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 Charles Correa Foundation (CCF) announces the 2024-2025 cycle of the Research Fellowship, a residency program based in Fontainhas, Panaji, Goa.
Apply by 15 December 2023 for a year-long position opening January 2024 with the following qualifications:
Professional degree in Architecture.
Proficiency in using the following software – InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCad + SketchUp.
Academic Architectural Portfolio.
Essay – 500 words (max). Prompt: Interpret Charles Correa’s ideas and practice of architecture and urbanism in 20th century independent India. How do you see it fit into the current day discourse of architecture and urbanism?
Writing sample – from an earlier academic paper.
During the Fellowship, you will be required to:
Assist in preparation of project proposals, surveys and documentation, mapping and analysis, graphics, essays and presentations related to the research project, including coordination with agencies (government or private) for permissions, status, fees, etc.
Assist in work related to acquiring funding for projects or events related to the activities of the Foundation such as preparation of dockets, posters, invitations, etc.
Work on the documentation of drawings and photographs of Charles Correa’s built and unbuilt projects, sketches and essays.
Organise and work on outreach programs of the Foundation through publications, conferences, exhibitions and workshops.
Work on writing up about concerns and issues related to architecture and urbanism, and represent them through essays, blogs, etc.
Assist in creatively designing and scheduling of the events related to the activities of the Foundation.
Make presentations on the Charles Correa Archives, on his philosophy and works, to keen visitors coming to the Foundation, ranging from travelers, student groups and professionals.
Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of ₹20,000/- as well as rent-free accommodation in an apartment leased by the Foundation.
Send in your application to apply@charlescorreafoundation.org with the subject “Application for January 2024 Fellowship” with the necessary attachments.
As the city of Guwahati grows in size and population, three young artists explore the subject of urban waste through their individual art forms to create awareness among the public.
Jajmau ka Tila
Forgotten by their own city in its blind race for urbanisation, the people of Manohar Nagar and Makhdoom Nagar live atop a mound at Jajmau which claims a history of 3400 years.Surrounded by garbage dump yards and tannery water dumped in Ganga, the people of Manohar Nagar guard a picturesque landscape while themselves living in destitute conditions.
अवनति – Avnati
In the heart of Goa’s capital city, Panaji, the once vibrant St. Inez Creek has transformed from a vital freshwater source to a neglected drain. Through the personal narratives of diverse individuals, this documentary explores the creek’s decline, its impact, and the resilient efforts to restore it, inspiring a call to action for our shared environment.
Scavenger
This film is about a modern day threat which has been created by our human civilization.The story revolves around a nine year old student from a marginal background who attends an unique school that accepts plastic as fees and teaches recycling. One fine day, the child encounters an unusual event which raises his concern about his own beings and cherished surroundings.
e-Wasted
This film is an observational exploration of informal collection and recycling of e -waste in Kolkata, a growing hub for toxic wastes. The film presents both the microscopic view of the immediate health hazards and the macroscopic picture of the long term impact on the global climate crisis.
An Omnipresent Landfill
Compelling documentary film that sheds light on the pressing issue of a dumpyard causing significant problems for its neighbouring communities. This thought-provoking documentary aims to raise awareness by following through (a family living near the dumpyard) about the detrimental consequences of improper waste management and the urgent need for effective solutions.
River of Concrete
The film traces the life of concrete waste that emerges from demolishing sites in Bhopal. The contractors give away many reusable materials for cheap to those in need, or to the 2nd hand shops in the old city where they can be purchased. The municipal corporation then picks the unusable leftovers to be processed in a plant some 15 Kms away from the city.
Kere Hogana? – Lets go to the lake?
The Begur Temple’s reclamation and preservation is a testament to a preserved past, and the Begur lake is a promise for a future to be built. The Begur fort though, is waiting to be reclaimed. This film will be a documentation of these spaces and the people that inhabit them.
