project # 13

TITLE: CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
LOCATION: TRIVANDRUM
ARCHITECT: LAURIE BAKER

In the year 1967 Laurie Baker was asked to design a centre for research in applied economics, Centre for Development Studies, at the outskirts of Trivandrum. Standing on a 10 acre plot, CDS is one of the most important projects from Baker’s architectural oeuvre. The significance of this project has less to do with the scale or budget, than the range of architectural vocabulary employed by Baker in this project. CDS campus comprises of administrative offices, a computer centre, an amphi-theatre, a library, classrooms, housing and other components of an institutional design. The site, being on a hillside, posed challenge of locating various building blocks without disturbing the landscape. Baker’s solution to this challenge is randomly distributed administrative office and classroom blocks, whose positions are determined by the slope. Administration office, classroom blocks and library form the central complex. The library dominates this complex with a seven storey high tower, occupying the hill top. Most of the buildings, computer centre, multipurpose hall, amphi-theatre or the hostel blocks, derive their organic shapes from the contours on which they sit.

“Lastly, I have found, consistently, throughout my working life, that the whole business of planning and designing is intensely absorbing and fun! Always living close to nature I learnt many lessons from the design of God’s creations. Very rarely do we find the square or the rectangle but very often the circle is used. The straight line is rare, but the graceful curve is frequently seen. An interesting scientific observation is that the length of the wall enclosing a given area is shorter if the shape is circular and longer if the shape around the same area is a square or a rectangle. This is an important factor in cost-reducing exercises!

Furthermore, I have found the answer to many spatial and planning problems by using the circle and the curve instead of the square and the straight line-and building becomes much more fun with the circle.”

Laurie Baker

computer centre & multipurpose hall................double skin...........



entrance............................................central block with library tower......


entrance to the central block & internal court...........

library block from inside............................................................

canteen block with an internal court............................................

The CDS campus is a complete demonstration of ways in which brick can manipulated and utilized for various purposes. Brick has been used for structural walls, as form work for concrete columns, brick-jalis that give Baker’s work a unique identity, for built-in furniture, as outdoor paving, as arches for lintels and even as street light poles. Most of the buildings at this campus have double skin, where outer layer comprises of brick jalis that cuts down glare and allows cross-ventilation, so crucial in this climate. Almost all possible ways in which a jali-wall can be made, using brick, have been demonstrated at this campus. All the bricks used for the project were made close to the site. The material palette of this campus comprises of exposed bricks, exposed concrete, random rubble stone masonry, filler slab, wood for the openings, and red-oxide for flooring.

Reference:

• Gautam Bhatia, ed. 1994, Laurie Baker: Life, Work and Writings, Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd.

project # 12

TITLE: JAWAHAR KALA KENDRA
ARCHITECT: CHARLES CORREA
LOCATION: JAIPUR

Located in the pink city of Jaipur, Jawahar Kala Kendra is a hub for cultural activities of the city. Completed in the year 1992, and initiated by state government, Jawahar Kala Kendra was built exclusively with the view to retain and revive Rajasthan’s rich folk culture. The plan of the institution, which is inspired by the original city plan of Jaipur, comprises of nine squares with central square left open. The original plan of the Jaipur city drawn up by Maharaja Jai Singh, himself a scholar, is also divided in nine parts, out of which one square gets displaced to accommodate nearby hill and the two central squares get united to form the city palace. At Jawahar Kala Kendra the city plan is recalled by rotating and displacing one of the squares which also creates an entrance space.

plan-JKK..........................................plan of jaipur city with nine square diagram....


entrance & library block...............................................................................

central square at JKK.........................................city palace jaipur.................

open staircase & terraces at JKK................jantar mantar observatory at jaipur.....

The institution facilitates a house of museum that portrays art pieces from Rajasthani folk culture, a house of theatre, a library, an arts gallery that displays arts and crafts created by well known artists, Studio space that exhibits paintings and sculptures, accommodation facilities and a cafeteria. Each of these parts occupies one square and thus the program of the institution gets divided in eight squares with a void at the centre. The individual squares are defined by 8 meter high walls and each square has its own character, its own built to open space ratio, reflecting its program. The overall built form and the language of the place draws many references from the traditional architecture of Jaipur, such as the city palace and the Jantar Mantar observatory built by Raja Jai sing.

Reference:

1. Khan, Hasan-Uddin, ed. 1987. Charles Correa: Architect in India. London: Butterworth Architecture

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project # 11

TITLE: INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT-BANGALORE
ARCHITECT: B. V. DOSHI, JOSEPH STEIN
LOCATION: BANGALORE

“the plan is a society of rooms.........the society of rooms is knit together with the elements of connection which have their own characteristics…..”

Louis Kahn

In the early 1960s the government of India decided to establish four national level management institutes at Ahmedabad (designed by Louis Kahn), Calcutta, Lucknow and Bangalore. Prof Doshi was commissioned the project of IIM Bangalore in 1977 on a hilly site to the south of Bangalore. The campus is programmatically divided in two zones; the academic zone, which comprises of offices, classrooms, library and laboratories arranged around a series of courtyards, while the student dormitories placed at a distance. The focus of this post is the academic zone with its streets, squares, courtyards, balconies, and all the other elements that establish the ‘architecture of connection’, referred by Kahn.

Louis Kahn’s Indian institute of Management at Ahmedabad (1962-74) where Doshi worked from the initial stage has been great source of inspiration for this project. Among the many aspects understood from Kahn and employed in this project are the purity of materials, the play of light and shade for which Kahn employs the idea of “wrapping ruins around buildings”, and the most striking is the clear demarcated movement pattern, referred by Prof Doshi, “as covered pedestrian streets”. These covered streets were designed, according to Prof. Doshi.

“to provide innumerable vistas for focal points for generating a dialogue with oneself. These corridors are sometimes open, sometimes with pergolas and sometimes topped with a glazed skylight. To further heighten the spatial experience, the width of the corridors was modulated in many places to allow for casual eating and interaction to take place.”

Soaring up to as much as three storey height at many places, these covered streets in many ways are the main arteries of the plan, linking all the various elements.

IIM-Bangalore......source
IIM-A'bad...........source...


internal court.......source
covered streets......source

sikri.......source

IIM-B...........source

sikri.......source

IIM-Bangalore............source

The IIM-Bangalore draws many parallels with Kahn’s philosophy on one hand and on the other hand it also deviates from it to establish an identity of its own. It contains elements that shift and break strict axiality and draws many principles from the Mughal city of Fatehpur Sikri, built by Emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century. Apart from the organizational principles such as interlocking courts, pavilions, terraced gardens and connections, the IIM-B also employs more subtle lessons about materials and consistency of details from Fatehpur Sikri. The construction of the entire complex is made simple and standardized using exposed concrete, lattices, frames, and wall system using rough blocks of local gray granite.

Reference:

1. William J R Curtis, Balkrishna Doshi. Balkrishna Doshi : An Architecture for India. New York, Rizzoli.

2. James Steele. Rethinking Modernism for the Developing World : The Complete Architecture of Balkrishna Doshi, Watson-Guptill Publications.