The legacy of India’s ‘greatest architect’ Charles Correa

Handout

Rick Friedman/Corbis

Handout

Dinodia/Corbis

The architect, who died Wednesday, left his mark all over the world.

Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur

Built to preserve Rajasthani arts and crafts, the Jawahar Kala Kendra was opened in 1991. Based on Jaipur’s own city plan, the complex features nine squares of buildings with a central open square. Its facades are a vivid red, calling to mind Jaipur’s nickname, The Pink City, for the colour of the stone used in many of its older buildings.

Parumala Church, Parumala, Kerala

Opened in 2000, the Parumala Church is a small parish church honouring the saints Peter and Paul. Its size makes it an unlikely commission for India’s greatest architect, but its eggshell white walls, its low, spreading profile, and the deep square and rectangular holes cut in its facade make it a classic Correa work.

McGovern Institute of Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston

Correa returned to his alma mater, MIT, to build a new brain research facility, which was inaugurated in 2010. The seven-storey building, made of Portuguese limestone and glass, faces Frank Gehry’s Stata Centre. Correa’s building seems placid compared to Gehry’s energetic, even hectic style.

Kanchangunja, Mumbai

A tower of 32 luxury apartments completed in 1983, Kanchanjunga has a soothing pastel facade perforated at seemingly random intervals by square windows, recalling an old computer punch card. The apartments interlock in profile, so that a raised ceiling in a flat below gives rise to a smaller study space in the flat above.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Museum, Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

Completed in 1963, the museum draws inspiration from the plans of village houses in Gujarat’s Banni region. The museum’s rooms are enclosed in brick walls and wooden louvered screens, which allow for changes in lighting and temperature.