CHARLES CORREA

Charles Correa is an Indian architect

and urban planner, particularly noted
for his sensitivity to the needs of the
urban poor and for his use of traditional
Born into a middle-class Catholic family in Bombay
Became fascinated with the principles of design as a child
At Michigan two professors who influenced him the most -Walter Salders and Buckminister Fuller.
Kevin lynch , then in the process of developing his themes for image of the citytriggered Correas
interest in urban issues
India of those days was a different place, it was a brand-new country, there was so much hope;
India stimulated me.
Education
1946-1948 inter-science. St. Xavier's college, university of Bombay1949-
1955 B.Arch., University of Michigan.
1953-1955 M.Arch., Massachusetts institute of technology.

Professional Experience
1955-1958 partner with G.M. BHUTA associates
1958- to date in private practice.
1964-1965 prepared master plan proposing twin city across the harbour
from Bombay.
1969-1971 invited by the govt. of Peru
1971-1975 chief architect to CIDCO
1975-1976 consultant to UN secretary-general for HABITAT
1975-1983 Chairman Housing Urban Renewal & Ecology Board
1985 chairman dharavavi planning commission
 Principles
Few cardinal principles in his vast body of work;
Incrementality
Pluralism
Participation
Income generation
Equity
Open-to-sky space
Disaggregation.
Belapur housing being the one project where he
has literally used these principals
OPEN TO SKY CONCEPT
In India, the sky has profoundly
affected our relationship to built form,
and to open space. For in a warm
climate, the best place to be in the late
evenings and in the early mornings, is
outdoors, under the open sky. Such
spaces have an infinite number of COMPONENTS:
variations: one steps out of a room. . . -
into a verandah. . . And thence on to a COURTYARDS &
terrace from which one proceeds to an TERRACES
open courtyard, perhaps shaded by a URBANIZATION
tree . . . or by a large pergola overhead. THE MACHINE FOR
At each moment, subtle changes in the LIVING
quality of light and ambient air WORKSPACES
generate feelings within us feelings
LEISURE
which are
central to our beings. THE RITUALISTIC
PATHWAY
METAPHORS
 COURTYARDS & TERRACES

Kanchanjunga Rallis
Low-income Apartments
housing;
CAN MAKE A DECISIVE DIFFERENCE
Gujarat Housing
B/W LIVABLE HABITAT AND
Board CLAUSTROPHOBIA
PARTICULARLY FOR THE LOWEST BE LIVIN BE
INCOME GROUP D G D
EVEN IN DENSE HOUSING, Colonial
INDIVIDUAL TERRAES CAN BE Bungalow
GIVEN
SUCH SPACES NOT ONLY IMPROVE
LIVING CONDITIONS, BUT ALSO HAS
ECONOMIC VALUE IN DEVELOPING BE
LIVIN BE
COUNTRY LIKE INDIA D D
G
THESE PRINCIPLES ARE VIABLE BE DININ BE
Jeevan Bima D G D
ALSO IN THE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, VERANDA
Nagar, Borivili WHERE THE ISSUE IS H
KITCHE
COMPOUNDED BY THE HOT HUMID
CLIMATE EG- SONMARG
PLA N
 URBANIZATION

Squatter Housing Belapur Housing,

New Bombay

Such open-to-sky spaces are of course of crucial importance to the poorest

inhabitants: the squatters. Obviously there is an appalling mismatch between the
way our cities have been built and the way we use them today.
THE MACHINE FOR LIVING

Another equally critical parameter:

Energy. architects have depended
more and more on the mechanical
engineer to provide light and air
within the building.
 WORK SPACES

to deal with solar protection involved

various forms of brise-soleil. this kind A kit-of-parts came into existence:-
of concrete Louvre, while providing the section which facilitates
powerful visual imagery for the built convection currents
form, can be counter-productive. The the internal zone of micro-
concrete heats up during the long climate
hot day and then acts as an The stepped terraces
enormous radiator in the evening, the pergola roof
rendering the rooms unbearable.
THE RITUAUSTIC PATHWAY

