POST INDEPENENCE

ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE

IN INDIA

CHARLES CORREA

HUMANITIES

SNEHA COUTINHOS.Y.B.ARCH ‘A’BHARATI VIDYAPEETH C.O.A.

“The sky, all said and done, is the source of light - which is the most primordial of stimuli acting on our senses. And across its face, every day, passes the sun – the origin of Life itself ! . . . Small wonder then that man has always perceived the sky above to be the abode of the gods, and that down all these many millennia, it has exerted such extraordinary power on us and on the architecture we build.”

-Charles Correa

INTRODUCTION

• Born into a middle-class Catholic

family in Bombay

• Became fascinated with the principles

of design as a child

• At Michigan two professors who

influenced him the most -Walter

Salders and Buckminister Fuller.

• Kevin lynch , then in the process of

developing his themes for image of

the city triggered Correa’s interest in

urban issues

CHARLES CORREA

EDUCATION AND CAREERYEAR DESCRIPTION

EDUCATION

1946-1948 Inter-science. St. Xavier's college, university of Bombay.

1949-1953 B.Arch., University of Michigan.

1953-1955 M.Arch., Massachusetts institute of technology

CAREER

1955-1958 Partner with G.M. BHUTA associates

1958 To date In private practice

1964-1965 Prepared master plan proposing twin city across the

harbor from Bombay.

1969-1971 invited by the govt. of Peru

1971-1975 Chief architect to CIDCO

1975-1976 Consultant to UN secretory-general for HABITAT

1975-1983 Chairman Housing Urban Renewal & Ecology Board

1985 Chairman Dharavi planning commission

CORREA & CORBUSIER

Like most architects of his generation he has been influenced by Le Corbusier , but

by his response to the Mediterranean sun with his grand sculptural decisions he

believes that Corbusier’s influence in the colder climates has not been beneficial

because these heroic gestures had to withdraw into defensible space, into

mechanically heated (and cooled) interiors of the building.

On way back to Bombay in 1955 - saw the Jaoul House (le Corbusier) in Paris

under construction. He said:

‘I was absolutely knocked out . It was a whole new world way beyond anything

being taught in America at that time ,then I saw Chandigarh and his buildings in

Ahmedabad . They seemed the only way to build.”

CORREA & GANDHI

Gandhi's goal for an

independent India had

been a village model,

non-industrial, its

architecture simple and

traditional

In these early works

Correa demonstrates

uncompromising

execution of an idea as a

powerful statement of

form.

GANDHI DARSHAN, RAJGHAT

(1969)

GANDHI SAMADHI, RAJGHAT

(1956)

GANDHI SMARAK,

AHMEDABAD

(1963)KASTURBA GANDHI

SAMADHI, POONA (1962-1965)

Correa's work in India shows a careful development, understanding and adaptation

of Modernism to a non-western culture. Correa's early works attempt to explore a

local vernacular within a modern environment. Correa's land-use planning and

community projects continually try to go beyond typical solutions to third world

problems.

His emphasis on the use of local materials can be seen to reflect Indian vernacular

architecture, which focuses on the needs of local people with regards to social

needs and weather conditions, and the use of locally-sourced produce and

craftsmanship. This is beneficial especially when building in low-income areas, as

eradicating the need to import goods lowers overall building costs.

He combines vernacular and modern concepts to create designs that support the

cultural identity of a place and community and eventually lead to sustainable

architecture.

He forever stresses the importance of social issues and the need for quality low-

income housing, his builds range from institutional to public, urban planning to

memorials and housing projects.

CONCEPT: OPEN TO SKY

In India, the sky has profoundly affected our relationship to built form, and to open space. For in a warm climate, the best place to be in the late evenings and in the early mornings, is outdoors, under the open sky. Such spaces have an infinite number of variations: one steps out of a room. . . into a verandah. . . And thence on to a terrace from which one proceeds to an open courtyard, perhaps shaded by a tree . . . or by a large pergola overhead. At each moment, subtle changes in the quality of light and ambient air generate feelings within us feelings which are central to our beings.

COMPONENTS:

i. Courtyards and terraces

ii. Urbanization

iii. The machine for living

iv. Workspaces

v. Leisure

vi. The ritualistic pathway

vii. Metaphors

COURTYARDS AND TERRACES

Can make a decisive difference between livable habitat and claustrophobia

Particularly for the lowest income group even in dense housing, individual terraces can be given

Such spaces not only improve living conditions but also has economic value in developing countries like India

These principles are viable also in high rises where the issue is compounded by hot and humid climate eg. Kanchenjunga apartments

LOW INCOME HOUSING:

GUJARAT HOUSING

BOARD

BED BED

LIVING

COLONIAL

BUNGALOW

(PLAN AND SECTION)

KANCHENJUNGA

URBANIZATION

• Such open-to-sky spaces are of course of crucial importance to the poorest

inhabitants: the squatters. Obviously there is an appalling mismatch between the

way our cities have been built and the way we use them today

SQUATTER HOUSING

THE MACHINE FOR LIVING

• Another equally critical parameter: Energy. architects have depended more and

more on the mechanical engineer to provide light and air within the building.

