Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya Case Study: Plan, Section and Concept (Charles Correa)

The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya is the museum and archive of Mahatma Gandhi's letters, photographs and papers at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, designed by Charles Correa from 1958 and inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963. It is built from one idea: a 6 m square unit of brick piers, a concrete channel beam and a tiled pyramid roof, repeated as rooms, open pavilions and courts around a water court. Below: the brief, site, plan, section, materials, climate, what people have said about it and what Indian designers can take from it.

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: the facts

Architect: Charles Correa, his first important work in private practice, which he had opened in Bombay in 1958. He was 28 when he took it on.

Client: the Gandhi Smarak Trust, which still runs the Sangrahalaya (Rabindra Vasavada, 2005). B V Doshi recalled in 2015 that the textile industrialist Kasturbhai Lalbhai commissioned Correa.

Location: Sabarmati Ashram, on the bank of the Sabarmati river, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Designed and built: commissioned 1958; the Charles Correa Foundation dates the project 1958 to 1963; inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963. Sources differ: William J R Curtis (2024) dates it 1962.

Type: memorial museum and study centre for Gandhi's letters, photographs and documents.

Size: 51 modular units of 6 m by 6 m in the first phase, with units added since. We found no published total floor area.

Status: in use as a museum and open to visitors. The ashram's other buildings, including Gandhi's home, Hriday Kunj, are older and are not Correa's work.

The brief: a memorial that is also an archive

Gandhi lived at Sabarmati Ashram from 1917 to 1930 and set out from it on the Salt March to Dandi. The Charles Correa Foundation's project page describes the building as a homage to him that houses "letters, photographs and other documents" tracing the freedom movement. The brief joined a memorial, which asks for quiet, with a working archive, which asks for storage and room to grow.

According to Rabindra Vasavada's essay "The Memorial that reflects the man" (in Namaskaar: Remembering Bapu, 2005), the Gandhi Smarak Trust asked Correa in 1958 to design "a memorial sangrahalaya and study centre". The Trust built it in the early 1960s and still controls it. In a 2015 piece for the Times of India, B V Doshi recalled that Kasturbhai Lalbhai commissioned Correa. We could not confirm Lalbhai's exact role from a second source.

Correa was young. Smruti Koppikar, writing in the Free Press Journal (25 October 2024), notes he was 28 when he took the commission. The project text credited to Correa on Architexturez calls it his first important work in private practice, and the Foundation's résumé of Correa dates that practice, in Bombay, to 1958.

Site and context: inside a working ashram

The museum sits within the ashram on the river bank, among the low, tiled buildings of Gandhi's time. This is the first thing to get right in a case study: Correa designed the museum, not the ashram. Hriday Kunj, the prayer ground and the other ashram buildings were there long before him.

Correa borrowed the setting's materials. The Foundation's text says the materials are "similar to the other buildings in the ashram": tiled roofs, brick walls, stone floors and wooden doors. It names one exception, the reinforced concrete channels, which we come to in the section below. The result keeps the museum at the scale of the ashram. Koppikar describes it as "modest scale, local materials, open and covered spaces around a water body".

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya concept and design ideas

Three ideas carry the design, all stated in the sources:

One unit, repeated. Vasavada describes the building as "designed based on a modular pattern". A single pavilion, 6 m square, makes everything: closed rooms, open halls and the spaces between them.
A village, not a monument. The Foundation says the units form "a pattern of tiled roofs, in a typology analogous to the villages so central to Gandhiji's thinking". The Correa text on Architexturez says they are grouped "in a consciously asymmetric manner", with pathways and meeting points like a village.
Growth built in. The same text says the plan allows "for eventual expansion" and speaks of "the incremental nature of a living institution". Units have been added since 1963, extending the existing pattern.

Vasavada links this to Correa's own later writing on "flexibility and increamentality" (spelled so in the source), quoted from Correa's book Transfers and Transformations. For students, the point is that the concept is a rule, not a shape: a unit, a way of joining units and a way of leaving gaps.

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya plan: modules, courts and the water court

The plan is a field of squares on one grid. According to the Correa text, "the initial construction consisted of 51 modular units", some enclosed by walls and others left open, connecting covered and open spaces. Vasavada adds that the courtyards are not drawn as separate pieces; they are "formed by the manner in which these are connected", that is, by the gaps left between units.

Read it as four kinds of space:

Enclosed units with brick walls and louvred wooden shutters, for the archive, the library and the parts of the collection that need protection.
Open pavilions, a roof on four corner piers, for exhibits and movement. Vasavada calls the basic pavilion "open from all sides and therefore, extremely flexible".
Open-to-sky courts, the gaps between units, planted and lit.
The water court, near the centre. The Foundation describes the units as "grouped in a casual meandering pattern, creating a pathway along which the visitor progresses towards the centrality of the water court".

