Architect · India · 1930-2015
Charles Correa Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Indian architect (1930-2015) whose climate-responsive, open-to-sky architecture, from the Gandhi Memorial Museum to the Kanchanjunga Apartments, gave modern India its own language.
Photo: Dipz99, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Charles Correa (1930-2015) was an Indian architect and urban planner who created a modern architecture for India grounded in climate, open-to-sky space and the patterns of everyday life. His museums, housing and civic buildings, and his work on low-income housing and urban growth, made him one of the most influential architects of the developing world.
Education
Born in Secunderabad, Correa studied architecture at the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before opening his own practice in Bombay in 1958.
The Gandhi Memorial and Early Work
His first major work, the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya in Ahmedabad (1963), arranged tiled pavilions around a water court on a modest, human scale, establishing themes that would run through his career: open-to-sky spaces, shaded transitions and an architecture adapted to the Indian climate.
Housing and the City
Correa was chief architect of Navi Mumbai, the new city planned across the harbor from Bombay, and championed incremental, low-rise housing for the urban poor, as at Belapur. His book The New Landscape set out his ideas on urbanization in the developing world. In Bombay he built the Kanchanjunga Apartments, a tower of double-height terraces designed for the monsoon climate.
Late Work and Recognition
Later works include the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur, based on the mandala of the nine planets, the Vidhan Bhavan state assembly in Bhopal, the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex at MIT and the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon. He received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1984 and the Praemium Imperiale in 1994, and died in Mumbai in 2015.
Charles Correa
The most complete monograph on Correa, with an introduction by Kenneth Frampton, presents his buildings and urban projects with plans, sketches and photographs.
View on AmazonLooking for a shorter, more affordable start? A Place in the Shade (246 pages).
Timeline
- 1930Born on 1 September in Secunderabad.
- 1953Graduates in architecture from the University of Michigan.
- 1955Completes a master’s degree in architecture at MIT.
- 1958Opens his own practice in Bombay.
- 1963Completes the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya in Ahmedabad.
- 1970Becomes chief architect of Navi Mumbai.
- 1983Completes the Kanchanjunga Apartments in Bombay.
- 1984Receives the RIBA Royal Gold Medal.
- 1985Publishes The New Landscape.
- 1986Completes the Belapur incremental housing in Navi Mumbai.
- 1991Completes the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur.
- 1994Receives the Praemium Imperiale.
- 1996Completes the Vidhan Bhavan state assembly in Bhopal.
- 2006Receives the Padma Vibhushan.
- 2010Completes the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon.
- 2015Dies on 16 June in Mumbai.
Best Books on Charles Correa
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Charles Correa known for?
Charles Correa is known for a climate-responsive modern architecture for India, built around open-to-sky spaces, courtyards and shaded transitions, and for his influential work on housing and urbanization, including the planning of Navi Mumbai.
What are Charles Correa’s most famous buildings?
His most celebrated works include the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya in Ahmedabad (1963), the Kanchanjunga Apartments in Mumbai (1983), the Belapur housing (1986), the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur (1991), the Vidhan Bhavan in Bhopal (1996) and the Champalimaud Centre in Lisbon (2010).
What is the best book about Charles Correa?
For a complete overview we recommend Charles Correa (Thames & Hudson), with an introduction by Kenneth Frampton. For his ideas, read his collected essays, A Place in the Shade.
What architectural style is Charles Correa?
Correa worked within modernism but adapted it to India’s climate and culture, and is often associated with critical regionalism.
Where can you visit Charles Correa’s buildings?
The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya in Ahmedabad, the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur and the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon are open to visitors, and the Kanchanjunga Apartments can be seen in Mumbai.
