an the story of a city be pieced together from its buildings? Critic and theorist Kaiwan Mehta certainly thinks so. Mehta, who writes widely on urban design and visual culture, explores the relationship between development and the city’s buildings in his new book, The Architecture of I.M. Kadri .
In telling the story of Kadri, Mehta also hopes to tell the story of the city’s complex negotiation with space, change, and beauty. “Bombay hasn’t yet found its rightful place in the narrative of modern Indian architecture,” says Mehta. “Bombay is, unfortunately, seen primarily as a commercial centre, unlike Delhi, where the big cultural institutions and public buildings were set up immediately after Independence.”
The book was a project that was commissioned by Iftikhar M Kadri, the founder, partner, and principal architect of IMK Architects, who began his practice in Mumbai in the 1950s. “When I was invited to review Kadri’s work,” says Mehta, “I was told that I could play with the material for two months. After that, if I felt charged enough to write about it, I could take it on or drop it. The questions I had were never points of anxiety. They became opportunities for rich conversation.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“Kaiwan has worked meticulously,” says Kadri. “He has gone through my archives, and looked at each and every drawing. He went all over India to see the buildings I have designed.”
While the book does refer to Kadri’s projects in Delhi, Goa, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Tajikistan, and the Middle East, Mehta quite firmly places Kadri in the shoes of ‘a Bombay architect’. The architect has designed apartment complexes, office towers as well as recreational spaces. However, his most identifiable imprint on Bombay is perhaps the pineapple-shaped Nehru Centre building, a source of delightful surprise in a city dotted with skyscrapers on one hand and slums on the other.
Architect Rahul Mehrotra, who recently co-curated an exhibition with Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, titled ‘The State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India’, at the city’s National Gallery of Modern Art, says, “Kadri’s career runs parallel to Mumbai, developing in the late 1950s and through to the 70s and 80s; a period when apartment living was proliferating through the city. Kadri combined pragmatism with luxury in his projects, and invented a range of apartment types for the city. Prominent among these for me are the Jivan and Manek towers and Swapnalok, the luxurious stepped terraced apartments which blur the difference between bungalow and apartment living.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Delhi-based photographer Ram Rahman, son of architect Habib Rahman (a contemporary of Kadri’s), says, “One would be critical of Kadri’s work as an architect if one looked at it through the lens of the kind of modernist work that was happening in Delhi and Chandigarh after Independence. However, it is important to understand that Kadri’s work is closely linked to the city’s culture and ethos. Kadri’s use of Muslim cultural tropes such as arches and jaalis is also a unique kind of stylistic exploration. Not every architect should be expected to engage with hardcore Bauhaus modernism.”
The book discusses how Kadri’s education as an engineer gave him “a solid foundation in the art of construction”, and “enviable confidence in engaging with structure and materiality.” Mehta talks about Kadri’s ‘Eklavya-Dronacharya moment’ as a student at the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi when Karl Malte von Heinz, the Austrian-German architect, was designing the university buildings. “Kadri was enchanted with the way Heinz was carrying out his tasks at the construction site. Kadri followed Heinz at work, observing his work and actions.”
The two kept in touch later when Kadri went to Pune for his engineering degree and Heinz advised the young man to travel widely to broaden his horizons. Taking his advice, Kadri travelled across Europe to see the architectural styles emerging there.
On his return to India, Kadri was offered a job by Phirozshah Dubash, an influential businessman who ran the construction company, Anderson and Dawn. Kadri was offered a job as an engineer to gather some experience before setting up his own architectural practice.
“The company had acquired,” writes Mehta, “a plot of land at Nepean Sea Road to build an apartment building. As the company and Kadri were both unhappy with the proposed design, Kadri offered to design the building himself.” The building was called Brighton, and the design included terrace gardens as well as a swimming pool.
Kadri decided to stay back in Mumbai, and he has lived here ever since. “I have stayed here for almost 60 years,” says Kadri. “I am 86 now. I wish I was 40 instead. I could have done a lot more work. I haven’t done enough.”