The Correa text also mentions areas "for rest where the visitor can sit" set between the exhibition spaces. So the plan sets a pace: look, sit, look again, then arrive at the water.

Schematic plan diagram of the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya principle: a grid of equal square modules in four kinds, enclosed rooms with brick walls, open pavilions under pyramid roofs on corner piers, open-to-sky courts and a central water court; a dashed visitor path meanders from the entry through the pavilions to the water court, and dashed empty squares at the edge show where new units could be added on the same grid — One 6 m square unit, repeated as rooms, pavilions and courts, makes the whole museum and leaves room for it to grow. The arrangement is illustrative, not the built plan. Diagram: MOA

Our diagram shows the principle only. It is not a tracing of the plan, and the number and position of units in it are invented for clarity. To see Correa's own drawings and archival photographs, start with the Foundation's project page; the Foundation is the custodian of his archive of drawings, models and photographs and says much of it has been digitised.

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya section and structure

Every unit is built the same way. Vasavada sets it out precisely:

The module is "6.00 meter square on plan with 2.10 meter height under the channel beam".
The beam is "supported over four corner 'H' shaped brick piers".
"The channel supports a pyramid timber roof which is clad with boarding from inside and mangalore tiles from out side."
"The pavilion is lifted off the ground", which makes the floor read as a floating plane.

The channel beam is the key element. The Foundation calls the RCC channels "the only additions" to the ashram's palette and says they "act as beams and as rainfall conduits", and that they "permit additional construction to be added in the future". One member does three jobs: it spans between piers, it carries the roof, and it collects rain from the roof and carries it away along the edge of the unit. Because every unit ends in the same channel, a new unit can be set against an old one without changing either.

Schematic section through one module of the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: a raised stone floor, H-shaped brick piers at the corners rising 2.10 m to an RCC channel beam, the channel holding rainwater at each edge, a pyramid timber roof with Mangalore tiles outside and timber boarding inside sitting on the channels, and a brick wall with a louvred wooden shutter and no glass between the piers; arrows show rain running off the roof into the channels — The concrete channel is the one new element: it is beam, gutter and the edge where the next unit can join. Dimensions are only those the sources give. Diagram: MOA

The 2.10 m height is low for a public building. If you are drawing the section for a studio sheet, show that contrast: a low, wide edge and a lifted centre in each unit. The roof pitch and member sizes are not given in the sources we read, so label them as approximate or leave them off.

Materials and construction

The palette is short and the sources agree on it. The Foundation lists tiled roofs, brick walls, stone floors and wooden doors, plus the RCC channels. Vasavada adds "louvered windows devoid of glass". In detail:

Brick for the piers and the infill walls, left exposed.
Reinforced concrete only for the channel beams. The Correa text describes the units as "modular units 6 metres x 6 metres of reinforced cement concrete", meaning the concrete frame at their edges.
Timber for the pyramid roof structure, the boarding under it, the doors and the louvres.
Mangalore tiles, clay roof tiles, on the outside of the pyramid roofs.
Stone for the floors.

Inside the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: a shaded pavilion with a dark stone floor, exposed brick piers and concrete channel beams under a timber-boarded pyramid ceiling, opening on the right to the water court and, beyond, to further pavilions with a louvred wooden shutter; exhibition panels stand against the piers — A pavilion beside the water court in March 2026: brick piers, concrete channel beams, timber ceiling, stone floor and no glass. Photo: Nizil Shah, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Doshi, in the 2015 piece, said Correa "addressed issues related to climate, lifestyle, and architectural space, using available materials". For Gujarat's wider material choices today, see our guide to building materials in Ahmedabad and Gujarat.

Light, climate and services

The museum has no glass windows. The Foundation states that "light and ventilation being provided by openable wooden louvres". Light also comes in sideways from the open pavilions and courts, and the water court sits in the middle of the route.

Our reading, not a claim from the sources: in Ahmedabad's heat, this is a building that works by shade and air movement. The deep roofs and low beam keep sun off the floor; the gaps between units and the open-sided pavilions let air pass through; the louvres can be shut against glare and dust while still breathing. It also has a cost. A building with no glass cannot control humidity or dust the way a sealed archive can, and the sources we read do not say how the Trust now stores the original papers: ask on a site visit.

The sources say nothing specific about artificial lighting, fans or other services in the original design. Recent photographs show ceiling fans and electric lights fixed in the pavilions, so services have been added over time.

