Iconic architect Charles Correa, a true Indian legend who passed away Tuesday night, aged 84, leaves behind magnificent landmarks as a reminder of his extraordinary talent to design public spaces, buildings and a whole new city in Navi Mumbai. Known most for his “open-to-sky” concept reflected in many projects he was involved in worldwide, he merely reinforced the thinking that great Indian talent can cross boundaries and leave a mark internationally.
Study and research at the University of Michigan and then at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology may have opened up his mind to heights of creativity, with his fertile imagination allowed free rein. An early success was needed to capture global attention: this came with the Gandhi Memorial in Gujarat, which he designed at the tender age of 28. It is a marvel of understated elegance in keeping with the image of the man who shook the world with the simple principle of non-violence and even simpler ways of life.
Only the best in the field of architecture ever get the chance to design a whole city: Charles Correa’s work on Navi Mumbai, the satellite town across the harbour from India’s financial and commercial capital, helped him to explore his idea that market forces must be prevented from destroying the soul of cities. Among his latest contributions is the Ismaili Centre in Toronto as well as the cutting-edge medical research institute, the Champalimaud Centre for The Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal, where, incidentally, Lalit Modi’s wife is being treated for cancer.
