New Mumbai T2 emerges as largest museum

5 Sep 2014 01:49:47

gulftoday.ae

NEW DELHI: If Mumbai now features in the A-list of National Geographic's "œsmart cities" across the world, the western metropolis owes it to one single piece of architecture "” the new airport that has all the trappings of an art object.

More than that, Terminal 2 of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji airport has emerged as India's largest museum.

"œTravellers might spot the peacock feather motif throughout terminal 2 of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji airport. This and other lofty designs were unveiled earlier this year at the Jaye He Museum, now India's largest public art programme.

"œSome 7,000 works pack the four-storey museum," the magazine says.

Also, more than 40 million people pass through the airport each year, and the exhibit rivals the Louvre in number of visitors (about nine million).

Terminal 2, which opened in February this year, is being touted as a show of grandeur.

The 400,000 square metre project, mounted at a cost of Rs125 billion "” has a 10-storey parking garage, 188 check-in counters and 136 immigration counters.

A fascinating aspect of Terminal 2 is its lattice roof, which is studded with light-sensitive lenses that look like peacock feathers overhead.

But the most spectacular feature of the terminal is Jaye He (Glory to India), India's largest museum, with 7,430 square metre of art visible on all four levels of the airport.

The terminal displays around 7,000 works from craftsmen, collectors and museums across India as well as 100 commissioned contemporary works, some by Indian artists like Mithu Sen, Riyas Komu and Nek Chand.

Also on display is an interactive installation in which water flows from antique spouts that produce musical notes when touched.

The airport also has around 4,925 square metres of landscaped gardens, making it one of India's largest airport gardens.

The catalogue of National Geographic includes familiar names like New York and London, besides new entrants like Dubai, Seoul and Tallinn (Estonia).

Mumbai is the only Indian city that features in the 50-city list, in which San Francisco comes out on top propelled by its reputation as the "œglobal epicentre of big "˜unrealistic' dreamers," that has produced an endless stream of innovations.

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