Image title: East wing (facing the Gardens)

Stamp of our time

After collapse in the 1934 earthquake, the East wing was rebuilt with a garden facade in the colonial "Rana style" popular at that time. The post-earthquake reconstruction was so poorly executed, however, that only 50 years later its structural condition necessitated demolition and reconstruction. Rebuilding from the ground up, while maintaining the historical inner courtyard, allowed the creation of new interiors suited to the functional requirements of a museum.

The 1934 structure is recalled by certain design elements of the new garden façade. These include the simple alternating rhythm of large and small openings and the contrasting exposed brick and white plastered decorative details.

The external stairs were shifted to the left and a new arcade with a large bay window above was introduced to give access and light to the museum's main staircase.

East wing, facing the garden
[New main staircase]

Allowing convenient visitor circulation within the museum, the spacious new stairwell in the East wing also serves to exhibit some ancient wooden roof struts - the remnants of temples destroyed in previous earthquakes. The struts, too tall to fit the normal gallery height, can here be easily viewed at close range.

The peculiar angle and design of the hand rails is inspired by the typical stairs of important buildings in Tibet. They are meant to be a subtle homage to the artistic and religious relations between the two countries, as amply shown in the Buddhist galleries to which the stairs lead.

"Any extra work which is indispensable must be distinct from the architectural composition and must bear a contemporary stamp"

From article 9 of the "Charter of Venice" (1964), the international guidelines for the conservation and restoration of monuments.

Beam, bracket and pillar

Typical design motifs from the Malla period (below left) have inspired two modern interpretations at the Patan Museum: in timber for the garden pavilions (centre); in steel sections and timber for the East Wing arcade (right).

The beam: in contrast to brackets and pillars, horizontal beams are traditionally not adorned. They were also left plain for the two modern adaptations.

The bracket: this type of historical bracket (with its peculiar "rolls") can be seen on some of the oldest buildings in the Kathmandu Valley. Its archetypical motifs are interpreted in simplified modern form.

The pillar: the historical pillar design is based on a combination of square, round, and octagonal cross-sections. The two modern interpretations play with the same geometrical forms.

Gallery information:

The Patan Museum is located on the Durbar square of Patan (Lalitpur/Lalitapura, Kathmandu, Nepal) which is associated Keshav Narayan Chowk (Keshavnarayan)—a form of Lord Vishnu. Being listed as a World Heritage Site, the whole of Durbar square is filled with exquisite temples, sculptures and other ancient structures, of which the ancient history history can be traced to the Malla Kings of Lalitpur. It is an important site for both Buddhism and Hinduism.