Charles Correa

Nationality- Indian
Born-1st September 1930
at Hyderabad

Family- born into a middle-class Catholic family in Bombay,

married to Monika Sequeira in 1961
has two children Nakul and Chinu.
Education 1939-1946 1946-1948 1949-1953 1953-1955-

st. xaviers high school,Bombay.

Inter-science ,st. xaviers college,university of
Bombay
B.arch, university of Michigan
M.arch, Massachusetts institute of technology

Profession 1958- to date - In private practice in Bombay

1964-1965 - prepared alternate master plan (with Pravina
Mehta & Shirish Patel) proposing city of new

Bombay.

 1969-1971

- Invited by the government of peru and the

UN to design PREVI low cost housing
project in lima.
1971-1974 - Chief architect to CIDCO for developing
of new Bombay.
1975-1989 Board of Directors, CIDCO (New Bombay)
1975-1978 Consulting Architect, Govt.of Karnataka
1975-1983Chairman, Housing Urban Renewal &
Ecology Board, Bombay Metropolitan
Regional Development Authority
1975-1994 Executive Committee, BMRDA
1985-1988 Chairman, National Commission on
Urbanization, Govt. of India
1995-1996 Chairman, Committee for Textile Mills in
Bombay
1996-1998 President, World Society of EKISTICS,
Athens, Greece.
1999-to date Consulting Architect, Govt. of Goa.

INFLUENCES Le Corbusier
Traditional style of Indian architecture like Buddhist stupa ,
jain temples, chatries etc.
PHILOSOPHY "Unless you believe in what you do, it becomes so boring,"
"In India, there are traditional ways of building habitats that
are wonderfully ingenious -- and beautiful! These
typologies also yield high densities, since Indian families
are used to small overall areas with a high occupancy per
room. The only problem, of course, is that many of these
traditional solutions aren't viable in the urban context we
have created. What we must do then is modify that urban
context so that those solutions became viable. That is the
role of the architect."

 "We live in countries of great cultural heritage, countries

that wear their past as easily as a woman drapes her sari,"
wrote Correa. "But in understanding and using this past, let
us never forget the actual living conditions of many of the
people of Asia and their desperate struggle to shape a
better future. At its most vital, architecture is an agent of
change; to invent tomorrow: that is the finest function.
Vastu vidya
CONCEPTS Blessings of the sky
Natural ventilation & light
Low cost housing
Free flow of volumes between interior & exterior.

FAMOUS QUOTES we have to know from where we are coming to know

where we are going.
Architecture is a sculpture that is usable.
WORKS GANDHI SMARAK SANGRAHALAYA
VIDHAN BHAVAN
KANCHANJUNGA APARTMENTS
BAY ISLAND HOTEL
INREMANTAL HOUSING AT BELAPUR

GANDHI SMARAK SANGRAHALAYA

Sabarmati ashram
Ahmedabad (1958-1963)
Build for Mahatma Gandhi
for homage & to propagate
his ideas & exhibition of
letters, photographs & other
documents which trace the
freedom movement by
Gandhi ji.
Materials- stone floors,
brick walls, wooden doors&
louvered windows, devoid of
glass, tile roof & RCC
channels for beams &
rainfall conduits.

Planning Series of Pavilions Raised from a stone platform.

51 modular unites some of the unites are enclosed by
walls & some are open.
H plan brick column on a square grid.
Each square has a pyramidal roof while the beams & in
heavy gargoyle Water spouts .
A pathway leading to center of the water court
Natural ventilation- interlocking courtyards & internal
ventilation shafts

Architectural Detail

VIDHAN BHAVAN
State assembly Bhopal
1982- to date
Materials stone, brick
wall, stone floors wooden
doors, RCC & glass
windows
Influenced by Buddha
stupa
The plan is divided into a
pattern of 9 compartments
which focus around a
center

 on to perpendicular axis emanating from a central

courtyards are the administrative offices & remaining 4
are vidhan parishad ( upper house ), the vidhan sabha
( lower house the combined hall & the library
Main assembly chamber covered by dome within the
circle Correa has planned a cruciform interlinking of five
square courts so that the assembly chamber occupy the
residual quadrants, while the office accommodation
follows an articulator each court .
Movement patterns
The circulation is always alone the age of the courtyards
for light & fresh air
Circulation for public and assembly members or VIPs
has been separated
Level variations in platforms & floor surfaces

Architectural Detail

KANCHANJUNGA APARTMENTS
Bombay- 1970 1983
32 luxury apartments, varying in
size from 3-6 bedrooms each from
180- 420 sq. m area.
Material- RCC
Planning
Square in plan 21x21 m & 85m
height, width height proportion of
1:4
continuous variation in internal
spaces which are expressed in the
elevation formed by shear walls on
the north & south faces
Small balconies overlook the
private terrace spaces

 Continuous cross ventilation

throughout the year because of
orientation of the tower terrace
garden cantilevered from the building
skip stop elevators give axis to a
jagged stack of split levels units each
of which rises & descends from the
central cores to double height
verandas
along the east & west faces each
apartment is protected by verandas ,
bathrooms & terrace gardens

The taut minimalist volume of the exterior is interrupted by cuts for

terraces & verandas These mediate between the exterior &

interior, Expressing through their variety of colors & profile, the

spatial complexities of the dwellings that lie within.

Architectural Detail

Architectural Detail

BAY ISLAND HOTEL

Port Blair, Andaman
Island (1979-1982)
hotel can accommodate
100 guests in 50 rooms.
Materials- stone floors,
concrete, brick & padauk
(local redwood) roof.
Planning The site for hotel slopes
down to the sea.

 Influenced by Pamanabhapuram palace, built in hot & humid climate of

southern India, the royal pavilion floor is built as a stepped pyramid
covered by a tiled pitched roof.
Built up of a series of spaces which overlook grassy land & the sea
Building are arranged around courtyards connected by covered corridors
Public areas form a series of decks protected from sun & rain by the large
over hanging roofs
Guest rooms are in cluster of 12 arranged in an L- shape on two levels
giving each room a view of the waters
Light weight furnishing & murals with their play full imagery were designed

Architectural Detail

INREMANTAL HOUSING AT BELAPUR

Belapur new Bombay (1983 1986)

Area 600 houses from varying sizes from 26 sq. m 75 sq. m
Housing for wide range of income groups from 20,000 -180,000
Each unit has open spaces, no sharing of any common wall
At the smaller scale 7 units are grouped around an intimate courtyard of about
8x8 m

3 modules interlocked to define

the next scale of community space
approx. 20x20m
Schools & other public use facility
are located
The whole is arranged so that
neighbourhood spaces open to a
small stream which drains the
surface water

 The houses are planed

with toilets in pairs to
save on plumbing and
sanitation cost
The houses are
structurally simple
Belapur housing
combines the principal of
Correa namely equity,
incrementally, pluralism,
having open to sky
spaces
A choice of prefabricated wooden doors & shutters is left
to the home buyers.
Materials- the housing is constructed with basic materials
and low- tech building methods: clay tile roof, smooth finish
neeru (lime slurry) plaster interiors, sand finish cement
plaster exterior on brick bearing walls, in situ cement
flooring.

Architectural Detail

Bibliography

Charles Correa (PA)

Charles Correa by hasan uddin Khan
Architecture Today
Contemporary Indian Architecture
After the masters by Wikram Bhatt
Modern Indian Architecture

Webliography

Wikipedia
Great Building online
Charles Correa associates
Michigan greats UM Research
Arch net