AR.

ACHYUT PRAKASH KANVINDE

Biography :

• He was born in Achara, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, in 1916.

• Ar. A.P. Kanvinde belonged to the very small village of Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra.

• Kanvinde graduated architecture from the “J.J. School of Arts”, Mumbai, in 1942 at that time Claude Batley, was
head of the Department of Architecture.

• He was then sent by the government of India to study at “Harvard University”.

• There he worked under Walter Gropius and was influenced by his thinking and teaching.

• Kanvinde was also influenced by his father, who was portrait and landscape painter.

• When he retuned to India he joined the council for “Scientific and Industrial Research”.

• In 1985 he was the winner of IIA “BABURAO MHATRE GOLD MEDAL”.

• In the early 50’s Kanvinde established a private practice in new Delhi with Shaukat Rai , a civil engineer , who had
been with him at Harvard.

• They established a firm”Kanvinde and Rai” which received and executed many important commissions.

• He practiced perfectly for 55 years; he was considered the pioneer of what may be termed the modern movement in
architecture in India.

His Inspirations…….

• Claude Batley's respect for India's traditional architecture, his responsiveness to functional needs, and his
sensitive approach to design had a lasting effect on Kanvinde's mind.

• The most lasting impression on Kanvinde's mind was Gropius's insistence on using space as a tool for expressing
human values

• Kanvinde was sent to Harvard University (where Walter Gropius headed the architecture department) by the
Government of India in 1942, after graduating from Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai

• Functionalism was an approach to architecture associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design founded in 1919 in
Germany by Walter Gropius.

• Functionalists believed that the shape and form of a building should emerge out of the logical arrangement of
spaces inside and not from any predetermined idea like symmetry.

• They believed a building should only have features that were functionally necessary, and no non-functional
decoration.

• They also advocated using the latest technologies and industrial products in construction such as RCC and industrial
doors and windows.

• Their buildings were asymmetrical, white, cuboids forms, with repetitive arrangements of windows. And yet they
were elegant.

• Kanvinde worked to connect modernism to a more humane path.

• Kanvinde returned to India in 1947 a Functionalist.

• He was soon appointed principal architect to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and built many
government buildings from 1948-54 in this capacity.

• In 1955 he started his independent practice in Delhi in partnership with Shaukat Rai and was later joined by Morad
Chowdhury.

• His achievements…..

• Recipient of Padmashri- National Honour from Govt. of India 1975

• Recipient of Gold Medal of the Indian Institute of Architects 1985

• National Award of Institution of Engineers for Architectural Engineering 1990

• Great Master National Award by J.K. IndustriesLtd.1993

• Outstanding Konkan Award 2003 .

MAJOR PROJECTS….

• Ahmadabad Textile Industry's Research Association 1953

• Darpana Dance Academy, Ahmedabad1963

• IIT Kanpur, 1960-65

• Residence of A.P.Kanvinde 1967

• Campus Building for National Dairy Development Board, Anand , 1970

• Milk Processing plant for the National Dairy Board, Mehsana , India, 1970-73

• Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, 1980

• National Science Centre, New Delhi, 1991

Philosophy:
• Kanvinde plays with space and forms. His designs are slender, balanced, proportionate, neat and well crafted.

• Importance to the natural light.

• Form of the building could solve the problem of ventilation as well as excessive heat

• Both inherent values and historical influences contributed towards good architecture.

• Believed that a grid of columns forming a matrix giving structural and spatial aspect would turn a design to more
sophisticated and faceted.

• He treated his building with “VASTUSHASTRA”.

• The external surfaces, whether of concrete or brick are left exposed to obviate recurring maintenance costs and to
enhance the aesthetic appeal.
 Concepts:

Functionalism:

• Functionalist approach could also lead to humane spaces — that is, spaces where people felt welcome and
comfortable.

• Buildings should function efficiently, should not waste space, and be elegant too.

• Achieved this by seeking sculptural ideas in the functional needs of a building.

• Ex: At a dairy in Mehsana near Ahmedabad, he arranged ventilation shafts into an elegant arrangement of towers
that make this industrial facility look elegant.

Logical lightness:

• He clearly separates parts of buildings according to their material, and also achieves a delicacy of effect.

• Ex: The library, buildings at IIT Kanpur that he designed in the 1950s for instance, is a Reinforced Cement Concrete
(RCC) frame with infill walls in exposed brick. By inserting gaps and shadows between the concrete and brick
components, Kanvinde was able to make rough and heavy materials look light.

• That lightness spoke of the primacy of ideas over matter, of logic over contingency. It was a theme that never really
left his architecture.

Rationalist: Revealed the internal functions in a building

• Example: Office block, walkway, and auditorium as separate masses, were arranged in ways that were functional
from inside and elegant from outside. This analytical approach is evident yet again in the buildings at IIT Kanpur that
he designed in the 1950s

Rational yet humane

• Achyut Kanvinde created spaces that were ‘humane’, buildings spaces where meant to be welcome and
comfortable.

• Kanvinde’s desire to create warm and engaging spaces without letting go of Functionalist

• Ex: Idea is evident at the National Science Centre, New Delhi, 1991 , it was the way the building block was broken
down into small exhibition spaces opening into individual terraces.

• At one level, the humaneness is about size and scale.

• Even in more technologically-oriented projects, Kanvinde always tried to bring buildings down to a human scale.

• At IIT Kanpur, it was the slenderness of concrete members and the lightness of brick forms that helped.

Sense of place i.e. Vernacular Architecture.

• Sense of place, and a connection to the built heritage in a locality.

• Ex: Emerged at NIBM, perhaps uniquely in Kanvinde’s body of work chose to build in the local basalt stone (Deccan
trap), common in older architecture in Maharashtra.