WINDSCOOP HOUSES,

SIND

RAMKRISHNA HOUSE

PAREKH

HOUSE

METAPHORSThe relationship of architecture to the other arts is a crucial one.

Murals and sculpture are used not just to provide references to

local traditions and events, but really to bring back into balance

the spatial tensions generated by the built form. Use of abstract

color and realistic images, setting up a dialectic between built

form and visual imagery – a complex interaction which can adds

layers of metaphorical and metaphysical dimensions to

architecture. These buildings possess not only an extraordinary

beauty of proportion, materials, etc., but they also project, with

astonishing force, polemic ideas about ourselves and our

relationship with the Non-manifest World.

WORK SPACES

to deal with solar protection involved various

forms of brise-soleil. this kind of concrete Louvre,

while providing powerful visual imagery for the

built form, can be counter-productive. The

concrete heats up during the long hot day and then

acts as an enormous radiator in the evening,

rendering the rooms unbearable.

THE RITUAUSTIC PATHWAYA METAPHOR

FOR THE

INDIAN

STREET,

TAKING THE

VISITOR FROM

VILLAGE TO

TEMPLE TO

PALACE.

PRINCIPLESFew principles in his

work:

Incrementality

Identity

Pluralism

Income generation

Equity

Open-to-sky space

Disaggregation.

Belapur housing project is

an example of the use of

these principles

BELAPUR HOUSING PROJECT

KANCHENJUNGA APARTMENTS

This 28-story tower, with its concrete

construction and large areas of

white panels, bears a strong

resemblance to modern apartment

buildings in the WestThis building

has 32 different apartments with 4

types of flats varying from 3 to 6

bedrooms.Interlocking of these

variations expressed externally by

shear end walls that hold up the

cantilevers.Minimalist surfaces cut

away to open up double-height

terrace gardens at the

corners.Complex spatial

organization of living spaces

SITE PLAN

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE SITE

EVOLUTION

ELEVATIONS

SECTION SHOWING TRANSPARENCY

Garden terraces actually a modern

interpretation of a feature of the traditional

Indian bungalow: the verandah

Each apartment provided with a deep, two-

story-high garden terrace that is oriented

away from the sun so as to afford protection

from the elements

BELAPUR HOUSING

Project demonstrates how

high density housing (500

people per hectare) can be

achieved in a low-rise

typology, while including

(open to sky spaces) and

services, like schools, that the

community requires

Overriding principle - to give

each unit its own site to allow

for expansion (Incrementality)

Units are Malleable so that they

can be colonized by occupants,

and modified to their

social/cultural/religious needs

(Identity)

Houses constructed simply and

can be built by traditional

masons and craftsmen -

generating employment for local

workers (Income generation)

several plans exist that cover the social spectrum, from squatters to upper income

families (Pluralism)

the footprint of each plan varies little in size (from 45 sqm to 70 sqm), maintaining

equity (fairness) in the community

SITE PLAN PHASE 1

SITE PLAN PHASE 2

Small shared courtyard 8mx8m around which

seven houses are grouped.

The sites themselves vary in size only

marginally (from 45 to 70 sq m)

The houses are structurally simple , can be

built and altered by local mistries

JEEVAN BHARTI , DELHI (1975-86) When the building came up in the 1980s, architect Charles Correa was criticized for

making it too futurist.

This office complex of LIC is situated on the outer road of Connaught circle and acts

as a pivot between the colonnades of CP and new generation of high rise towers that

now surround it . Thus the building is both a proscenium and a backdrop: a 12

storey stage set whose faceted glass surface reflects the buildings and trees around

CP.

• Offices are located in two separate wings creating a built up of 6300 sq. m. A

98 meters long pergola connects the two buildings .

BHARAT BHAWAN(1975-1981)

• Bharat Bhavan is an

autonomous multi-arts complex

and museum in the state of

capital bhopal, established and

funded by the government of mp

facing the upper lake , bhopal,

it houses an art gallery, a fine

art workshops, an open-air

amphitheatre, a studio theatre,

an auditorium, a museum tribal

and folk art, libraries of Indian

poetry, classical music as well

as folk music.

The natural contours of the site have been used to create series of terraced gardens

and sunken courtyards.

The profound hierarchy in the organization of spaces, is what allows for the

transition courtyards to develop an informality and openness which gives this space

its character, as a platform for sharing and building up cultural ideas.

Lighting and ventilation within the building are provided with top lights (slots

along the parapets).

MP VIDHAN SABHA

Won prestigious AGA KHAN award for

The new Vidhan Sabha houses the many diverse functions crucial to a functioning

democracy

The plan is a pattern of gardens within gardens , divided into 9 squares .

The five central ones are halls and courtyards , while the 4 corner positions are

occupied by specialized functions.

The Vidhan Sabha , the Vidhan Parishad, central library, and combined hall .It also

contains a host of other facilities : offices, cabinet rooms, cafeterias , common rooms for

security staff etc.

According to the requirements there are 3 main entrances- for public,VP’s, MLA’s .

