MMRDA shorlists two designs for Ambedkar memorial

A selection committee formed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to judge the 10 shortlisted entries has selected a concept design submitted by architecture firm Shashi Prabhu & Associates for the memorial. If negotiations for a fee fail with this company, the committee has picked French architecture firm Jakob MacFarlane’s design as the next best choice for the ambitious memorial.

U P S Madan, metropolitan commissioner at the MMRDA, said, “The selection committee was not given the names of any companies. It was given code numbers for every design. The two best designs that the committee has picked belong to these two companies. The MMRDA’s executive committee has endorsed the committee’s decision. We are yet to award a contract for the project’s design. We will take a decision on that in the authority meeting.”

Madan said both the designs essentially suggested a more open, airy structure with trees and landscaping and provisioned for several activities in a basement. The memorial will be equipped with recreational elements such as an auditorium, a library and plaza for community gatherings. The memorial will be built on a 4.84-hectare plot at India United Mills No.5, popularly known as Indu Mills.

The plot, off the Arabian Sea, is close to Chaityabhoomi, where Ambedkar’s ashes are kept. Dalit groups had been, for long, demanding an Ambedkar memorial at the site.

The winning design will get a reward of Rs 1 crore, which Madan said would be adjusted against the consultancy fee that the MMRDA would pay the architecture firm for a detailed design.

The MMRDA had last year invited experienced consultancy firms to engage in a competition for drafting the best concept plan for the proposed memorial. Thirteen companies had evinced interest, and these included two foreign firms, from Hong Kong and France, and three more international companies from the US and Germany in joint ventures with Indian companies. In November, an MMRDA-appointed expert committee of architects shortlisted 10 companies which then submitted the concept design for the memorial.

manasi.phadke@expressindia.com