Charles Correa is an Indian architect known for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor. He was influenced by professors at the University of Michigan and MIT who emphasized traditional methods and materials. Throughout his career, Correa designed many buildings in India that combined vernacular and modern concepts to support cultural identity and community in a sustainable way. This included designs for housing, government buildings, and cultural centers that featured open-air spaces, passive climate control, and community participation.

1. CHARLES CORREA
Charles Correa is an Indian architect and urban
planner, particularly noted for his sensitivity to
the needs of the urban poor and for his use of
traditional methods and materials

2. •Born into a middle-class Catholic family in Bombay
•Became fascinated with the principles of design as a child
•At Michigan two professors who influenced him the most -Walter Salders and Buckminister Fuller.
•Kevin lynch , then in the process of developing his themes for image of the city triggered Correa’s interest in urban
issues
•‘India of those days was a different place, it was a brand-new country, there was so much hope; India stimulated
me.’
•Education
1946-1948
1955
1953-1955
inter-science. St. Xavier's college, university of Bombay1949B.Arch., University of Michigan.
M.Arch., Massachusetts institute of technology.
•Professional Experience
1955-1958
19581964-1965
1969-1971
1971-1975
1975-1976
1975-1983
1985
partner with G.M. BHUTA associates
to date in private practice.
prepared master plan proposing twin city across the harbor
from Bombay.
invited by the govt. of Peru
chief architect to CIDCO
consultant to UN secretory-general for HABITAT
Chairman Housing Urban Renewal & Ecology Board
chairman dharavavi planning commision

3. PRINCIPLES
•FEW CARDINAL PRINCIPLES IN HIS VAST BODY OF
WORK;
•INCREMENTALITY
•PLURALISM
•PARTICIPATION
•INCOME GENERATION
•EQUITY
•OPEN-TO-SKY SPACE
•DISAGGREGATION.
Ballarpur housing being the one project where he has
literally used these principals
CORREA'S WORK IN INDIA SHOWS A CAREFUL DEVELOPMENT , UNDERSTANDING AND
ADAPTATION OF MODERNISM TO A NON-WESTERN CULTURE. CORREA'S EARLY WORKS
ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE A LOCAL VERNACULAR WITHIN A MODERN ENVIRONMENT. CORREA'S
LAND-USE PLANNING AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS CONTINUALLY TRY TO GO BEYOND
TYPICAL SOLUTIONS TO THIRD WORLD PROBLEMS.
Basic concept behind his designs :
He combines vernacular and modern concepts to create designs that
support the cultural identity of a place and community and eventually lead to sustainable architecture.

4. MP VIDHAN SABHA
•The new Vidhan Sabha houses the many diverse functions crucial to a functioning democracy .
•The plan is a pattern of gardens within gardens , divided into 9 squares .
•The five central ones are halls and courtyards , while the 4 corner positions are occupied by specialized functions.
•The Vidhan Sabha , the Vidhan Parishad, central library, and combined hall .It also contains a host of other facilities :
offices, cabinet rooms, cafeterias , common rooms for security staff etc.
•According to the requirements there are 3 main entrances- for public,VP’s, MLA’s . These 3 main streams separated from each
other experience the complex internal space of the building while moving along verandah and overlooking courtyards and
gardens–as in traditional architecture of India.
DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE VEDIC PRINCIPLES

5. SECTION
FLOOR PLAN
ROOF PLAN
PARTIAL MODEL VIEW OF THE PUBLIC ENTRANCE
, CENTRAL COURT AND VIDHAN SABHA

6. ELEVATION
The building is located in the centre of bhopal. Since the main access road is not axial , but swings towards the site in a
rather casual manner , the plan of the building developed as a circle, so it could have an autonous unity and
presence, regardless of the direction from which it is approached. References of this circular form are–parliament building in
New Delhi, Buddhist stupa near Sanchi.