Raat ki Jag Mag
This film is about the discoveries of the various facets of ‘Manek Chowk’ in Ahmedabad and how the dynamics of space reclaim the urban commons. It will investigate the informal, unwritten waste management and disposal processes and explain how this one-of-a-kind system can exist, fulfil the needs and be self-sustaining.
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.
Addressing various factors associated with Waste Management in India
Rishi Aggarwal
Rishi Aggarwal is an environmental activist based in Mumbai. For over two decades he has been involved with numerous environmental issues in Mumbai with considerable engagement in waste management. He is Director of Mumbai Sustainability Centre
Dr. Shyamala Mani
Dr. Shyamala Mani, having a PhD & MPhil in Environmental Science from SES, JNU and an MPH from University of California, Berkeley is working as Sr. Advisor, WASH and Waste Management, Centre for Chronic Diseases Control (CCDC) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) since 2018. She retired as Professor from the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi in December 2017. As Team Leader Swachh Bharat Mission capacity building project, she continued at NIUA from 2018-2020 and spearheaded the capacity building and training of ULBs during SBM 1.0 until February 2020. She has implemented several integrated waste management projects in Karnataka and several programs towards setting up zero waste centres in different parts of India while working as Program Director of Waste and Resource Management group at Centre for Environment Education from 1987-2012. She has advised countries in South Asia on similar projects. She has been instrumental in research and policy and has been in the MoEFCC’s committees for the formulation of Biomedical Waste, Plastic Waste, Municipal Solid waste, E waste and Hazardous waste during the initial phase and their updating in 2016 and developed different educational materials for implementing them. Along with colleagues and experts in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia, she wrote in and edited a book ‘Municipal Solid Waste Management Energy Conversion in Developing Countries – Technologies, Best Practices, Challenges and Policy’ published by
Elsevier. She has also won several awards such as the UNCHS Global 100 award for community-based waste management projects in 1999, Plasticon India award for the most innovative plastic recycling technology in 2005 and Paryavaran Puraskar (institutional) for contribution to Biomedical waste management in India in 2001. She is also the recipient of the National Science Talent scholarship of NCERT, ICAR junior fellowship in Agricultural Microbiology and Fogarty International scholarship in Environmental Health during her studies in India and abroad. She has published widely, both popular and academic books & articles.
Malini Parmar
Alumini of IIM Kolkatta and Delhi College of Engineering she had a brief stint as a Banker before global IT work experience spanning 25 countries and 17 years. She has also held the CMO, CSO and CSR head roles in IT and BPO companies. She now runs a social enterprise called Stonesoup.in which aims to make sustainable living easy while creating employment for women. She has been volunteering for responsible waste management since 2011. She is part of SWMRT , 2bin1bag campaign (segregation at source) and Bangalore Eco Team – citizen plastic ban campaign across the city, Swachagraha – to get 10 lakh to start composting and Period Love – bleed Green – a campaign that promotes positive outlook towards periods and sustainable menstruation options. Feels strongly that Swachh bharat is a possibility. She was selected as one of 75 Women Transforming India by Niti Aayog in 2022 and part of UN Women Industry Disruptor 2021, has been a speaker at more than 100 events across schools, colleges, corporates, municipalities and now also TEDx. She is a single mom by adoption and lives with her two kids and two dogs.
