National Art Gallery, Pakistan
Sights/Gallery
National Art Gallery in Islamabad, Pakistan is the country's first national art gallery. Built on a small hillock opposite the Majlis-e-Shoora (the Parliament of Pakistan) and the Aiwan-e-Sadr, it opened to the public on Sunday, August 26, 2007.
The whole concept of the design is a series of squares which is the essence of the universal whole. The architect arrived at this form from nature, tradition, unconscious creativity of the folk and the concept of a defined circulation pattern. The building form is embellished at the rooftop level by a system of skylights in the form of mellow curves.
The entrance to the Gallery is in the spirit of the East. An entrance in our tradition has a certain sense of invitation, as though the owner of the space wishes to invite you at different levels which makes the entrance not domineering and imposing but inviting and subservient to the building, and to the generosity of the host.
Entering into the building, one comes upon a space which is an open courtyard. The courtyard, like the Mughal and pre-Mughal houses where every space surrounds it, looks onto it and at the same time borrows light and air from it. In our design it becomes a multi-layered space around which all activities happen and gives the building a majestic yet introverted sense of space.The central court is treated in layers of arches, buttresses, cornices, and corbellings, reminiscent of Cordova, Spain. The interior spaces are juxtaposed at different levels. Most of the spatial and functional units are visually interconnected, the 'see-through' effect thus unifying the interior.
The building has a double external wall with an air cavity. The exterior is fair-faced brickwork while the interior walls are of reinforced concrete. The building stands on a concrete frame structure. The floors are predominantly of porcelain tiles in muted shades of grey and white. The construction grid of a unit gallery is 28 ft x 56 ft. This can be multiplied any number of times in varying combinations. Interior walls are painted white, with temporary partitions in gypsum board.
Inset in the floor at the base of the ramp are fire-brick tiles. The involuntary response is to glance down to one's feet and then upwards to appreciate the huge volume of the building. The contrast in scale is immense. Thus begins a journey through the building where contrast is constantly exploited. There are a variety of spatial experiences, compressed ceiling heights in one part of the gallery contrast with the voluminous space in another. The architect has consciously manipulated the spatial experience by first constricting views, then offering spectacularly long views.
More Details: NAG Finally an Icon
The whole concept of the design is a series of squares which is the essence of the universal whole. The architect arrived at this form from nature, tradition, unconscious creativity of the folk and the concept of a defined circulation pattern. The building form is embellished at the rooftop level by a system of skylights in the form of mellow curves.
The entrance to the Gallery is in the spirit of the East. An entrance in our tradition has a certain sense of invitation, as though the owner of the space wishes to invite you at different levels which makes the entrance not domineering and imposing but inviting and subservient to the building, and to the generosity of the host.
Entering into the building, one comes upon a space which is an open courtyard. The courtyard, like the Mughal and pre-Mughal houses where every space surrounds it, looks onto it and at the same time borrows light and air from it. In our design it becomes a multi-layered space around which all activities happen and gives the building a majestic yet introverted sense of space.The central court is treated in layers of arches, buttresses, cornices, and corbellings, reminiscent of Cordova, Spain. The interior spaces are juxtaposed at different levels. Most of the spatial and functional units are visually interconnected, the 'see-through' effect thus unifying the interior.
The building has a double external wall with an air cavity. The exterior is fair-faced brickwork while the interior walls are of reinforced concrete. The building stands on a concrete frame structure. The floors are predominantly of porcelain tiles in muted shades of grey and white. The construction grid of a unit gallery is 28 ft x 56 ft. This can be multiplied any number of times in varying combinations. Interior walls are painted white, with temporary partitions in gypsum board.
Inset in the floor at the base of the ramp are fire-brick tiles. The involuntary response is to glance down to one's feet and then upwards to appreciate the huge volume of the building. The contrast in scale is immense. Thus begins a journey through the building where contrast is constantly exploited. There are a variety of spatial experiences, compressed ceiling heights in one part of the gallery contrast with the voluminous space in another. The architect has consciously manipulated the spatial experience by first constricting views, then offering spectacularly long views.
More Details: NAG Finally an Icon
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