Steven Holl Architects has been selected to design a new extension to one of India’s oldest museums, the Mumbai City Museum, also known as the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. Selected over OMA, Studio Mumbai Architecture, Zaha Hadid and four others, Holl is now the first architect ever to be chosen through an international competition to design a public building in Mumbai.

“The winning design was distinctive for its sculptural and calligraphic qualities,” stated the official press release. “It proposes a simple volume, which is enlivened by deep subtracting cuts, creating dramatic effects of light and shade. Its central feature is a reflecting pool in a new garden courtyard between the old and new buildings. The scheme will establish a cultural campus around the Museum in this growing district within Mumbai.”