should also incorporate cloak room for the luggage and eatables carried by the victors for their comfort and safety and security of the museum.

Ramps: The museum has ramp facilities for physically handicapped movement. These are provided at the entrance and within the floors for the movement of physically handicapped people. The building has a ramp that takes visitors from ground to the first floor.

The provision of ramp and lift from the first to the second floor for the movement of physically handicapped people to the marine archaeology gallery should be incorporated.

Displays: The museum has a proposal for informal exhibitions on the ground floor. Historical and cultural display galleries on the first and marine archaeology on the second floor. The museum also has provision for handicraft shop for the display of local art and craft of Dwarka. There is a provision of open sunken court for the temporary display of artefacts in the open court.

Signage to and in the museum: At present there are no signage to the museum as it is in the construction stage. There is a need of a proper signage plan in and around the museum for the


direction to the museum and movement of the people inside the museum. Pocket size maps to be made available to the people at the museum entrance for ease in movement.

Signage’s and location maps should be installed around the significant heritage sites and structures that direct the visitors to the museums. The location of the signage should be such that caters to the maximum number of people.

Toilet facilities: The toilet facilities are available for the people as a part of the area program on the ground and the first floor.

Recommendations: There is a need to provide special toilets for the physically handicapped people in the museum.

Café and restaurant: there is a provision of coffee shop inside the museum for the visitors.

Souvenir shop: There is no space for souvenir shop in Dwarka city museum.

Recommendations: This should be incorporated as a part of area program from where the visitors can buy books, catalogues, replicas and souvenirs as a part of their visit to Dwarka.

Outdoor area: The site has a landscaping scheme that caters to the visitors after their visit to the museum the site landscaping in a part of set of drawings and has not been executed on site.

Recommendations: The site landscaing should have a species on indegenious trees and plants, Benches, sun shades covering needs to be made available for the facilities of the visitors.

2.6. Cost estimation

The project cost was initially INR 261 lakh which is revised to INR 492 lakh and is fully funded by the Department of Museum, Gujarat.

2.7.Operation and maintenanceThe maintenance pf the museum will be done by the by the department of museums, Gujarat. The body is also responsible for maintaining all the artefacts and exhibits places inside the museum.

2.8.Promotional activitiesThere are several measures that may help in promotion of museums.

Addressing the press: The print media is read on the regular basis. The best medium to outreach people are the local newspapers, magazines and television channels. Signage and location maps are to be installed at the heritage sites that inform people about the heritage asset and help them in locating themselves in the city. The signage and location maps should have information of all the significant heritage structures in the city.

Information panels and signage: Another method to outreach people is through the hording designed in the compatible materials. The visitors can be informed about the museum activities and exhibitions through information panels and kiosks that can be installed at the public spaces.

Internet: Interne especially World Wide Web is another medium to connect to the audience. The information can be put on websites and can be made interactive wih updated at regular intervals.

Addressing the specific groups: Information can be given to the school and college. A visit to the museum can be made as a part of the education program. Different age groups should be invited on the regular basis and this visit can be made informative and entertaining by audio visual presentation


and short documentaries on Dwarka and sub region. This information can be further transferred to the families of the school children

Cofee table books and leaflets: the information about the heritage of Dwarka and the museum can be promoted through the leaflets and coffee table books in eatery joints, restaurants and hotels that provide information about the museum and its exhibitions.



Documents

Museum Report _ 29.7.15