A METAPHOR FOR THE INDIAN STREET, TAKING THE VISITOR FROM

VILLAGE TO TEMPLE TO PALACE.
METAPHORS
The relationship of architecture to the other
arts is a crucial one. Murals and sculpture
are used not just to provide references to
local traditions and events, but really to
bring back into balance the spatial tensions
generated by the built form.

use elements from the kit-of-parts:-

abstract color and realistic images,
setting up a dialectic between built
form and visual imagery a complex
interaction which can adds layers of
metaphorical and metaphysical
dimensions to
architecture.
These buildings possess not only
an extraordinary beauty of
proportion, materials, etc., but they
also project, with
astonishing force, polemic ideas
about ourselves and our
relationship with the Non-manifest
KANCHANJUNGA
APPARTMENTS 1970-1983
 JEEVAN BHARTI , DELHI (1975-
86)
When the building came up in the 1980s, architect Charles
Correa was criticized for making it too futurist.
This office complex of LIC is situated on the outer road of
Connaught circle and acts as a pivot between the
colonnades of CP and new generation of high rise towers
that now surround it . Thus the building is both a
proscenium and a backdrop: a 12 storey stage set whose
faceted glass surface reflects the buildings and trees
around CP.

http://archnet.org/authorities/9/publications/7098
 JEEVAN BHARTI , DELHI
Offices are located in two separate wings creating a built up
of 6300 sq. m. A 98 meters long pergola connects the two
buildings .

http://archnet.org/authorities/9/publications/7098
 BHARAT BHAWAN(1975-
1981)
Bharat Bhavanis an autonomous multi-arts complex
and museum in the state of capitalbhopal,
established and funded by thegovernment of mp
facing theupper lake , bhopal, it houses an art gallery,
a fine art workshops, an open-air amphitheatre, a
studio theatre, an auditorium, a museum tribal and
folk art, libraries of Indian poetry, classical music as
well as folk music.

http://archnet.org/authorities/9/sites/1405
 BHARAT BHAWAN
The natural contours of the site have been used to create
series of terraced gardens and sunken courtyards.
The profound hierarchy in the organization of spaces, is what
allows for the transition courtyards to develop an informality
and openness which gives this space its character, as a
platform for sharing and building up cultural ideas.
Lighting and ventilation within the building are provided with
top lights (slots along the parapets).
BRITISH COUNCIL LIBRARY (1987-1992

THIS NEW BUILDING FOR THE BRITISH

COUNCIL HOUSES A NUMBER OF DIVERSE
FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING A LIBRARY, AN
AUDITORIUM, AN ART GALLERY AND THE
HEADQUARTERS OF THEIR OFFICES IN
INDIA.
 CORREAS IDEA FOR THE
BUILDING WAS TO EXPRESS
THE THREE BASIC CULTURAL
IDENTITIES THAT HAVE
SHAPED CONTEMPORARY
INDIA: HINDU, MUSLIM AND
EUROPEAN.
ENTRANCE

SITE PLAN

AT THE FARTHEST END IS THE

AXIS MUNDI OF HINDUISM, A
SPIRAL SYMBOLISING BINDU-
THE ENERGY CENTRE OF THE
COSMOS.

THE NEXT NODAL POINT,

LOCATED IN THE MAIN
COURTYARD, IS CENTERED
AROUND ANOTHER MYTHIC
IMAGE: THE TRADITIONAL
ISLAMIC CHAR BAGH, i.e.
GARDEN OF PARADISE.

THE THIRD NODAL POINT

SITE SECTION
COXS SCULPTURE SITS IN
THE HINDU COURT, AT THE
POINT OF BINDU.

VIEW ACROSS THE INNER

COURTYARDS, WITH IN THE
FOREGROUND AN
INTERPRETATION OF THE
LAYOUT OF THE ISLAMIC
GARDEN OF PARADSE

EUROPEAN ICON, USED

TO REPRESENT THE AGE
OF REASON, NCLUDING
THE MYTHIC VALUES OF
SCIENCE AND PROGRESS
 JAWAHAR KALA KENDRA(1986-1992)

