Architect Charles Correa needs no introduction. Winner of the highest honours of his profession, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Gold Medal of the UIA and the RIBA, Correa has strode the architectural world like a colossus, leaving behind a trail of masterpieces that are hard to match. The very aura around the man indicates that you are in the presence of a master architect, making you think twice before you decide to start a conversation.
Recently in the city to commemorate the first anniversary of the passing away of architect Vimal Jain of Architecture Paradigm, Correa struck a lively conversation with Jyotindra Jain, art and culture historian and musicologist, on a wide range of issues concerning culture and architecture and certainly the buildings of Bengaluru.
Screened during the evening was the film on Correa’s work in Portugal, the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, a cancer research and treatment institute. The building reflects in every way Correa’s philosophy of design and his unmatched skills in conceptualising a structure and lending it a tangible form.
With half the site of the centre being assigned for public use and only one half retained for research and treatment, the building is a spectacular representation of blending in the public spaces while making the private spaces interactive with the outdoors without sacrificing their privacy. With ample skylights, both vertical and horizontal, and copious greenery incorporated into the interiors where the visual connect between spaces is high while addressing privacy, the building brings in the ocean and breeze effortlessly, in an astounding manner.
Built on the curve of the ocean where erstwhile voyagers would take off to the unknown on a discovery trail, the building, resembling a ship in its features and design, is not surprisingly christened as Centre for the Unknown. The path demarcating the public and private spaces leads one to the shores, to view wistfully at the vast expanse of water to the magical unknown while also giving a taste of Correa’s concept of the non-building.
Where people meet“The building should be rooted in its place and culture,” says Correa. Insisting on the need to bring in community interaction through the presence of effective public spaces, he said, “History of a city is not how it looks but what happens there, where people meet. Public spaces are important as there is physical and mental interaction and ideas are born out of such interaction.”
Ruing that the Garden City with its erstwhile colonial buildings, small houses and cantonments now makes him feel he has “landed in Mars”, he said, “Architects see cities as buildings and streets. We need to see cities as people and reflecting their culture.”
He drew attention to the Basthis of Kolkata where people live as communities even if they appear ugly. “In Bengaluru you have gated communities which seal totally interaction with outside communities. This can prove to be dangerous.” Talking about the influence of art in architecture, Correa again lamented that people choose between ethnic and modern. “Design is to see beyond this. India had a huge engagement with art, dance, architecture, heritage, promoting the same till 1990 after which it was gradually abandoned, which is our undoing.”
Agreeing with Correa, Prof. Jain drew attention to his book ‘Other Masters’ where he had spoken about the artist Ganga Devi who was an unknown rural woman but was endowed with an astonishing talent in art that finally catapulted her to national fame. Lamenting that such talents are not brought to the fore, Jain said, “In Ganga Devi, it was literally an explosion of creativity when she had access to paper to express herself.”
Stating that folk and tribal artists never do autobiographical work, “only contemporary craftsmen do”, he added, “tribal artists express so beautifully what they see, experience.”
He rued that “artists here paint for commerce and the others who do not are confined to a box called tribal artists which is not correct.” He called for a transformation in the way art is viewed and dealt with to break from this trend.
Community interactionReferring to Bengaluru, Correa said, “The city has plenty of spaces that can be activated for the public. This would facilitate community interaction given that people here are intellectual and vibrant.” As for the Metro construction, he said, “The presence of the concrete structure has ruined M.G. Road for the next 500 years. Instead it should have gone underground and the structure should have been above ground at the Vidhana Soudha region.”
Chiding architects for trying to do more of airports and museums which are essentially culture free, he said, “The finest piece of work is a residence as it is done for the people. It is time we understood the importance of architecture.” He further added, “Cities are about people, about shared public spaces akin to London, Paris, Boston where gated communities do not shut out interaction. This is the urban model that needs to be followed, not what market forces are selling, who know nothing about planning of a city.”
Vital aspectStating that “you can judge a city by how the poor live”, Correa added that affordable public transport is vital in a city. He called upon architects to take up a small section of the city and bring in these shared concepts of public spaces and interaction, where culture dictated the design of the spaces.
He suggested that the venture could be started in Vimal Jain’s name to bring to life his passion and vision for the city while also saving Bengaluru of its current trend of growth.
