We are what we are because of you Sir. RIP Ar. Charles Correa.
“A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.” – Maya Angelou
We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing away of the doyen of Indian
Architecture, Architect Charles Correa. Many of us have been deeply influenced by his work and have worshipped him from our days in the college canteen. Architecture, like many other creative fields, behaves in a way professionals love to hate each other…or mildly put, critique each other. Charles Correa was different; he stood apart; everyone loved him.
Born in 1930, Charles Correa was the winner of the Padma Shri, the Padma Vibhushan from the Govt of India and several other international awards for his excellent work, like the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Thousands of people have been awed by his works like the “Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya” (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial) at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal., the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi, British Council, New Delhi, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Boston, the Champalimaud Centre for The Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal. From 1970–75, he was Chief Architect for New Bombay (Navi Mumbai), an urban growth center of 2 million people across the harbour from the existing city of Mumbai, here along with Shirish Patel and Pravina Mehta he was involved in extensive urban planning of the new city.[7] In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed him Chairman of the National Commission on Urbanization.
Rarely have any Indian Architect, based in India, worked across and feted across multiple countries, especially the USA and Europe.
He was a very fine human being. A great soul has departed; but the beauty of Architecture is that he will live on forever through his creations. May his soul rest in peace.