In a bid to encourage contemporary artists and new art audiences alike, the multi-disciplinary Nita Mukesh Ambani Culture Centre brings a state-of-the-art gallery right into the heart of Mumbai’s commercial district. Spanning 16,000 sqft across four floors, and fitted with all the trappings of cutting-edge technology, the Art House is poised to make art visible on a new scale. A gilded necklace crowns the exterior walls of the gallery, making it one of the most eye-catching features of the NMACC façade. Still, the space itself is a gentle detraction from the glamour of the main building with off-white walls and warm wood floors that soothe the senses as the gaze is invited to shift to the art on display. 
 
“The mission of the Art House was to be able to show a wide variety of art and technologies from contemporary Indian artists to contemporary art from other geographies, as well as historic fine art,” explains Richard Gluckman, lead architect for the project. Gluckman’s New York City-based architecture firm Gluckman Tang Architects, is best known for designing the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Museo Picasso in Malaga, Spain. “We had to work very closely with what the artists wanted in their spaces,” explains the architect, “Our reputation is based on the fact that we work very closely with directors, curators, and particularly artists to learn a great deal about the space.”

Fitted for the future
The Art House extends across four levels, and could be treated as a single interconnected venue or four distinct spaces as required. The structural frame of the building at large, which was designed by Atlanta-based architecture, planning and interior design firm TVS Design, offered the opportunity to create a number of different dimensions and proportions within the Art House. “The most important relationship in any space we do is the relationship between the viewer and the art object in the space that they're framed by,” says Gluckman, “We like to think of a flexible building in which there are fixed spaces that give the art object itself a sense of permanence or a sense of belonging.”

Multiple sets of shading and lighting devices ensure that the facade can be tailored to suit the requirements of any shows that come through the space. For video or light-based work, black-out shades cut out all external interference, while scrim shades modulate the light coming in. “We have artificial lights on both sides of the scrims,” adds Gluckman, “If the lights are on outside, you can't see inside, and vice versa.”

The light fixtures by Buffalo-based lighting company Light Lab can be programmed from a single control room to achieve a range of effects. The wood flooring further softens the ambient light, ensuring it reflects warmly off the off-white walls, and has also been designed to be acoustically denser, to mitigate any echoes. Speakers, security cameras and devices for temperature control are fitted into recessed boxes in the ceiling; some of these have been reinforced to accommodate suspension rigs for projectors and other art objects. “If the object is heavier, we can use multiple points to suspend it,” says Gluckman.

Room for more
One of the most notable aspects of Art House is its advanced climate control system, which can tailor the rooms to fulfill the temperature and humidity specifications that are required by international museums who may want to bring their collections into the space. “There are universal standards that museums look at for lending work, so the borrower has to fulfill the parameters for the art they're seeking to borrow,” explains Gluckman, “There are very strict standards, and there may be times of the year that it’s not possible to meet all of them, but we hope the performance can meet those standards and of course there are ways to mitigate that even if you can't.” 

TVS Design head Steve Clem also made an allowance for a loading bay on the facade of the building, designed as a vertical scissor door, to get large-scale objects into the room. “It looks like a window from the outside, so it does not have a negative effect on the architecture,” says Gluckman, “On the inside, however, we covered it with a movable wall that disappears when the lift is in use. When closed, it fits precisely flush with the existing hanging wall.”

Finally, the top floor of the Art House is fitted with a mezzanine, programmatically designed for smaller exhibitions, or to serve as a meeting area, lecture room or pedagogic space. “It’s got everything!” says Gluckman, adding that there has always been an intention to infiltrate the Cultural Centre with art. “Whether it’s the front of the building, or in the lobby, or throughout the complex, the impact of the Art House is going to infiltrate into the rest of the project over time,” he says.

Art House opens with its inaugral exhibition, ‘Sangam/Confluence’ at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Jio World Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai from April 3 to June 4, 2023. Open all days; 10am-10pm