Thank you, Vivek. A timely review and succint. And yes, in addition to genius, the man had presence.
On Sun, 3 Nov 2024 at 10:54, V M <[email protected]> wrote: > https://www.heraldgoa.in/cafe/celebrating-citizen-charles/415299 > > When the great Charles Correa died almost a decade ago in June 2015, here > is how the Royal Institute of British Architects eulogized him: “Charles > Mark Correa had presence, physically and intellectually. Tall, > silver-haired from middle age, combative in debate and with a mischievous > wit, he was an acolyte of Le Corbusier but whose own work went in a very > different, more mystic and organic direction: an architecture that grew up > with and helped to define modern, independent India. For him context was > everything, whether that was for a cultural centre or a complete urban > district. He received the Royal Gold Medal of the RIBA as early as 1984, > the Praemium Imperiale a decade later, and the Aga Khan Award in 1998, and > came to be known as modern India’s greatest architect.” > > That last clause is vital, and even if Mustansir Dalvi never goes so far > as to make an identical claim in his excellent new *Citizen Charles *(Niyogi > Books), the sweep of intellectual and social history evoked in his > first-rate biography makes it clear why this archetypical Bombay Goan > (albeit born in Secunderabad) was so unique, and left such an impactful > legacy. As the celebrated Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye aptly > summarized some years ago, “his work is the physical manifestation of the > idea of Indian nationhood, modernity and progress. His vision sits at the > nexus defining the contemporary Indian sensibility and it articulates a new > Indian identity with a language that has a global resonance. He is someone > who has that rare capacity to give physical form to something as intangible > as ‘culture’ or ‘society’ – and his work is therefore critical: > aesthetically; sociologically; and culturally.” > > *Citizen Charles* is less than 200 easy-to-read pages, but outstandingly > comprehensive nonetheless. For this, huge credit to Dalvi, another > quintessential ‘Bombaywallah’ – he recently retired after 21 years on the > faculty of the storied Sir JJ College of Architecture – whose unbeatable > mastery of his subject matter shines throughout. A familiar and well-loved > annual presence at the Goa Arts + Literature Festival in his distinguished > parallel career as poet and translator, here is the multifaceted author in > yet another avatar: the highly polished academic and architectural > historian, who has given us an instantly invaluable portrait of the city of > Mumbai, of architecture in India after 1947, and also the paths not taken > which have come to define our current era, while at the heart and spine of > this fine new book, of course, is the proud son of Goa and his “lifelong > advocacy for an egalitarian and uniquely Indian urbanism.” > > “Charles Correa was a posthumous child,” writes Dalvi. “His father died of > an aneurysm a week before he was born.” Five years later in 1935, his > mother Florinda moved to her family home in South Bombay, where “as a > child, Charles would love to walk down to watch ships, big and small, come > and go at the Ballard Pier. He was especially fond of the dry docks, where > ships would be lifted out of the water in their entirety. He would be in > awe of the massive hull, rising above him like an upside-down roof. Back > home, Charles would obsess over his train set. Here he would learn that a > drawing is a metaphor for a way of seeing beyond the confines of paper. > Through its lanes and avenues, Charles would see how concepts and order, > first visualised in two dimensions, can be realised in built form.” > > Much of Correa’s resume is familiar and famous: St Xavier’s School, then a > couple of years at St Xavier’s College before gambling fortuitously to the > University of Michigan in 1948, at just 18 years of age, where he > flourished in undergraduate architecture studies, and gained his first > great mentor, the visionary genius Buckminister “Bucky” Fuller. Immediately > after his Master’s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955, > the idealistic young Indian returned home, where he – says Dalvi – became > one of the four essential architects (the others are Habib Rahman, Achyut > Kanvinde and Balhrishna Doshi) who created “the visual vocabulary for the > architecture of independent India and provided a momentum to Nehru’s > aspirations for a modern country in the larger comity of nations.” > > Since a lot of this is well-known, I asked Dalvi whether he encountered > anything new in the course of his research. He told me that “while writing > this book, I would be constantly delighted by the manner in which Correa > could resurrect, reinvent and readapt ideas from some of his earliest work > into his later projects. He was never obsessed with 'the shock of the new', > a very modernist predilection, but could create very original designs by > (to use a phrase from his mentor, R. Buckminster Fuller) 'rearranging the > scenery'. His Masters dissertation sought citizen participation as > something to aspire for, and he kept this in mind when working on the > Regional Plan for Goa. His design from his earliest mass housing schemes in > Peru can be seen inspiring his Artist's Village in Belapur Navi Mumbai. > Every project of his emerged from the basic premise that climate leads the > manner in which the architecture will ultimately be realised.” > > It's an interesting insight, of which evidence can be seen writ both large > and small in Goa, in the (now criminally trashed) Kala Academy and the > Fontainhas headquarters of Charles Correa Foundation, which are > characterized by the same ineffably Indian less-is-more design vocabulary. > Each building is meticulously crafted for its separate location, and kitted > out for totally different purposes, but their authorship – although > separated by several decades - is easily recognizable, and distinctly the > same. Some years ago, on a most memorable evening on the wing on a sailboat > down the Tagus, it was inexpressibly moving to perceive that same > architectural language articulated on the grandest of scales at the > Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon, an outright masterpiece that > is for me the most profound and perfect Indian building of the 21th > century, in direct view of the Torre de Belém, the historic launching point > for Vasco da Gama’s journey of discovery with such consequential results > for all of us, and history itself.. > > Dalvi told me that “the next generation of Indian architects would do well > to emulate Correa's critical stance towards Modernism, Internationalism and > cultural heritage. He rejected none of these but sought to contextualise > each where he could. He looked at Indian culture as a 'deep structure' and > sought to make its intangibles manifest rather than simply repeating its > visible tropes. Most important of all, his approaches to design always kept > the end user at the forefront. I wish young architects would remember this. > The one lesson he leaves his fellow citizens is that we are all in it > together, and it is best if they are active participants in all important > decisions concerning their city.” > > India’s smallest state is unbelievably awful about remembering its own > greatest daughters and sons, but it has occurred to me it would be fitting > to rename Goa College of Architecture after Correa. However, when I asked > Dalvi about this idea, he demurred: “I hope that Goa will always remember > its native son fondly, and preserve, protect and use his buildings in the > best way possible. As a matter of principle, I am not in favour of renaming > institutions, especially replacing place names with people names. Goa > College is as good a name as any, and Goa’s citizens can find a variety of > other ways to celebrate their Goencho Munis.” > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW46AygYnW6uHoDUzJQ%2B2UO7SJ1KXKsV%3DuF6W7VoVHXabw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW46AygYnW6uHoDUzJQ%2B2UO7SJ1KXKsV%3DuF6W7VoVHXabw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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