Reception: what critics, users and the Trust have said

B V Doshi (2015): "For me, Correa's Gandhi Smarak Sanghralay museum was the simplest and clearest statement that an architect can make."
Charles Correa's project text: it describes the building as "modest and humanly scaled", and calls the approach "the uncompromising execution of an idea as a powerful statement of form", an approach it also finds in his ECIL Office Complex and the later Kanchanjunga apartments.
Rabindra Vasavada (2005): he quotes Correa that the building is "fragile and extremely simple" and so needs the utmost care. He reported that its materials were showing their age and needed fresh work, and that the Trust had invited Correa back to advise on restoring the building, upgrading the exhibitions and preparing a proposal for the ashram approach. He gives no year for that invitation, and we found no published account of what was carried out.
Smruti Koppikar (2024): she writes that the design "continues to draw awe from planners and architects around the world", and that the Smarak, like Mani Bhavan in Mumbai, encourages silence and reflection. In the same piece the Gandhian scholar Tridip Suhrud questions whether Gandhi needs a physical memorial at all.
William J R Curtis (2024): in an Indian Express article republished by the Correa Foundation, he lists the museum among Ahmedabad's modern buildings and argues that, unlike older buildings, India's modern ones lack heritage protection and need restoring "in a way which preserves their authenticity".

The ashram redevelopment, as dated fact. On 12 March 2024 the Prime Minister launched the master plan of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial project at Sabarmati. Architecture Live (Rajesh Advani, 13 March 2024) reported a cost of ₹1,200 crore, an ashram area growing from about 5 acres to 55 acres, the conservation, restoration or reproduction of 36 existing buildings, and HCP Design, Planning and Management as the designer. None of the reports we read says what the plan means for Correa's museum.

What designers in India can take from it today

These are our reading, not claims from the sources.

Design the joint, not just the building. The museum can grow because every unit ends in the same channel beam. On a phased school, clinic or campus, decide early what the edge of each phase is, structurally and for rainwater, so phase two can be built against phase one without breaking into it.
Make one element do several jobs. The channel is beam, gutter and connector. In a tight Indian budget, a member that does two or three things saves money and keeps the drawing clear.
Borrow the palette of the place. Correa matched the ashram's brick, tile and stone and added one material. On a sensitive site, a heritage precinct or an old campus, list what is already there before choosing anything new. Our roofing materials by climate guide covers when clay tiles still make sense.
Plan for maintenance from day one. Vasavada's warning that a simple, fragile building needs care applies to any exposed brick, timber and tile building. Write a maintenance note with the drawings: who cleans the channels before the monsoon, how louvres are re-oiled, how broken tiles are matched.

If you are documenting the Sangrahalaya for a studio, our case study field checklist sets out what to measure, sketch and photograph, and museums appear in our B.Arch thesis topics by typology. Correa's Kanchanjunga apartments and Jawahar Kala Kendra get their own case studies in this series.

Visiting the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya

The museum is inside Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and is open to the public. Check timings and any visitor rules on the ashram's own website, gandhiashramsabarmati.org, before you go; we do not reproduce them here because they change. For a case study visit, take a measuring tape and count bays: the 6 m grid is easy to check on site, and it is the fastest way to understand the plan.

Looking for an architect who thinks in systems like this? Find an architect on MOA.

FAQ

Who designed the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya?

Charles Correa. It was his first important work in private practice, commissioned in 1958 when he was 28, for the Gandhi Smarak Trust.

When was the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya built?

It was designed from 1958 and built in the early 1960s; the Charles Correa Foundation dates it 1958 to 1963. Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated it in 1963. William J R Curtis gives 1962, so you will see both years.

Did Charles Correa design Sabarmati Ashram?

No. The ashram, where Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1930, including his home Hriday Kunj, was there long before Correa. He designed only the museum within it, using the same brick, tile, stone and timber as the ashram buildings.

What is the module size of the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya?

Each unit is 6 m by 6 m on plan, with 2.10 m clear under the concrete channel beam. The first phase had 51 units; more have been added on the same grid.

Is the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya the same as the Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai?

No. "Gandhi Memorial Museum" is used for several museums in India. The Sangrahalaya is the one at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad; the Madurai museum is a separate institution and building.

Sources

Charles Correa Foundation: Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, 1958-63 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Charles Correa (credited), Architexturez: Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya at Sabarmati Ashram (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Rabindra Vasavada, Architexturez: The Memorial that reflects the man, from Namaskaar: Remembering Bapu, 2005 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
B V Doshi as told to Paul John, Times of India, via Architexturez: Charles Correa: His work must be studied, saved, June 2015 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Charles Correa Foundation: CCA Resume (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Charles Correa Foundation: The Foundation (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
William J R Curtis, The Indian Express, via the Charles Correa Foundation: The modern monuments of Ahmedabad, 29 January 2024 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Free Press Journal, Smruti Koppikar: MumbaiNaama: What Do Memorials Really Convey, And How Much Do We Need Them?, 25 October 2024 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Architecture Live, Rajesh Advani: PM Modi Unveils Master Plan of Gandhi Ashram Memorial, 13 March 2024 (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
Sabarmati Ashram: official website (accessed 3 Nov 2026)