The reasons that buildings might look more human is that I feel architecture is sculpture,
but it is sculpture used by human beings India’s greatest Architect.
That was the title given to Charles Correa when he was alive.
In a career spanning 5 decades, he designed over a 100 buildings, with a design style
that spoke to and of the people.
But perhaps his biggest contribution to society at large is a generation of architects that
he inspired, teaching them what Modernism could mean for India.
But the legacy of this man goes much beyond just architecture.
So today lets uncover his story, Welcome to Blessedarch and today on this channel we are
looking at the life and designs of Charles Correa.
Charles Mark Correa , was born on 1 September 1930 in Secunderabad.
He was born in an India that was still under British rule.
But when he completed his school education, he graduated into a new and free country.
In 1949 he decided to pursue architecture at the University of Michigan and later a
masters at The MIT or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Now studying in the west he was undoubtably exposed to the works of Architects like Corbusier
& Louis Kahn.
But while he loved their design style, he never lost touch with his Indian roots.
He wanted to create modern buildings, but for India and so finally in the year 1958,
he came back to India to establish his own practice.
Now at this point of time, modernism was spreading all over the world.
This new design style did away with the crutches of the past, from religion and tradition.
But Charles never conformed to this definition of modernism.
He didn’t see tradition and modernity as mutually exclusive.
He was very aware and appreciative of the beliefs, myths and traditions that have shaped
the Indian society and the built environment in India for thousands of years.
He wanted to honor these systems in place, and wanted to include them in his designs,
but ofcourse he wanted to do so in a new modern architectural language.
The Gandhi Smarak Sanghralaya is one of Charles’s earliest works in India.
This museum which is an ode to Mahatma Gandhi is simple concrete framed structure, with
brick walls, louvered windows, tiled roofs, and stone floors.
There are no decorative or flamboyant elements anywhere in this building.
It is simple, and it is rooted in its culture and place just like the man it is made to
honor.
In this early project you can see how Charles wanted to give modern India a new architectural
language, but still holding on to the rich vocabulary of culture and material already
in place.
In the years to follow he went on to work on more projects like the Madhya Pradesh Legislative
Assembly in Bhopal, the Sonmarg apartments in Mumbai and the Ramkrishna and Parekh House
in Ahmedabad.
But then came the Project that is probably considered a defining project for Charles
Correa, one that did not just change his life, but also of more than 6 million people.
Now before we continue with our story I want to tell you about the sponsors of this video
The Drawing Board.
This is an initiative by Rohan Builders & Mindspace Architects.
Rohan builders along with mindspace architects have collaborated on some wonderful projects
in the past three decades and understand the massive contribution that architects can bring
to the future.
Hence, this competition platform was created.
The drawing board is an annual competition for graduate students and this year, the subject
is about designing a memorial for Charles Correa.
You can find out more about this by going by clicking on the link in the description
below.
I will be looking forward to seeing some amazing designs.
And now let's get back to our video.
After Independence India experienced a phenomenal rate of urban growth and mumbai had a big
part to play in it.
From 2.9 million residents in 1951 to 5.9 million in 1971, Mumbai saw an unprecedented
growth.
But there was not enough space in the city.
The quality of life of people and the built environment started going down.
The city needed to expand, and to keep up with the growing Population, a new project
was put in place called Navi Mumbai.
This new Urban area was to provide housing and job opportunities for a large population
of the current city.
In the year 1970, Charles was appointed as the Chief Architect for Navi Mumbai.
He wanted to make this one of the most well planned cities of the world.
Spread over an area of 344 square kilometers, this city was planned on the principle of
decentralization.
Charles created a pattern that ensured a balanced land distribution and zoning across the city.
With a well planned transport system, nodal communities to accommodate people of different
income groups, and thoughtful community spaces a lot of people consider this project as Charles’s
biggest contribution to the field of urban Design.
It was indeed one of his biggest projects and it helped transform the lives of millions
of people.
And it was not just the masterplan of this city.
He took on many challenging Urban issues, to try and create a new and better society.
He gave equal attention to people regardless of their income.
It did not matter whether he was designing for the poorest or the richest.
In an essay titled, ‘Great City…Terrible Place’ he once wrote : ‘A good architect
does not have to be fazed by working under severe economic constrains, however drastic
they might be.
