In 1951, Le Corbusier was invited to design the Sanskar Kendra City Museum in Ahmedabad. Considered an iconic modern building it Is one of three that the architect built on the basis of his typological concepts for this institution. Apart from an initial burst of activity after its inception the museum has been little use in the last 65years. Yet it is visited regularly by architects and others as part of the tourist trail of the city and the architect’s significant oeuvre. Historical photographs of the building in construction show how alien the program and building form were to the time when it was built, yet a euphoria for modern institutions seems to have driven the buildings completion. This study will closely look at both the cultural and architectural premises of the museum at the time of its conception and reconsider these in the context of recent urban developments. In this context it will problematize the concept of Heritage when applied to modern buildings.