• He also spread the low rhythmic buildings across a well landscaped site in such a way that walking from one set of
spaces to another involves passing by (or through) gardens.

• From inside and out, the campus offers a series of comforting continuities across domains that are usually separated
in urban life.
 NEHRU SCIENCE CENTRE, MUMBAI

• The Nehru Science Centre in Bombay, essentially a museum of science and technology, occupies a 5.3-hectare.

• Decisively sloping site, reclaimed from the marshy lowlands in the heart of Bombay.

• The multifunctional complex comprises the science and technology museum, a hall of industry, children’s museum,
library, auditorium, seminar rooms and a cafeteria, besides administrative offices, an outdoor science park and the
requisite services infrastructure.

Concept:
• The site is naturally sloping in different directions. The architect deliberately wanted to maintain and accentuate to
this natural topography of the site, in the form of split-levels of modular units.

• Large unobstructed spans essential for the exhibition halls .( i.e. longer span placement of columns with coffered
slab)

• Ventilation shafts have been commendably used to enhance the character of the building.

Features:

• The design has all the attributes of modernism, appropriate to the technological character of the building.
• The design is more functional than cultural – an unpredictable and changing mix of architectural forms and facades
presenting an utterly unexpected form for museum building.

• Modular Design – The design is based on multidimensional modular units but the repetition of module is not
predictable with central service cores and structural shafts.

• These modules are integrated in such a way that in spite of their repetition they present variety in their overall
disposition.

• The form further develops into a multi directional module with central service cores structural shafts. The entire
requirements are resolved in four major modular units.

• The hollow structural columns also act as ventilation shafts and are fitted with heavy duty exhaust fans at the roof
level to accelerate air flow.

• The spaces and arrangements are so conceived as to stimulate the receptivity of the minds of the visitors.

• Public and material movements are completely segregated by providing the service areas on a low level(through a
vehicular ramp to the basement which is further connected to the exhibition areas through a large flight, lift in the
central zone) and the public areas on the upper levels(approached through a wide flight of steps from the landscaped
forecourt.)

• The building is designed primarily for artificial lighting. However, minimal fenestration is provided to ensure natural
lighting in case of a power breakdown.

• The circulation pattern is so designed as to direct the visitors to the various exhibition areas and then return them to
the entrance hall, from where they can proceed to the cafeteria, the library, the auditorium and the heavy exhibit
areas which are located on the ground level for easy accessibility.

Structural System

• The structural system is conceived with structural supports placed at 12.0m c/c. These supports are made up of hollow
2.3mX2.15m L.C. concrete tube which functions both as structural components and conceal the air distribution system
and the services.

• Large unobstructed spans were essential for the exhibition halls therefore ribbed or waffle slab is used.
 Materials

• The exterior surface of the structure, for low maintenance cost, is finished with local grey stone, grit plaster with grey
cement (1:1) panels created by making grooves on the grit plaster at certain intervals.

Air running unit

• The vertical shaft is designed, to allow the forced air from the AHU enter each halls with the help of outlets and allow
the warm air to escape out.
 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KANPUR (1959-66)

• The Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur is a institution established by the Union Government to import high
quality technological training in India.

• Located on the outskirts of the city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

• It is the first example of a comprehensive modern campus built in the country.

Basic principal followed in planning:

• Significant aspect of the campus: Planning by function than by discipline (i.e.as against the conventional way of
separating activities by departmental divisions).

• Therefore, the effort is to create a common stream of fresh intake for one year to help students create understanding
and appreciation of each other’s discipline & departments and then to work independently in their respective
specialization at graduate level.

• Helped in achieving economy.

1. Initial cost of the construction due to easy and repetitive construction based on modules suited to the particular
function.

2. Also in the recurring cost of running and maintenance of the mechanical systems.

The system adopted helped in:

1. Efficient utilization of facilities in the academic wing

2. Clarity in the aesthetic expression of the individual buildings.

Features:

 The main academic complex is organized in a quadrangle on an area of 20 hectares.

 It is planned in such a way that the main vehicular traffic is confined to a peripheral road, allowing human and
material access to the various building activities on the campus but keeping the inner core mainly a pedestrian
island.
 The quadrangle comprises of a

1. Library 2. A lecture theatre block 3.A faculty building 4.Computer center. 5. Workshops 6.Areas for cultural
and recreational facilities

• Building components are interlinked by detached two-level corridors which not only facilitate cross-ventilation but
also allow for future growth.

• An underground service tunnel runs along these corridors.

• The elevated ambulatories, together with the library-podium, stilted areas of lecture theatres, the plaza and a variety
of other open spaces, encourage inter-disciplinary activity and give scope to intellectual and cultural stimulation-an
important objective of the program of this institute.

• Based on the modular concept, the buildings are harmonious in character, have open forms with linking corridors and
spaces penetrating through, thus providing shelter from the extremely hot sun, yet allowing welcome breezes.

• Building components are interlinked by detached two-level corridors which not only facilitate cross-ventilation but
also allow for future growth.

• An underground service tunnel runs along these corridors.

• The elevated ambulatories, together with the library-podium, stilted areas of lecture theatres, the plaza and a variety
of other open spaces, encourage inter-disciplinary activity and give scope to intellectual and cultural stimulation-an
important objective of the program of this institute.

Structural Features :

• The structural system consists of reinforced-concrete frames and slabs with locally available brick curtain- walls.

• The external surfaces, whether of concrete or brick, are left exposed to obviate recurring maintenance costs and to
enhance the aesthetic appeal.

Library

• The library forms an important part of the whole complex.

• It is a framed structure based on grid, built in R.C.C with a brick facade.

• The whole structure gives a very beautiful play of shade and shadow.

• The program of the institution was prepared base on departmental needs.