Clueless ECIL altered Charles Correa’s building design in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The ECIL administrative building and LIC residential quarters opposite Indira Park are testimonies of late architect Charles Correa’s vision. The international award-winning architect was known for playing with heights, simple straight lines and balance between masses and voids, all of which are evident in the ECIL and LIC buildings. The Jal Vihar and People’s Plaza at Necklace Road were also his ideas.

Correa wanted to construct a structure similar to the World Trade Centre at Hussainsagar where Prasads is currently located, however, the plan was dropped. Yashwant Ramamurthy, architect and a student of Correa, said, “He was a simple and articulate person, often dressed in white trousers and cotton shirt. He had a towering personality and was a spellbinding speaker. His lectures used to mesmerise students. He taught us basic design and always questioned certain values with reference to the Indian situation. His idea of building was more about interactive space, where residents could connect with nature. He loved playing with heights.”

The ECIL administrative building was his first main project in which he used a lot of principles he believed in — tall, double-height entry, huge open spaces, use of pergolas (to keep out the sun from the west and south of the building) and several other elements.

However, the ECIL management did not realise the masterpiece they had and later made several changes.” D.T. Vinod Kumar, architect and member of Council of Architecture-TS, said that Correa had introduced the concept of row houses in the late 70s.

 “One needed a special character to work with him. Indian architecture will no longer be the same. An era has ended. Charles Correa — we will miss your kind of buildings,” said Dr Kumar.

Correa felt cities were India’s wealth

Born in Secunderabad on September 1, 1930, Charles Correa studied at St Xavier’s College in Mumbai before going to the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Correa taught at several universities in India and abroad and was awarded some of the highest honours in his field, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Praemium Imperial of Japan and the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, which billed him as “India’s greatest architect” when it mounted an exhibition on him in 2013.

Correa had once expressed interest in the way Indian cities work and the ways to improve them during an interview with The Guardian.

“Our cities are among the greatest things that we have. They are part of the wealth of India. They are places of hope. The skills we need are urban skills. We never have to ask the World Bank to send us an expert because our cities already provide them,” he had said.