Charles Correa

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For the Brazilian canoeist, see Charles Corrêa.

Charles Correa

Correa in 2011

Born 1 September 1930

Secunderabad, India

Died 16 June 2015 (aged 84)

Mumbai, India

Nationality Indian

Alma mater University of Mumbai

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Michigan

Occupation Architect

Urban planner

Buildings Jawahar Kala Kendra, National Crafts Museum, Bharat

 Bhavan

Charles Mark Correa (1 September 1930 – 16 June 2015) was an Indian architect
and urban planner. Credited for the creation of modern architecture in post-
Independent India, he was celebrated for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban
poor and for his use of traditional methods and materials. [1]

Contents

 1Biography
 2Work
o 2.1Style
o 2.2Projects
 3Awards
 4Publications
 5Personal life
 6See also
 7References
 8Further reading
 9External links

Biography[edit]
Charles Correa, a Roman Catholic of Goan descent, was born on 1 September 1930
in Secunderabad.[2][3] He began his higher studies at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He
went on to study at the University of Michigan (1949–53) where Buckminster
Fuller was a teacher, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1953–55)
where he obtained his master's degree.[4][5]
In 1958, Charles Correa established his own professional practice in Mumbai. His
first significant project was the Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Mahatma
Gandhi Memorial) at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad (1958–1963), followed by
the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal (1967). In 1961-1966, he
designed his first high-rise building, the Sonmarg apartments in Mumbai. On
the National Crafts Museum in New Delhi (1975–1990), he introduced "the rooms
open to the sky", his systematic use of courtyards. In the Jawahar Kala
Kendra (Jawahar Arts Centre) in Jaipur (1986–1992), he makes a structural
hommage to Jai Singh II. Later, he invited the British artist Howard Hodgkin for the
outside design of the British Council in Delhi (1987–1992).[5]
From 1970–75, Charles Correa was Chief Architect for New Bombay (Navi Mumbai),
where he was strongly involved in extensive urban planning of the new city. [6][5] In
1984, Charles Correa founded the Urban Design Research Institute in Bombay,
[5]
 dedicated to the protection of the built environment and improvement of urban
communities. During the final four decades of his life, Correa has done pioneering
work in urban issues and low-cost shelter in the Third World. In 1985, Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed him Chairman of the National Commission on
Urbanization.
From 2005 until his 2008 resignation Correa was the Chairman of the Delhi Urban
Arts Commission.
Later, Charles Correa designed the new Ismaili Centre in Toronto, Canada,[7] which
shared the site with the Aga Khan Museum designed by Fumihiko Maki,[8] and the
Champalimaud Foundation Centre in Lisbon, inaugurated by the Portuguese
President Aníbal Cavaco Silva on 5 October 2010.[9]
He died on 16 June 2015 in Mumbai following a brief illness. [10]

Work[edit]
Style[edit]
Charles Correa designed almost 100 buildings in India, from low-income housing to
luxury condos. He rejected the glass-and-steel approach of some post-
modernist buildings, and focused on designs deeply rooted in local cultures,
allthewhile providing modern structural solutions under his creative designs. His style
was also focused on reintroducing outdoor spaces and terraces. [11][12]
His work is the physical manifestation of the idea of Indian nationhood, modernity
and progress. His vision sits at the nexus defining the contemporary Indian
sensibility and it articulates a new Indian identity with a language that has a global
resonance. He is someone who has that rare capacity to give physical form to
something as intangible as ‘culture’ or ‘society’ – and his work is therefore critical:
aesthetically; sociologically; and culturally.

— British architect David Adjaye in 2013.[11]

In 2013, the Royal Institute of British Architects held a retrospective exhibition,
"Charles Correa – India's Greatest Architect", about the influences of his work on
modern urban Indian architecture.[6][13]
Projects[edit]
Photo Date Name Location Notes

Mahatma Gandhi
1958– Sangrahalaya Sabarmati Ashram,
1963 Mahatma Ahmedabad
Gandhi Memorial

1961-
Tube House Ahmedabad demolished[5]
1962

1961- Sonmarg
Mumbai
1966 apartments
 Madhya Pradesh
1967 Legislative Bhopal
Assembly

1970 Kala Academy [14]

1975– National Crafts

New Delhi
1990 Museum

R&D facility of
Mahindra Research
Mahindra &
Valley, Chennai
Mahindra Ltd

1980-
Vidhan Bhavan
1997

1982 Bharat Bhavan Bhopal

Jawahar Kala
1986– Kendra
Jaipur
1992 Jawahar Arts
Centre

On the 2018 World
Jeevan Bharati
Monuments Watch list
Life Insurance
1986 of "50 Cultural Sites at
Corporation of
Risk from Human and
India
Natural Threats"[15]
 1987–
British Council Delhi
1992

St. Peter and St.