7. The whole building presents as extremely pleasing vision of powerful
curves and straight vertical and horizontal lines. Whereas the building
could have fallen into the trap of being merely monumental, its pristinely
simple lines raise it to an altogether different plane. This is the genius of
Charles Correa
Correa has used open to sky
courtyards and a labyrinthine
pattern of pathways to
organise the complex
requirements of adminstrative
and legislative functions.
The whole composition is enclosed by a wall that defines its exterior form
like a circular inner city- a model of the city of Baghdad. This approach
has generated an interesting roofs cape and skylines, too often missing in
contemporary architecture, the use of gateways and domes and a tower to
develop the imagery of this landmark complex is very much in the
tradition of the harmonic order found in the traditional architecture of
Islam

8. KANCHENJUNGA APARTMENTS
THE BUILDING HAD TO BE ORIENTED EAST–WEST TO CAPTURE PREVAILING SEA BREEZE AND VIEWS TO
THE CITY.
•But also the orientation for hot sun and heavy rains
•Solution in old bungalows–wrapping a protective layer of verandahs around the
main living areas
•Kanchanjunga an attempt to apply these principles to a high-rise building
•This building has 32 different apartments with 4 types of flats varying from 3 to
6 bedrooms.
•Interlocking of these variations expressed externally by shear end walls that
holdup the cantilevers
•Minimalist surfaces cut away to open up double-height terrace gardens at the
corners
•Complex spatial organization of living spaces
Superficially, this 28-story tower, with its concrete construction and large
areas of white panels, bears a strong resemblance to modern apartment
buildings in the West
Tower’s proportion 1:4
(21 sqm and 84 m high)

9. •Garden terraces actually a modern interpretation of a feature
of the traditional Indian bungalow: the verandah
•Each apartment provided with a deep, two-story-high garden
terrace that is oriented away from the sun so as to afford
protection from the elements

10. GANDHI SMARAK SANGRAHALAYA
Material used:
•Tiled roof
•Brick wall
•Stone floor
• Wooden floor
•Light and ventilation by operable wooden louvers
These elements combine to form a pattern of tiled roofs which are grouped in casual
meandering pattern, creating a pathway along which the visitors progresses towards the
centrality of the water court
PHILOSOPHY:
•Successfully shows the life of Gandhi ji
•Minimalist architecture
•Material honesty
•Contemporary architecture
•Glow of spaces
GANDHI ASHRAM
WATER COURT AT CENTRE

11. SECTION
ROOF PLAN
SITE PLAN
WATER COURT AT CENTRE
SECTION

13. IN HIS DESIGNS, WHICH RANGE FROM LOW-INCOME, HIGH DENSITY
HOUSING TO ENTIRE TOWNSHIPS, HE PAYS SPECIAL ATTENTION TO
AIR VENTILATION AND TO PROVIDE HUMANE LIVING
ENVIRONMENTS.
IN INDIA, THE URBAN POPULATION
IS INCREASING TWICE AS FAST AS IN
ITS RURAL AREAS. HE TAKES ON
THIS CHALLENGE AND DESIGNS
HOMES, BOTH FOR LOW AND HIGH
INCOMES .
BUT EVEN WHILE DESIGNING SMALL
SPACES WITHIN THIS HIGH DENSITY
ENVIRONMENT, HE INCORPORATES
A HIGH LEVEL OF PRIVACY AND
ALSO SHAPES AND CONTRIBUTES TO
THE COMMUNITY LIFE WITHIN AN
APARTMENT BUILDING.

14. The street-like
organization of
this low-rise high
density housing
development (160
units on a 0.8
hectare site)
reflects a return
to vernacular
form sources that
became popular
in Indian
housing efforts
of the 1970s.
•
This parti (referred to as the big idea) derives specifically from the climatologically rationale of the narrow overhung streets
in desert towns such as Jaisalmer. Literal quotation of traditional form or details has been avoided.
•
The unusually refined exposed brick and concrete construction reflects the architect's prevailing commitment to the
Modernist idiom.
•
The internal streetscape is interpreted as a shady garden, informally landscaped with trees and water to enhance humidity.
It is terraced to fit the topographic profile of the site.

15. •This irregular contour is echoed in the staggered
rows of housing that frame the space and in the
terraced set-backs of the external elevations.
•Living units are two storeyed maisonettes, 3
metres wide and 15 metres long, each clearly
expressed in the articulated mass of the building.
•Lower units are accessible at grade from the
internal street; upper units are reached by
common stairs. These units open out onto private
roof terraces framed by a giant concrete pergola
that serves as a cornice to the composition.
•This characteristic device is somewhat vestigial in Correa's application of it here. It accentuates the jagged breakdown of the
building's surfaces rather than forming an effective, continuous parasol.
ACCESS STAIRS AND ENTRANCE BALCONIES
OVERLOOKING INTERIOR COURT EXTERIOR VIEW

16. LEGENDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
BEDROOM
LIVING
KITCHEN
HUMIDIFICATION ZONE
COMMUNITY SPACE
VIEW OF ONE UNIT (3D VIEW)
ROAD VIEW -3 MT WIDE ROAD