The renowned architect and urban planner Charles Correa’s work includes a long list of buildings that reflect the clients’ choices and perspectives. Correa, who passed away in 2015, brought ideas to life through his buildings in his 60-year career, creating a legacy.
Delegates launch Charles Correa’s biography, titled Citizen Charles, authored by architect Mustansir Dalvi. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Describing buildings as “sculpture” that can be used for human occupation is rather uncommon, but that is what Charles Correa, architect and urban planner, succeeding in doing: he brought life to his structures.
The Gold Medal, designed by Correa. He approached Titan Watches to cast it for him
By Team Mid-Day
“In June 1988 my father, Charles Correa’s practice had completed 40 years, and to commemorate the occasion he decided to do something for the profession. It was then that he thought of giving a gold medal to the undergraduate student of architecture with the best thesis project,” recalls Nondita Correa Mehrotra, director, The Charles Correa Foundation, which recently announced entries for the Charles Correa Gold Medal 2024, an annual award initiated in 1998 by the celebrated Indian architect and urbanist. The medal recognises talent among young students of architecture for their undergraduate thesis project in a first professional degree course. “At that time, it was restricted to colleges near Mumbai. Three to four colleagues would be on the jury with him to select that year’s winner. It was then given at an event — I think the first year it was at the lecture his good friend, the Italian architect Renzo Piano, gave in Mumbai at the UDRI,” she recalls.
Warn of a big agitation if KA not restored within 15 days to its original form
By Team Herald
Artists and stalwarts from the background of theatre, music, films and various other backgrounds have pledged to take the agitation to the streets to ensure action against the wrongdoings and to correct what has been already done to the Kala Academy.
The gathering heavily criticised the Government, Art and Culture Department, Minister and the Chief Minister for destroying the old infrastructure and glory of Kala Academy under the garb of renovation. Charles Correa Foundation representatives, Arch. Arminio Rebeiro, Tanvi Kharia, Ex-Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly Tomazinho Cardozo, Devidas Amonkar were present at the meeting.
The meet was organised on Monday in Panaji by performing artistes to raise concerns on the faulty renovation
By Times News Network
Panaji: Artistes from across Goa met in Panaji on Monday where they demanded the resignation of art and culture minister Govind Gaude over the faulty renovation of Kala Academy (KA). They passed a resolution demanding govt release a white paper on the expenses incurred on the refurbishment of KA.
They discussed the issue threadbare while Gaude was seated in the audience to hear their grievances.
They were unanimous in their demand that Gaude step down immediately. KA has courted controversy since work was taken up three years ago. The matter got worse when leakages were reported more than twice after the renovated structure was opened by govt six months ago.
The following is an excerpt from the speech given by the Charles Correa Foundation on Monday, 17 June 2024 during the ‘Artistes Meeting on Kala Academy’ at the Shram Shakti Bhavan, Panjim.
The Kala Academy has been an iconic cultural landmark for the people of Goa since its inception in the 1980s. It has been a space of congregation for people from all walks of life to celebrate the arts and participate in a wide spectrum of cultural activities in the city. Designed by world renowned architect Charles Correa, the building has also etched itself as a fine example of India’s modern heritage.
Vladimir Belogolovsky speaks with Nondita Correa Mehrotra about her father, Charles Correa, who designed for the Indian climate and was trying to bring equity to society.
After being closed for over two years on account of renovation works, Kala Academy, the State’s premier art and culture centre, was finally thrown open to the public in November last year by the State government, after spending around Rs 56 crore on its renovation. But even before its reopening, the stage roof of the open air auditorium of Kala Academy collapsed in azzJuly last year, leading to uproar from across the State, particularly the Opposition leaders and cultural fraternity. If that was not enough, the mirrors in the green room collapsed in December last year, followed by the crumbling of the false ceiling inside the facility earlier this month. ANILKUMAR MISHRA digs deep to find out the root cause of this malice
Day 02 | Part 02: Practice of Research + Curation Moderators: Vishal Khandelwal, India / Ela Singhal, India Speakers (Part B): Shayari de Silva, Sri Lanka / Ishita Shah, India / Nondita Correa Mehrotra (virtual), India / Meghal Arya, India
Organized by the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University in collaboration with the Architecture Foundation, the Architectures of Transition 2023: Frameworks and Practices in South Asia conference aimed to create a forum that helps architects reflect upon the breadth of work undertaken in the South Asia region collectively.
The Charles Correa Foundation was part of the panel on Day 02 discussing the theme: Practice of Research + Curation. The session focused on defining and articulating the nature of the practices of research, curation, and archiving. This practice is critical for nurturing the idea of South Asia and its relevance to the practitioners of the region, and to hold us to a standard of a deeper reading of place.
