An event to pay tribute to the master architect Charles Correa
( The event in the memory of Charles Correa at City Centre Salt Lake)
It is Mr. Harsh Neotia, the chairman of Ambuja Neotia Group, who took the pain to get the beautiful gift City Centre from the master architect Charles Correa. Mr. Neotia says when he approach the master architect, the first reaction he gets is “I don’t work with developers” and “Malls don’t excite me”. Being rejected many times, Mr. Neotia finally convinced the master to design it. On 18th June 2016, an event was organized to pay tribute and remembering the master architect on his death anniversary at the place which Mr. Correa designed for our beloved city of joy Kolkata.
As Mr. Neotia was going down the memory lane at his speech, he expressed how he was so enthusiastic to convince him. Mr. Correa designed something and surprisingly tore the design in shreds just after the day of laying foundation. The master told Mr. Neotia that it is not a good idea to have a mall in Kolkata. Again several visits of Mr. Neotia to Mumbai, Mr. Correa convinced him that it should not be like a conventional mall and it will not be like a big box with centralized air condition, large entry and escalators. There comes a compromised design with walkways, non AC, low rise etc. The new hybrid design which was bit of mall and other old markets came up and what is physically now as City Centre Salt Lake. The place is very much unlike any other malls in the country and that’s the speciality of the master’s nature friendly design.
( The Master Architect )
Rahul Mehrotra, professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and son in law of Mr. Correa also expressed Mr. Correa’s thought and how his ideas were different. He said “history will tell us that Charles Correa was Asia’s first modern architect.” The master became very obsessed with housing and urbanization intrinsically linked activity. Mr. Mehrotra expressed how Correa’s aspiration was to see India as modern country with its aesthetic values. He lighted on Correa’s experience in urban design, ideas for low cost housing, the open life of Indian slum. Correa’s low-cost housing tracks the pattern of courtyard life and gives it the legitimacy of modern design. The design of urbanization was in a way of bridging the gap between rich and poor as his concern was question of equality.
The last work of the master is Champalimaud Centre in Lisbon Portugal. It is a research and diagnostic centre but the difference is how magically it is been built. The site is just where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean and from where the journey begins for the unknown.
Mr. Solano Benitez, eminent Paraguayan architect was also present at the event. Mr. Benitez recently won the prestigious Golden Lion award in Venice for his work. His unique structures based on low-cost materials such as bricks which made him earned world renowned. He also shared the same philosophy of nature-inspired designs.
It was a beautiful event in the memory of the master architect Charles Correa. The ideas, thoughts, passion, vision of Mr. Correa are shared. The master may not be with us today, but his vision, his creation will be still there.
( In the event, from right – Mr. Rahul Mehrotra, Mr. Solano Benitez, Mr. Harsh Neotia, Mrs. Monica Correa )
Author :- Arnab Ray
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