{{short description|Damaged geodesic dome in Gujarat, India}} {{use Indian English|date=April 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox building | name = Calico Dome | native_name = | native_name_lang = | former_names = | alternate_names = Cali-shop | status = Under restoration | image = | image_alt = | image_size = | caption = Calico dome partially collapsed <!--- | pushpin_map = India Ahmedabad#India Gujarat#India | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = ---> | altitude = | building_type = Dome | architectural_style = Modern architecture | structural_system = Geodesic dome | cost = | ren_cost = | client = Calico Mills | owner = Calico Mills (former)<br>Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (present) | current_tenants = | landlord = | location = | address = Relief Road | location_town = Ahmedabad | location_country = India | iso_region = | coordinates = {{coord|23|1|42|N|72|35|30|E|display=inline,title|type:landmark_region:IN}} | mapframe-wikidata = yes | groundbreaking_date = | construction_start_date = | completion_date = | opened_date = | inauguration_date = 1962 | renovation_date = 2013 (Phase I), 2025 (Phase II) | demolished_date = | destruction_date = 2001, 2003 | height = | architectural = | tip = | antenna_spire = | roof = | top_floor = | observatory = | other_dimensions = | floor_count = | floor_area = {{convert|12|m2|sqft|sigfig=2}} | seating_type = | seating_capacity = | elevator_count = | architect = Gautam Sarabhai and Gira Sarabhai, inspired by Buckminster Fuller | architecture_firm = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | main_contractor = | awards = | designations = | ren_architect = | ren_firm = | ren_str_engineer = | ren_serv_engineer = | ren_civ_engineer = | ren_oth_designers = | ren_qty_surveyor = | ren_awards = | parking = | url = | embedded = | references = | highest_region = | highest_reflabel = | highest_prev = | highest_start = | highest_end = | highest_next = }}
The '''Calico Dome''', also known as '''Calico-shop Dome''',<ref name=":0" /> was a geodesic dome on Relief Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Designed by Gira Sarabhai and Gautam Sarabhai, with an inspiration from Buckminster Fuller's works,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Madhavi|first=Desai|title=Women Architects and Modernism in India. Narratives and Contemporary Practices|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=978-1-138-28142-4|pages=58–63}}</ref> it was a combined showroom and shop for Calico Mills. It was inaugurated in 1963 and fell into disrepair when mills was closed in 1990s. It later collapsed. As of 2025, it is being restored by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as an industrial heritage site.
==History== American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright created a design for an administrative office for Calico Mills in 1950s, but it was not constructed as Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) did not give permission due to prevailing building codes. Later on the same site, the Calico Dome was constructed.<ref name="dnab">{{cite news | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/comment_calico-dome-crumbling-crown-of-architecture_1311809 | title=Calico dome: Crumbling crown of architecture | work=Daily News and Analysis | date=15 November 2009 | access-date=29 March 2013 | author=Pandya, Yatin}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/5ceca4c870c2f6262d3f6ba9efd59efe/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y|title=Modern Architecture and Capitalist Patronage in Ahmedabad, India 1947–1969|last=Williamson|first=Daniel|date=2016|publisher=New York University|pages=68–79|id={{ProQuest|10025620}}|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref>
By the time Wright's design was rejected in early 1950s, the basement for the building was already excavated.<ref name=":0" /> Siblings Gautam and Gira Sarabhai and their team designed the Calico Dome in 1963, inspired by Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="toipb" /> The dome housed the showroom and shop for Calico Mills. The first fashion show in Ahmedabad was organised in the Dome.<ref name="toipb">{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Ahmedabad-Municipal-Corporation-issues-tender-for-Calico-domes-repair/articleshow/12874316.cms | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130426201123/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-26/ahmedabad/31409859_1_calico-dome-heritage-awareness-amc-officials | url-status=live | archive-date=26 April 2013 | title=Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation issues tender for Calico dome's repair | work=The Times of India| date=26 April 2012 | access-date=2 April 2013}}</ref> Indian actress Parveen Babi took part in shows in the 1970s when she was a student.<ref name="toipb"/>