“The objectives that are being given to demolish this architecturally important building can be met without demolishing it. By preserving it the profession and society can demonstrate the strength and depth of their creative and historic imagination for posterity.” – A G Krishna Menon
“It is a very iconic monument.” – Mallika Sarabhai
“The design embodies a clear demonstration of structural efficiency, making it inherently suitable for expansion and adaptive repurposing. Any architect who hastily opts for demolition on grounds of capacity or structural longevity either lacks thoroughness in their approach or fails to embrace a creative opportunity.” – Sudipto Ghosh
“For all the reasons that Nondita Correa Mehrotra expressed so well, I support saving the Patel Stadium. India cannot lose any more of its iconic modern buildings. For environmental reasons alone, we need to restore, upgrade, and give news lives to such buildings as was clearly underway with the WMF and Getty plans. Correa and Raj’s Patel Stadium could be a shining example of how to stage such events as the Olympics so they are affordable, sustainable, and sensitive to communities, their cultures, and extant built environments.” – Mary Woods
“Se debe de preservar el patrimonio arquitectónico de una nación, entender el momento y trascendencia de esa estructura y el valor arquitectónico.” – Jorge Javier
“Is this Modernization, vandalizing historic properties in the name of development , I’m signing this petition for the betterment of our heritage.” – Anmol Arora
“It is time for India, as one of the rising superpowers, to preserve the rich architectural heritage that was crucial to its contemporary transformation. This stadium is important both from an architectural and engineering standpoint. It should be absolutely preserved.” – Antoine Picon
“This is a Landmark of Gujarat Sport’s. Ahmedabad is known for this Stadium ‘s design which does not have any Pillers coming in between the spectators and the game going in the ground. This stadium should be preserved as a Monument of the Ahmedabad development landmark.” – Rajesh V. Jadeja
“Being architect and living just besides the stadium I’ve grown up looking at each details that served as constant inspiration. Apart from that the proposed project of Olympic grade stadium is next to impossible looking at the size of the site. and last but the least that stadium is used for many activities why can’t we enhance that aspect by adaptively re-use that structure…” – Bhargav Shukla
“An engineering marvel that can be restored and enhanced as has been proven by a conglomeration of agencies like The Getty, WMF and ICOMOS should be made good and save the country of unnecessary waste of embodied Carbon in the ensues Climate emergency era. This is not the time for egotistical decisions.” – Poonam Verma Mascarenhas
Compelling documentary film that sheds light on the pressing issue of a dumpyard causing significant problems for its neighbouring communities. This thought-provoking documentary aims to raise awareness by following through (a family living near the dumpyard) about the detrimental consequences of improper waste management and the urgent need for effective solutions.
हेचि दान देगा देवा । तुझा विसर न व्हावा
God will grant us everything but we shouldn’t forget him
India’s Ganesh Chaturthi, a popular festival in Mumbai, has evolved into a commercial event, causing an increase in waste generated during the 10 days. This includes Plaster of Paris (P.O.P), florals, thermocols, and chemical colours. The festival has led to concerns about the environment and the use of P.O.P over Shadu Mati, which is harmful to the environment and humans. A marine biologist explains the impact of these materials on marine life and the Koliwadas community, who depend on marine life.
River of Concrete
The film traces the life of concrete waste that emerges from demolishing sites in Bhopal. The contractors give away many reusable materials for cheap to those in need, or to the 2nd hand shops in the old city where they can be purchased. The municipal corporation then picks the unusable leftovers to be processed in a plant some 15 Kms away from the city.
Where will the Landfill go?
The film is a real-time account of clearing the Okhla landfill first as a distant observer and then also putting the people and stories of the space at the center. The film also tries to humanize the space and what it means and takes to clear out the space that has become the epitome of everyday life in the City.
An Odyssey
Amidst Shergaon’s scenic beauty in Arunachal Pradesh, Ledo Thungon, an ordinary man and his community confront the waste surge from tourism. Despite officials’ indifference, he brought together everyone to tackle waste management. This film captures their journey to safeguard Shergaon’s innate environment from the encroaching waste threat, acting pre-emptively to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
Vidi Veni Vici
As the city of Guwahati grows in size and population, three young artists explore the subject of urban waste through their individual art forms to create awareness among the public.