This video was posted to the Mittal Institute YouTube Channel on 27 March 2024. This video is a part of the three day conference titled Architectures of Transition 2023: Frameworks and Practices in South Asia held in New Delhi from 14-16 December, 2023.
In an era of smash-and-grab real estate capitalism and ideological extremism, buildings such as Sanskar Kendra City Museum, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Stadium and others need to be restored in a way that preserves their authenticity, allows for new uses
These outstanding modern buildings in Ahmedabad need to be restored in a way which preserves their authenticity while allowing for new uses. (Illustration by CR Sasikumar)
by William J R Curtis
Once upon a time, the city leaders in Ahmedabad constructed institutions for the public good. Today, they knock down great buildings to suit short-term interests such as land speculation and private profit. Ahmedabad is home to architecture of universal value, both ancient and modern. Not just timeless creations of the past such as the Adalaj Stepwell (Vaghela Dynasty, 1498) and the exquisite Sidi Saiyyed Mosque (1573), but also a string of modern masterpieces, such as the Millowners’ Association Building, Shodan and Sarabhai Houses, and the Sanskar Kendra City Museum (1954), all designed by Le Corbusier in the early 1950s; the Indian Institute of Management by Louis Kahn (1963); the Gandhi Ashram Museum (1962) and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cricket Pavilion by Charles Correa (1963); or the School of Architecture (1966), and Sangath studio (1980) by Balkrishna Doshi.
Ahmedabad: After ruminating for almost a year, the civic boddy has decided to demolish the iconic Sardar Patel Stadium at Navrangpura, which was recently put on the 2020 World Monument Fund (WMF) watch list.
The stadium, designed by Charles Correa, will now be replaced by a Rs 200-crore sports facility. A Rs 26-crore building to house the city museum or Sanskar Kendra has also found place in the civic body’s latest Rs 1,900-crore city revival plan.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has hired a private consultant to raise funds to restore the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium.
by Ritu Sharma
At the centre of the busy Navrangpura, a dense residential and business district in Ahmedabad stands the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Stadium spread over 67,000 sq metres.
Designed by the famous architect Charles Correa, the SVP Stadium was built for the Cricket Club of Ahmedabad (CCA) and hosted the first international match in the country in 1981. Gujarat had already made history as it had hosted the first cricket match in India in 1721 played by the Mariners of East India Company at Cambay.
The groups made statements following news that the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, which was designed by Indian architect Charles Correa, is set to be demolished as part of Ahmedabad’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics.
“The SVP Stadium is a modernist Indian coliseum: a remarkable example of innovative and expressive post-Independence design, and one of architect Charles Correa’s most distinctive buildings,” said a Twentieth Century Society spokesperson.
Retrofitting or repairing modern architectural landmarks could be challenging. Concrete structures, as in the Ahmedabad Stadium, are challenging to preserve. Among others, glazing used in modern buildings is only sometimes energy efficient. But these challenges can be met.
by A. Srivathsan
Mirza Ghalib’s verse – ‘My heart boils in the clamour of discontent/ This voiceless bubble augurs a storm’ – best captures the current mood of Indian architects horrified by the quick loss of significant modern buildings. The iconic Hall of Nations in Delhi was pulled down six years ago. Last year, IIM Ahmedabad decided to demolish about 14 buildings, mostly dormitories, on their internationally renowned campus.
Bhawna Dandona, the conservation architect who was involved in preparing the CCMP for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, discusses the ways to preserve the iconic building.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad stands as the result of a remarkable collaboration between architect Charles Correa and structural designer Mahendra Raj. Constructed in the 1960s, it ranks among the most impressive public structures of its era, showcasing cutting-edge engineering and the skills of Indian professionals in the years following independence.
The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, a modernist structure designed in the 1960s by renowned architect Charles Correa and eminent engineer Mahendra Raj, represents the progressive ideals and experimental spirit that characterized India’s post-independence period. Located in the city of Ahmedabad, the stadium is particularly notable for its visionary use of concrete and cantilevering. World Monuments Fund (WMF) named the site to the World Monuments Watch in 2020 to spotlight both the architectural inventiveness of the design and the severe weathering undergone by the exposed concrete structure over the decades.
The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, located in the heart of Ahmedabad was designed in the 1960s, by world-renowned architect Charles Correa along with the award-winning structural designer, Mahendra Raj. The Stadium is a part of the narrative of Ahmedabad’s modernity, a phase that extended from the mid-’50s to the early ‘90s. The buildings of this period represent the progressive ideals and experimental spirit that characterized India’s post-independence period. It is also a part of a larger constellation of structures built in Ahmedabad by architects who were responsible for creating a new architectural vocabulary for the independent nation. The city of Ahmedabad offered patronage that modern architecture had not experienced before. The cotton mill owners who were the patrons, were representative of a new India. These families saw the necessity of combining modernity and tradition to compete in the world market, which was truly global thinking at the time.
