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.

project # 6

TITLE: GANDHI LABOUR INSTITUTE
ARCHITECT: B V DOSHI
LOCATION: AHMEDABAD

Gandhi Labour Institute was established by Gujarat Government in 1984 to provide for education, training, study and research in labour and related subjects. The institution has been designed by architect B V Doshi and it reuses many elements from Sangath, his office. The concrete vaults covered in white china mosaic, the faceted terraces, earth mounds, greet plaster on external walls and an amphitheatre; all these elements form a language which was also explored in Sangath. The institution houses a library, an exhibition space, an auditorium, teaching areas, offices and a dormitory block.

approach
internal court
transversal vault


The building is approached at the first floor with a forecourt and wide steps flanked by a pool. One enters under a transversal vault which then feeds laterally into the various departments as well as the hostel block. This transversal vault, to me, is the most powerful space in the entire institution and gives this place, a unique identity. The transversal vault and space underneath have an archaic quality of Buddhist caves. This theme of the cave-like spaces, a sense of space that has been carved out, keeps constantly occurring in Prof. Doshi’s works. The material palette of this institution comprises of greet plaster as external finish, exposed concrete, polished Kota stone for flooring and wood for doors-windows. The terraces and vaults on the top are finished with white china mosaic.

project # 3b

TITLE: L. D. INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY(part-2)
LOCATION: AHMEDABAD
ARCHITECT: B. V. DOSHI

This week’s intention is to focus on some of the interior spaces of this building. The ground floor comprises mainly of administrative facilities like offices and reception areas. The arrival space or the reception area becomes the anchor point, from where one can get into various directions; one can take the stairs and either go to the library in the basement, go to the offices or further ahead go to the L D Indology museum which occupies the southern edge of the entire complex. The reception space has been treated almost like a pavilion in landscape that opens on north and south directions.
reception & waiting
stairs leading to library


library

The library has been sunk below ground level and it is made accessible directly from the reception area with the help of a very sculptural staircase. Library gets its light and cross-ventilation from ventilators placed along the northern and southern edge of the building. The spaces below these ventilators get flooded with natural light and they are intended as reading spaces within library. Originally when the pool is filled with water one can see its reflection on these inclined ceilings and also provides cool air in the basement.
balcony at first floor

The material palette of this entire complex comprises of exposed concrete, mosaic tiles for floor and wood for doors-windows. Apart from these materials white terrazzo has been used creatively at places like built-in seats, parapets and as bands within flooring. An inherent simplicity and boldness prevails in the approach towards materials and architectural elements. On the whole this building is a masterpiece from the oeuvre of Balkrishna Doshi.

project # 3a

TITLE: L. D. INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY (part-1)

LOCATION: AHMEDABAD

ARCHITECT: B. V. DOSHI

L D Institute of Indology complex, at Ahmedabad, comprises of mainly two buildings blocks; museum block and administrative cum library block. The focus of this and the next post is going to be the administrative-library block. The building sits on an artificial pond that collects water during rainy season. L D Institute of Indology is one of the first buildings in Ahmedabad designed by architect B. V. Doshi and till date it is one of my favorite buildings in Ahmedabad. It is simply impossible to cover this building within the limitations of one post, so I have decided to give it two posts. This week I am just going to feature the building from outside and the way it sits amidst the landscape. Next week I hope to get into the details of the inside spaces.

The building comprises of a library that has been sunk in semi-basement and administrative facilities that occupy ground level. Thus the building sits on a high-plinth that allows light and ventilation for the basement while giving it a monumental appearance from outside. The main circulation happens outside the building almost like an ambulatory. The strength of this building also lies in its richness of architectural elements; the sun-breaking elements on the southern façade, monumental main doors, built-in seats all around the ambulatory and exposed concrete railings on the first floor.