2000 Paul's Church, Parumala, Thiruvalla
Parumala

2000– McGovern Institute

MIT, Boston, US
2005 for Brain Research

2004 City center Salt Lake City, Kolkata

Champalimaud
2007–
Centre for The Lisbon, Portugal
2010
Unknown

Ismaili Centre Toronto, Canada

Awards[edit]
 1972: Padma Shri[16]
 1984: Royal Gold Medal for architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects.[17]
 1994: Praemium Imperiale
 1998: 7th Aga Khan Award for Architecture for Madhya Pradesh Legislative
Assembly[18]
 2005: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art[19]
 2006: Padma Vibhushan given by Government of India[20]
 2011: Gomant Vibhushan conferred by Government of Goa[20]

Publications[edit]
 Charles Correa, The New Landscape, RIBA Enterprises, December 1985,
(ISBN 978-0947877217)[11]

Personal life[edit]
Charles Correa married Monika (née Sequeira), an artist, in 1961. Together they
lived in one of the flats of the Sonmarg apartments in Mumbai. They had two
children.[5]

See also[edit]
 Geoffrey Bawa
 Muzharul Islam
 B.V. Doshi
 Raj Rewal
 Bashirul Haq

References[edit]
1. ^ An Architecture of Independence: The Making of Modern South Asia Archived 3 June
2009 at the Wayback Machine University of Pennsylvania.
2. ^ "Charles Correa".  Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
3. ^ Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, James Belluardo (1998), An Architecture of Independence: The
Making of Modern South Asia, Architectural League of New York, p. 33,  ISBN  09663-8560-8
4. ^ "Charles Correa | Indian architect".  Encyclopedia Britannica.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Rykwert, Joseph (19 June 2015). "Charles Correa obituary"  – via
www.theguardian.com.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b "Master class with Charles Correa". Mumbai Mirror. 9 June 2013. Retrieved  2
July2013.
7. ^ "About the Ismaili Centre, Toronto".  the.Ismaili. 6 September 2014.
8. ^ "Correa, Maki Tapped to Design Aga Khan Center". Architectural Record, The McGraw-
Hill Companies. 6 October 2008. Retrieved  9 October  2008.
9. ^ David MacManus, The Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, E-architect.co.uk 5 October
2010
10. ^ "Architect Charles Correa dies at 84 | India News - Times of India".  The Times of India.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c Charlotte Luxford, 'India’s Greatest Architect' Charles
Correa, Theculturetrip.com, 17 August 2018
12. ^ "Charles Correa – India's greatest architect?". BBC News. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 2
July  2013.
13. ^ "Charles Correa & Out of India Season". RIBA. 2013. Archived from  the original on 9
June 2013. Retrieved 2 July  2013.
14. ^ Eric Baldwin, New Petition Aims to Save Charles Correa's Kala Academy from
Demolition, Archdaily.com, 7 August 2019
15. ^ Patrick Lynch, 2018 World Monuments Watch Lists 50 Cultural Sites at Risk from
Human and Natural Threats, Archdaily.com, 23 October 2017
16. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)"  (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived
from  the original  (PDF)  on 10 May 2013.
17. ^ "List of medal winners 1848–2008 (PDF)"  (PDF). RIBA. Archived from the
original(PDF) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved  30 October 2015.
18. ^ "Archnet". Archnet. Archived from the original  on 8 February 2006.
19. ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question"  (PDF) (in German). p.  1714. Retrieved 1
March2013.
20. ^ Jump up to:a b "CharlesCorrea, Gomant Vibhushan".  The Times of India. 19 December 2011.