Peace Pavilion

Reframing the narrative of war

The proposal questioned how a nation commemorates its military history, shifting the emphasis from conflict and victory toward the values of peace, nonviolence, and collective coexistence. Drawing on India’s philosophical and political traditions, from the teachings of the Buddha to Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of nonviolent resistance, the project advanced a broader understanding of national identity—one in which the history of war is inseparable from the pursuit of peace.

This conceptual reversal informed the architecture. The museum’s fortified mass was fragmented by crevices and double-curved glazing, tempering the symbolism of defense with a sense of openness. Arches and petal-like surfaces drew on the architectural vocabulary of Delhi’s historic monuments without reproducing them, establishing a contemporary expression rooted in cultural memory.

Designing Peace

The proposal’s underlying premise—that architecture can advance peace by reshaping how societies understand and inhabit public space—led to its selection by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for Designing Peace, the fifth exhibition in its Humanitarian Design Series. Curated by Cynthia E. Smith with Caroline O’Connell, the exhibition brought together 40 projects from 25 countries to examine how design can help build and sustain peace.

The curatorial framing recognized the Peace Pavilion for reversing the premise of a national war museum competition, redirecting its emphasis toward peace as a cultural, civic, and political aspiration. The project was exhibited in New York from June 2022 to September 2023 and subsequently traveled to the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, where it was shown from October 2023 to February 2024.

The competition attracted 268 entries, with Collaborative Architecture among seven practices to reach the final stage before the competition was shelved. The Peace Pavilion remains part of the studio’s continuing inquiry into Architecture That Fosters Democracy.