Location: Dhankawadi, Pune

Design Guide(s): Architect & Town Planner Radhika Vaidya

Principal Architect: Anmol Yogleela

Design Team: Jyoti Panchal, Swapnali Deshpande, Rutuja Patil, Mohd. Bilal Siddiqui, Deepak Tope, Aarti Desai & Pranali M Chiplunkar

We were introduced to this design project on 27th January 2015, just a day after renowned cartoonist R K Laxman ji passed away at his Pune residence. For the past 16 years, R K Laxman ji was residing in Pune. He was born and brought up in Mysore, he was living in Mumbai during his stint with Times of India, but he had this strange love for Pune and always wanted to live here! He once said, “People of Pune are cultured, not just a bunch of businessmen, where else could I possibly live?” All these facts gave us the idea to dedicate this Art Gallery, Pune project to the renowned cartoonist.

After a lot of research on the renowned cartoonist two galleries were designed for him like a tunnel inspired by his autobiography, ‘The Tunnel of Time’. The tunnel obviously was made in such a way that natural light flows into the space and lights up the walls where Laxman Ji’s works are being displayed. The site of the proposal was a challenging one as Katraj Dump yard was situated on the same road. Different design strategies were used to make the project an ambivert campus that not only creates an experience within the campus but also contributes to its location.