Indian collector Kiran Nadar unveiled with the Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye the designs of the new museum for her enormous collection of artworks.

Near Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) will be the largest private art museum built in this century in India, with an area of about 100,000 square meters and 11 galleries dedicated to temporary exhibitions. In addition, the building will also host two auditoriums for the performing arts, in order to try to attract visitors who are not yet so tied to figurative art.

Adjaye’s design concept considers the multiple civilizations of India and will incorporate the typical motifs of Hindu sanctuaries, the geometries of Mughal architecture of Rajasthan, Edwin Lutyens’s colonial-era Delhi, and the Modernist and Brutalist buildings of post-independence India. The project will also integrate experimental technologies, such as anti-dust repellent added to the concrete mixture to protect the structure from the notorious air pollution of the city.

The museum is expected to open in 2026 and it will be the first building in South Asia designed by Adjaye Associates.