Charles Correa


Charles Mark Correa was an Indian architect and urban planner based in Mumbai, India. Credited with 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.

Biography

Early life

Charles Correa, a Roman Catholic of Goan descent, was born on 1 September 1930 in Secunderabad. He began his higher studies at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He went on to study at the University of Michigan where Buckminster Fuller was a teacher, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he obtained his master's degree.

Career

In 1958, Charles Correa established his own professional practice in Mumbai. His first significant project was the Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, followed by the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal. In 1961-1966, he designed his first high-rise building, the Sonmarg apartments in Mumbai. On the National Crafts Museum in New Delhi, he introduced "the rooms open to the sky", his systematic use of courtyards. In the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur, 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.
From 1970–75, Charles Correa was Chief Architect for New Bombay, where he was strongly involved in extensive urban planning of the new city. In 1984, Charles Correa founded the Urban Design Research Institute in Bombay, 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, which shared the site with the Aga Khan Museum designed by Fumihiko Maki, and the Champalimaud Foundation Centre in Lisbon, inaugurated by the Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva on 5 October 2010.

Final years

He died on 16 June 2015 in Mumbai following a brief illness.

Work

Style

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, all the while providing modern structural solutions under his creative designs. His style was also focused on reintroducing outdoor spaces and terraces.
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.

Projects

PhotoDateNameLocationNotes
1958–63Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya
Mahatma Gandhi Memorial		Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad
1958–59Cama HotelAhmedabadsubstantially altered later by owners
1961–62Tube HouseAhmedabaddemolished
1961–66Sonmarg apartmentsMumbai
1965–68ECIL Office ComplexHyderabadOne of the seminal works by Charles Correa but various modifications were later made on this masterpiece building by Administrators of ECIL who were ignorant about its significance.
1967Madhya Pradesh Legislative AssemblyBhopal
1969–74The Leela Kovalam- A Raviz HotelKovalamsloping architecture that blends into the landscape
1970Kala AcademyPanaji
1975–90National Crafts MuseumNew Delhi
R&D facility of Mahindra & Mahindra LtdMahindra Research Valley, Chennai
1980–97Vidhan Bhavan
1982Bharat BhavanBhopal
1986Artist VillageCBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai
1986–92Jawahar Kala Kendra
Jawahar Arts Centre
Jaipur
1986Jeevan Bharati
Life Insurance Corporation of India		On the 2018 World Monuments Watch list of "50 Cultural Sites at Risk from Human and Natural Threats"
1987–92British CouncilDelhi
1989Jawaharlal [Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research]Bangalore
2000St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, ParumalaParumala, Thiruvalla
2000–05McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchMIT, Boston, US
2004City centreSalt Lake City, Kolkata
2007–10Champalimaud Centre for The UnknownLisbon, Portugal
Ismaili CentreToronto, Canada
Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Banking and FinanceHyderabad
2023-25Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and AstrophysicsSavitribai Phule Pune University, PuneArchitect Charles Correa's last project before he died in 2015 was the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India. The IUCAA is a premier research institution in India, established in 1988 with the aim of promoting excellence in research and education in astronomy and astrophysics.
The IUCAA building is a unique example of Correa's architectural style, which combines modernism with traditional Indian design elements. The building is spread over an area of 16 acres and is designed to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The design incorporates features like courtyards, terraces, and verandas, which provide ample natural light and ventilation while also creating spaces for people to interact and collaborate.
Construction of the IUCAA 2 building started in 2023, eight years after Correa's death, and will completed in 2025.

Awards

Charles Correa married Monika, an artist, in 1961. Together they lived in one of the flats of the Sonmarg apartments in Mumbai. They had two children.