Having perforce to use only the humblest materials, such as mud, need not prevent him from creating
a joyous and triumphal piece of architecture.’
He carried this belief with him in all his projects.
He worked hard on the design of Navi Mumbai but he was the chief Architect only till 1975.
Nevertheless his relationship with Urban Design did not end there.
In 1984, he founded the Urban Design Research Institute in Bombay, dedicated to the protection
of the built environment and improvement of urban communities.
And During the final four decades of his life, Correa did pioneering work in urban issues
and low-cost shelters.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves, Lets come back to the year 1975.
In the year 1975, Charles returned to private practice designing the National Crafts Museum
in Delhi.
It is museum that some call an anti museum.
A building that shies away from the street, one where you travel much more in open air
than you do indoors.
This relationship that the built environment shared with the surrounding, with nature and
with the sky was important to him.
He believed that outdoor spaces are not a luxury reserved only for those who could afford
it.
A best example of this is a project that came in 1986, one that has fascinated me even before
I became an architect the Jawahal Kala Kendra in Jaipur.
I remember going to this structure when I was younger and just being fascinated by everything
that the spaces had to offer.
He designed this building to mimic the spatial planning of the city of Jaipur.
This multi-arts Center reflects the city of Jaipur in the use of traditional construction
materials, colours, and art.
But one of the best spaces here is the centrally placed open to sky amphitheater.
It binds all the other spaces together in one symphony.
I remember sitting here specially during the monsoons and just admiring the beauty of the
design.
This central courtyard, this open to sky community space, is probably a defining characteristics
in of all his designs.
One of the best and most mature examples of this is the Belapur housing scheme, where
the whole scheme is developed by creating modules and arranging them around different
hierarchies of courtyards.
Creating communal spaces that are both shared and intimate.
The Blessings of the sky this was the title of one of his essays where he went on to write,
‘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.’
Charles wasn’t just responding robotically to natural elements or ticking off some checklist,
he was responding to people, to their habits, their communities and their culture.
And he did so in all of his projects, right until the very end of his life.
Charles went on to create a lot of beautiful projects in his lifetime, like the Surya Kund,
the Inter University Centre for Astrology and Astrophysics and the British Council.
And not just in India, his designes crossed borders when he created buildings like the
Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, the Neuroscience Center at MIT, and the Champalimaud
Foundation Centre in Lisbon.
In the year 1984, Charles Correa was awarded the Royal Gold Medal by RIBA or Royal Institute
of British Architects, and it was at this time that he was named "India's greatest architect".
A name well deserved if you ask me.
Ofcourse Charles won a lot of awards and titles in his lifetime like Japanese Premium Imperiale,
Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and the Padma Vibhushan which is India's second-highest
civilian award.
But his legacy today are not just these titles and awards but something much greater.
On 16th June in 2015.
Following a brief Illness, Charles Correa passed away.
At the time his death, I remember I was in my 4th year of college.
I saw so many people pray tribute to this great architect.
It was almost like a lot of people had lost their mentor.
He had taught a whole generation of designers what spaces could mean, and how they can transform
the lives of the people inhabiting them.
He taught them, both literally and through his work, how architecture could be of the
people, and yet be modern in its approach, be beautiful and yet be rooted.
It is an undeniable fact that Charles Correa revolutionized Indian architecture in the
post-independence era.
And if you have ever seen any of his buildings in person, I think you will agree with me.
The British Architect David Adjaye once said about him
Charles is someone who has that rare capacity to give physical form to something as intangible
as ‘culture’ or ‘society’.
His work will continue to inspire and to thrill for many generations to come."
Its been 7 years since the man has passed and this statement today holds more true than
ever before.
Now Charles Correa was a teacher to many.
And to pay tribute to the unparalleled legacy of this great guru, The theme of the drawing
board this year is to create a memorial for Charles correa.
You can checkout more details about this competition in the description below.
I cant wait to see some inspired and beautiful designs.
And that was it you guys, that was the video on the life and designs of Charles Correa.
Let me know how you found it in the comments below and also don’t forget to give this
video a thumbs up to share this video and to subscribe to Blessedarch.
Don’t forget to checkout the drawing board and I will see you guys soon with more such
content.
Until then.
Bubyee