Whisper of the Black Hill
This film is about a modern day threat which has been created by our human civilization. The story revolves around a nine year old student from a marginal background who attends an unique school that accepts plastic as fees and teaches recycling. One fine day, the child encounters an unusual event which raises his concern about his own beings and cherished surroundings.
e-Wasted
This film is an observational exploration of informal collection and recycling of e -waste in Kolkata, a growing hub for toxic wastes. The film presents both the microscopic view of the immediate health hazards and the macroscopic picture of the long term impact on the global climate crisis.
Khacchak!
In the midst of a decaying landfill community in Deonar, 14-year-old Sarfaraz dreams of education and becoming a photographer. His pursuit of a brighter future unveils the community’s struggle to break free from scavenging, highlighting the overlooked challenges of waste mismanagement and prevalent airborne diseases in the dumping area.
Museum of Large objects
The film looks at waste in the form of large concrete structures that we find around us, either unused or in various states of abandonment. Often deceptively arresting to look at, the film questions whether or not this can be considered as waste. In examining its causes and possible repercussions, the film wishes to open a conversation around the unbridled concretisation we see around us today and the things that drive it.
Bhooñyar – The Tale of Subterranean Springs
This film is based on Karez and underground water structure that has been revived recently as community commons that serves as a source of water for several communities along its path. The film is a story told from the point of view of the Bhooñyar (Karez itself) since its inception and talks about the feeling and experiences throughout its journey.
In-(wasting) Space & Time
This film is about the discoveries of the various facets of ‘Manek Chowk’ in Ahmedabad and how the dynamics of space reclaim the urban commons. It will investigate the informal, unwritten waste management and disposal processes and explain how this one-of-a-kind system can exist, fulfil the needs and be self-sustaining.
Place of Offerings
The Begur Temple’s reclamation and preservation is a testament to a preserved past, and the Begur lake is a promise for a future to be built. The Begur fort though, is waiting to be reclaimed. This film will be a documentation of these spaces and the people that inhabit them
Red Disposal
A short film featuring women of all ages and backgrounds sharing their stories on menstrual waste in India. Discover their struggles with waste generation, disposal, hygiene, and potential solutions. An eye-opening exploration of a critical issue calling for attention and action.
Jajmau Ka Tila
Forgotten by their own city in its blind race for urbanisation, the people of Manohar Nagar and Makhdoom Nagar live atop a mound at Jajmau which claims a history of 3400 years.Surrounded by garbage dump yards and tannery water dumped in Ganga, the people of Manohar Nagar guard a picturesque landscape while themselves living in destitute conditions.
Brahmapuram – Inferno of Legacy Waste
Film wades through Cochin with contrasting narratives as toxic air stroked the city for days arising from the fire at Brahmapuram waste management plant. One, that of planners and implementers of the waste management plant and other that of the victims. Victims of health hazards, displacements and failed urban design.
अवनति – Avnati
In the heart of Goa’s capital city, Panaji, the once vibrant St. Inez Creek has transformed from a vital freshwater source to a neglected drain. Through the personal narratives of diverse individuals, this documentary explores the creek’s decline, its impact, and the resilient efforts to restore it, inspiring a call to action for our shared environment.
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.
The Charles Correa Foundation, a nonprofit committed to preserving the legacy of the late Indian modernist who died in 2015, announced recently that Correa’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Stadium in Ahmedabad, a city 200 miles north of Mumbai, may face demolition unless action is taken.
As per the news published in Ahmedabad Mirror, the stadium displays evident signs of wear and tear, including cracked seating areas and gates, as well as exposed and rusting iron elements that pose safety risks. A senior official from the AMC remarked, ‘It is unsuitable even for hosting cultural events. So, It worth noting that the stadium lacks heritage status, making its replacement a more viable option.’
But it is unclear, if any expert advice was sought to conserve the iconic building.
The World Monuments Fund says the stadium “represents the progressive ideals and experimental spirit that characterised India’s post-independence period”. In 2020, it was listed as one of 13 significant twentieth-century buildings in the world.
By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to demolish the city’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Stadium, the Ahmedabad Mirror has reported, quoting an unnamed senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
