Archinect - News

Charles Correa's Kala Academy needs saving

2019-08-06T18:58:00-04:00

Kala Academy, Goa’s cultural centre, which was designed by the renowned architect Charles Correa in the late 1970s, is threatened with demolition by the State Government in the near future. It is an exceedingly important building, not just among Correa’s international repertoire, but also in the State of Goa.

A petition has been started to save Goa, India's Kala Academy. It has served as a true cultural hub for its local community, being "the only government-run arts institution in the country with separate faculties for both Western and Indian classical music, and also offers courses in theatre and dance."

The Academy had also been the location of many music performances, film screenings, and dramas. In short, it has been a vibrant part of the local fabric and many hope for it to continue to be.

Charles Correa, legendary Indian architect, dies at 84

2015-06-17T13:43:00-04:00

Born in 1930 in the southern Indian city of Secunderabad, Mr. Correa studied at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai and then went on to attend theUniversity of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. to study architecture. “To work in India is the great advantage of life in the Third World. The issues are so much bigger than you are; they give you a chance to grow,” Mr. Correa wrote in his book ‘Housing and Urbanization.’

Charles Correa died at home Tuesday night in Mumbai, after a bout of brief illness (according to BBC news). He is known for the diversity and far-reaching quality of his work in India and elsewhere, including affordable housing, master planning, and high-profile academic and diplomatic structures. In 2013, RIBA named him "India's Greatest Architect". Up until his death, he served as a consulting architect with the Goa government in India.

After studying at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, Correa earned architecture degrees from the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of his best known architectural works include the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Ahmedabad, the Kanchanjunga Apartment tower in Mumbai, MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences Center in Boston, and the Parumala Church, as well as his master planning work for Navi Mumbai in the 1960s.

RIP Charles Correa, 1930-2015

↑ British Council, Delhi

↑ Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, Ahmedabad

↑ Kanchanjunga Apartm...

"Great City...Terrible Place": A discussion on the urban future of India

2015-03-27T14:00:00-04:00

India is currently the second most populated country in the world, closely following China, at 1.25 billion people. Around 30 percent of its inhabitants, roughly the population of the entire United States, live in urban areas that continue to grow. The astonishing numbers are proof of the country’s demographic explosion, and make Indian cities a fascinating combination of chaos and vitality rarely found elsewhere. Great City…Terrible Place, this year’s Z-AXIS symposium curated by the Charles Correa Foundation in Goa, explored the complex forces shaping global cities in an effort to understand the dynamism of India’s ever-changing urban centers. Held over three days at Kala Academy, one of Correa’s masterworks, the conference brought together speakers from different corners of the world to share their views with an audience eager to take an active role in India’s urban transformation.

The conference’s moderator, Pratyush Shankar, described cities as places of will, where people forge ...

Opulent examples of Goan architecture

2014-02-25T22:49:00-05:00

A range of architectural styles evolved, but the purest examples of the Goan aesthetic share a few features: brightly painted exteriors; Hindu-style sunken courtyards in the center; and window panes made of oyster shells.

Abby Aguirre travels to Goa, to sample its distinctive Indo-Latin architecture including elegant former estates, turned laid-back guesthouses. This style of architecture features strong Portuguese, Mughal, and Indian influences.

Those wanting to learn more about this syncretic architecture of Goan Catholics, should read Chandan Dubey and Brian D'Souza in Prismma.

Aarvli Resort by Serie Architects Starts Construction in Goa, India

2012-10-25T19:57:00-04:00

London/Mumbai-based firm Serie Architects has shared with us their latest project, Aarvli Resort, which just broke ground in India. Completion of the proposed eco-resort is scheduled for late 2013.