INVOKING CORREA……. Architecture Matters!
Jaffer AA Khan RIBA FRSA
The designs of Amaravati have been revealed. Among the three consortia of architects, Fumihiko Maki’s proposal seems to have been finalised by the jury members comprising of well-known names in Indian architecture. The flythrough seen in the social media gives us a fair idea about the proposal and one is shocked to see the schemes though Roger’s capital complex seems to be more contextual and humane. Among the schemes the shocking proposal is by Maki. One can understand that Maki could have been more closely influenced by the Singapore Consortium which is spearheading the project for the Andhra Pradesh government, but not without the danger of inflicting damage to the socio-cultural fabric of the Indian city.
I would like to “Invoke” Charles Correa, who happens to be a good friend of Maki to advise him at least in his dreams to understand the Indianness and the spirt of the culture and not to mess up with the way he did in his Toronto project. Correa and Maki could have met at MIT and Harvard in 50s and partnered in a few projects in the past. But surprisingly Maki has never learnt his lessons from Correa and needs to understand that India is a different zone to deal with and he cannot just simply fall prey to the demands of his corporate capitalist’s clients based out of insensitive Singapore Consortium, which has a commercial intent clearly cut out and know how to deal with the Indian politicians, beaurocrats, professionals and others who are easily corruptible. But the proposal by Maki, if ever built will have a lasting impact on a generation of architects like what Chandigarh did to all of us including me until Correa came in 80s to make us feel the spirit and essence of Indian culture through his fascinating projects.
The year was 1985 and Correa was at the RIBA to receive his RIBA Gold Medal. I met him at the lobby after his highly inspiring lecture and discussed very briefly about my thesis on Social Housing at the Bartlett. I was so inspired that he became my “hero” ever since. A year earlier I came across Philip Rawson “Tantra” and realised the beauty of Tantric Art and the phenomenological understanding of the culture through this wonderful representation of man’s cosmic relationship and the mutual balance that is essential for survival of both the microcosm and the macrocosm.
When I returned to India in 1985, I entered the IGNCA competition (1985) with a couple of colleagues and was deeply influenced by this philosophy. The same year as a part of Festival of India initiative, a compendia of Indian architecture was released through a monograph “Vistara” for which Correa wrote the foreword.
He wrote “Architecture is not created in a vacuum. It is the compulsive expression of beliefs (implicit and explicit) central to our lives. When we look at the architectural heritage of India, we find an incredibly rich reservoir of mythic images and beliefs- all coexisting in an easy and natural pluralism. Each is like a transparent overlay-starting with the model of the Cosmos, right down to this century. And it is their presence in our lives that creates the pluralistic society of India today”
Correa through his Jawaharlal Kala Kendra (1986-1992) and Bhopal Legislative Assembly Complex (1980-1996), displayed the idea of Indian spirit through modern terms. The proposal by me in 1985 for the IGNCA project (1985-86) was echoing this spirit in a different way. I realised that my research on the writings by Philip Rawson, Madhu Khanna and Ajit Mukherjee made me immerse myself into a deeper understanding of the idea of “Evolution of life; and Involution of life” through the unpacking of Tantric composition of Sriyantra. The 80s saw a change in the thought process and the Vistara initiative was a great inspiration. The man in the centre of this change was none other than Correa. Many tried to understand this concept but failed to execute it in a manner that Correa dealt with it in ease.
In the above circumstances I believe, that if only he was alive and was in our midst to guide us and of course to advice this mad old man Maki to change and come to senses when he deals with India and not just succumb to the pressures of capitalist greed.
Hence, I have no other option but to invoke Correa to save us from this mess and as for the future of India…… and its architecture….it does matter. I also hope some good sense prevails within the architecture fraternity to stop this nonsense which will as I said, will have a lasting impact on the future of Indian architecture which is already at crossroads.
(The Author is an architect and lives in Auckland)
