End of an era: Charles Correa, who opened up buildings, passes away

Mumbai: Charles Correa, the architect widely hailed as ‘India’s greatest’, passed away on Tuesday night following a brief battle with illness.

Best remembered for his advocacy of the ‘open-to-skies’ concept of architecture and use of local aesthetics and natural elements in his works, Correa was also instrumental in the planning and construction of the township of Navi Mumbai.

With over 100 projects to his name, some of Correa’s earliest works include the famous Gandhi Memorial in Sabarmati, which he completed at the age of just 28, and the Bharat Bhavan Museum and Arts Complex in Bhopal. Born in Secunderabad in 1930, designed the ECIL administrative building and the LIC residential quarters opposite Indira Park. Jal Vihar and People’s Plaza at Necklace Road were his ideas.

Renowned conservation architect, Abha Narain Lambah of Mumbai, summarised his passing as the end of an era. “He was a revered figure in the world of architecture. For many of us, his passing divides the timeline of the world of architecture as ‘Before Correa’ and ‘After Correa’,” expressed Abha.

Extremely vocal in his opposition to the architectural direction that Mumbai was taking in the early 1980’s, Correa was also a proponent of inclusive architecture that benefited even the poorest sections of society. Correa, who breathed his last at the at the city’s Breach Candy Hospital is survived by his son Nakul, daughter Nondita and son-in-law Rahul Mehrotra.