These 3 main streams separated from each other experience the complex internal space

of the building while moving along verandah and overlooking courtyards and gardens–

as in traditional architecture of India.

DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF

VEDIC PRINCIPLES

PARTIAL MODEL VIEW OF THE

PUBLIC ENTRANCE , CENTRAL

COURT AND VIDHAN SABHA

FLOOR PLAN

ROOF PLAN

• The building is located in the centre of bhopal. Since the main access road is not

axial , but swings towards the site in a rather casual manner , the plan of the

building developed as a circle, so it could have an autonous unity and presence,

regardless of the direction from which it is approached. References of this circular

form are–parliament building in New Delhi, Buddhist stupa near Sanchi.

SECTION

ELEVATION

The whole building presents as extremely pleasing vision of powerful curves and straight

vertical and horizontal lines. Whereas the building could have fallen into the trap of

being merely monumental, its pristinely simple lines raise it to an altogether different

plane. This is the genius of Charles Correa

The whole composition is enclosed by a wall that defines its exterior form like a

circular inner city- a model of the city of Baghdad. This approach has generated an

interesting roofs cape and skylines, too often missing in contemporary architecture, the

use of gateways and domes and a tower to develop the imagery of this landmark

complex is very much in the tradition of the harmonic order found in the traditional

architecture of Islam

Correa has used open to sky

courtyards and a labyrinthine

pattern of pathways to organise

the complex requirements of

adminstrative and legislative

functions.

Accommodates 300 guests, Center for massages

and yoga, Water sport etc.

The master plan does not concentrate all the

facilities in one area,but generate a large number

of potential growth points, thus allowing a more

flexible response to future demands .

The Guest rooms come in 3 configurations-:

1. On the edge of the beach hidden under the palm

trees . They are suites for longer stay with

cooking facilities etc.

2. Overlooking the beach there are 100 guests

rooms. Here the facilities are such that every

room gets its own private sundeck..

3. Between these two are private detach housing

units

KOVALAM BEACH RESORT,

KERALA

ENTRANCE LEVEL PLAN

• Construction is in traditional vernacular of Kerala- Plaster walls with red tiled roofs

• Other pavilion consists of little Bamboo chhatries with coir matins on the floor and local

Kerala handicrafts.

SECTION (DETACHED UNIT)

SECTION( MAIN BLDG.)

DETACHED UNIT VIEW

SUNDECKS

IN THE

MAIN

BUILDING

SUN DECK

VIEW OF THE SUN DECK FROM

INSIDE

INTERIORS

GANDHI SMARAK SANGHRALAYA

PHILOSOPHY

Successfully shows the life of Gandhiji

Minimalist architecture

Material honesty

Contemporary architecture

Glow of spaces

SITE PLAN

ROOF PLAN

SECTION

SECTIONAL ELEVATION (MODULAR UNIT)

SECTION SHOWING OPERABLE LOUVRES

• Material used:

Tiled roof

Brick wall

Stone floor

Wooden floor

Light and ventilation by

operable wooden louvers

• These elements combine to form

a pattern of tiled roofs which are

grouped in casual meandering

pattern, creating a pathway

along which the visitors

progresses towards the centrality

of the water court

BRITISH COUNCIL LIBRARYThe new building for the British council

houses a number of diverse functions

including a library, an auditorium an art

gallery and the head quarters of their

offices in India

ENTRANCE

Correas idea for the building

was to express the three basic

cultural identities that have

shaped contemporary India:

Hindu, Muslim and European

At the farthest end is the axis

mundi of hinduism, a spiral

symbolizing bindu: the centre

of the cosmos. The next nodal

point is the main courtyard,

centered around another

mythical inage: the traditonal

islam char bagh. The third

nodal point along the axisis a

european icon, inlaid in marble

and granite

SITE PLAN

SITE SECTION

VIEW

COX’S SCULPTURE SITS IN THE HINDU COURT, AT THE POINT OF BINDU.

VIEW ACROSS THE INNER COURTYARDS, WITH IN THE FOREGROUND AN INTERPRETATION OF THE LAYOUT OF THE ISLAMIC GARDEN OF PARADSE

EUROPEAN ICON, USED TO REPRESENT THE AGE OF REASON, NCLUDING THE MYTHIC VALUES OF SCIENCE AND PROGRESS

AWARDS

1961 Prize for low-income housing

1972 PadmaShri by the President of India

1980 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Michigan

1984 Gold Medal- Royal Institute of British Architects

1985 Prize for the Improvement in the Quality of Human Settlements from the

International Union of Architects.

1986 Chicago Architecture Award.

1987 Gold Medal- Indian Institute of Architects

1990 Gold Medal (International Union of Architects)

1994 The Premium Imperial from Japan society of art.

1999 Aga khan award for vidhan sabha, bhopal

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://archnet.org/authorities/9/publications/7098

• http://archnet.org/authorities/9/sites/1405

• http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/charles-correa-indias-greatest-

architect/80659/

• http://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/charles-correa-the-people-s-architect/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Correa

MADE BY: SNEHA COUTINHO