The mills and shops closed in the 1990s and the dome went into disrepair. In the 2001 earthquake, the centre of the dome collapsed and heavy rains damaged the interior of the underground shop in 2003. Later the dome collapsed completely.<ref name="toia">{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Calico-Dome-The-icon-of-its-time/articleshow/10371472.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501232903/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-16/ahmedabad/30285765_1_geodesic-dome-design-calico-dome | url-status=live | archive-date=1 May 2013 | title=Calico Dome: The icon of its time | work=The Times of India| date=16 October 2011 | access-date=29 March 2013 | author=Shastri, Parth}}</ref><ref name="kk">{{cite news | url=http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=1&edlabel=TOIA&mydateHid=16-10-2011&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Ahmedabad&edname=&articleid=Ar00101&format=&publabel=TOI | title=Calico Dome set for makeover Cept, AMC To Build Replica of Structure | work=The Times of India| date=16 October 2011 | access-date=2 April 2013}}{{dead link|date=April 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
On liquidation of Calico Mills, the AMC bought it as the industrial heritage property in 2006.<ref name="toia"/><ref name="toipb" />
==Architecture== The Calico Dome employed two simple structural systems: the geodesic dome and the space frame. The dome was lifted by eight curved iron struts.<ref name=":0" /> It was a five pointed dome instead of six or eight, as generally seen. The points were supported by steel pillars and tubes.<ref name="dnab"/><ref name="toia"/> The canopy of the dome was built by diamond-shaped bent plywood blanks joined by steel studs.<ref name=":0" /> The dome, spread over 12 square metres, covered an open air platform which can be used for displays and fashion shows. The platform was supported by steel frames which were left open at the margins of the platform for the natural light in the underground shop. The underground shop cum showroom was a single square room.<ref name="dnab" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="toia" />
Gautam did the engineering whereas Gira did the detailing of the dome. It is known to be the first space frame structure in India.<ref name=":1" />
A pair of embossed steel lotuses flank the steps leading to the platform. Similar lotuses are found in the spandrels of the 15th-century mosques and gates of the city as well as in the Sarabhai's house 'Retreat' which were added by Surendranath Kar in 1930s. These auspicious lotus symbols invoke welcome gesture.<ref name=":0" />
On one side of the dome, a thin brick wall in Flemish bond was erected. A steel logo sign "Cali-Shop" in an abstracted font inspired by the Bauhaus style projected out from the wall from bottom to top.<ref name=":0" />
==Restoration== In 2010, the High Court of Gujarat had asked the AMC to restore the dome in a year. The AMC planned to restore the structure in two phases, first the basement at a cost of {{INRconvert|42|l}} and then the dome at {{INR}}60–70 lakh; cost of {{INR}}120–150 lakh in total. The CEPT was roped in for suggestions. In January 2013, its restoration of base (Phase I) started, which was completed in fifteen months.<ref name="toipb" /><ref name="kk"/><ref name="dnaa">{{cite news | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_calico-dome-glorious-past-restoring-future_1790653 | title=Calico Dome: Glorious past, restoring future | work=Daily News and Analysis | date=20 January 2013 | access-date=29 March 2013 | location=Ahmedabad }}</ref>
The consultant architect Hiren Gandhi, appointed by the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) of AMC, had proposed to replace the dome with new modern geodesic dome. The HCC rejected his plan and appointed Vadodara Design Academy (VDA) as a new consultant. VDA submitted a detailed report in November 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-22|title=Plan to resurrect Calico dome under way {{!}} Ahmedabad News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/plan-to-resurrect-calico-dome-under-way/articleshow/61745981.cms|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-26|website=The Times of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104192213/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/plan-to-resurrect-calico-dome-under-way/articleshow/61745981.cms |archive-date=4 November 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/nine-years-on-no-progress-on-calico-dome/articleshow/70709009.cms|title=Nine years on, no progress on Calico Dome|date=2019-08-17|website=The Times of India|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> In August 2020, {{INRconvert|2.26|c}} was approved for the restoration but the project was delayed. The restoration design proposed the use of 18mm plywood, computer numerical control-cut panels, epoxy and copper sheets to construct dome in its original form.<ref name=":2" /> The restoration began in March 2025.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2025-03-07 |title=After decades, repairs on Calico Dome begin |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/after-decades-repairs-on-calico-dome-begin/articleshow/118768254.cms |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{commons category}} {{Ahmedabad topics |state=collapsed}}
Category:Geodesic domes Category:Tourist attractions in Ahmedabad Category:1962 establishments in Gujarat Category:Buildings and structures in Ahmedabad Category:Modernist architecture in India Category:Collapsed buildings and structures in India Category:Building and structure collapses in 2001 Category:2001 disestablishments in India