IT IS AN ARTS CENTRE DEDICATED TO

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
LIKE THE CITY, IT IS ALSO DOUBLE
CODED: A CONTEMPORARY BUILDING
BASED ON AN ARCHAIC NOTION OF THE
COSMOS: THE NAVGRAH MANDALA
ONE OF THE SQUARES MOVED ASIDE TO
PROVIDE ENTRY, JUST LIKE IT WAS IN THE
ORIGINAL CITY PLAN OF JAIPUR.
GENESIS OF JAIPUR

GENESIS OF JAWAHAR KALA

JAIPUR CITY KENDRA
PLAN
 SHA SURY MANGA
NI A L

SECTIO
N
NINE
PLANETS
EACH OF THE NINE PLANETS IS REPRESENTED BY A SQUARE, 30M x 30M,
DEFINED BY RED SANDSTONE WALLS, 8M HIGH. THE PROGRAMME FOR THE
ARTS CENTRE IS DISAGGREGATED INTO NINE SEPARATE GROUPINGS, EACH
CORRESPONDIG TO THE MYTHS OF A PARTICULAR PLANET.
THE TRADITIONAL SYMBOL OF EACH PLANET IS EXPRESSED IN MARBLE AND
STONE INLAY IN THE STONE WALLS THAT SURROUND IT. THE CENTRAL
SQUARE, AS SPECIFIED IN THE ANCIENT VEDIC SHASTRAS, IS A VOID:
REPRESENTING THE NOTHING- WHICH IS THE TRUE SOURCE OF ALL ENERGY.
 THE EXTERNAL WALLS
OF THE BUILDING
(INCLUDING THOSE
AROUND THE KUND)
ARE CLAD IN RED
AGRA SANDSTONE,
TOPPED BY A COPING
OF BEIGE DHOLPUR
STONE- THE SAME
MATERIALS USED FOR
THE JANTAR MANTAR
OBSERVATORY, IN THE
RED FORT AT AGRA,
AND IN FATEHPUR
SIKRI

ON THESE EXTERNAL SURFACES, THE

PRESENCE OF EACH OF THE
PLANETS IS EXPRESSED BY ITS
TRADITIONAL SYMBOL INLAID IN
WHITE MARBLE, RECALLING AGAIN
THE PRECISELY CALIBRATED
SURFACES OF THE ASTRONOMICAL
INSTRUMENTS AT THE JANTAR
MANTAR OBSERVATORY
 CHAMPALIMAUD CENTER FOR
THE UNKNOWN
Opened on 5th
october,2010
Location : Lisbon ,
Portugal on the
waterfront.
Historical significance
as portugese sailed
from this location to
discover the
unknown lands.

http://www.archdaily.com/140623/champalimaud-centre-for-the-unknown-charles-correa-associates/
 CHAMPALIMAUD CENTER
Has curved stone forms with
circular cut- aways.
Comprises two buildings , first-
research laboratories and
treatment rooms , second
housing an auditorium and
exhibition area.
A central pathway crosses the
site between the buildings ,
leading towards two monolithic
stone sculptures and an outdoor
amphitheater.
Above the pathway , a glass
tubular bridge connects the two
buildings together.

http://www.fchampalimaud.org/en/the-foundation/champalimaud-centre-unknown/
 CHAMPALIMAUD CENTER
Attempted to use nature as therapy. The water around us.
The sky above. The healing presence of rain forests . All
these are therapies for the patients.
Uses the highest levels of contemporary science and
medicine to help people grappling with real problems;
cancer, brain damage , blindness.
 CHAMPALIMAUD CENTER
The buildings are arranged to create a
125 m long pedestrian pathway leading
diagonally across the site , towards open
seas.
Pathway is on an incline so that while
walking upwards one can only see the sky.
At the top of the ramp there are two stone
monoliths , straight from the quarry.
From the highest point , a large body of
water is visible which appears to connct
to the ocean beyond.
In the center of the water body, just
below the surface is an oval shaped
stainless stell object , slightly convex so
that it reflects the blue sky and passing
clouds above.
 The sky, all said
and done, is the source of light - which is the most
primordial of
stimuli acting on our senses. And across its face, every day,
passes
the sun the origin of Life itself ! . . . Small wonder then
that man
has always perceived the sky above to be the abode of the
-CHARLES CORREA
gods,
and that down all these many millennia, it has exerted such
extraordinary power on us and on the architecture we
build.