An account of critical regionalism in

diverse building types in postcolonial

Indian architecture
By- Sanyam Bahga
Gaurav Raheja
Department to architecture and planning, Indian Institute Of technology Roorkee

Silvi Patel
IU1543000024
Criteria to identify regionalist architectural projects realised
in post colonial India

• Context specific
• Historical knowledge
• Climate responsive
• Materiality
• Ecology and landscape
• Social and culture
• Technology
Architect – Charles Correa
Year- 1962
Building – Gandhi Memorial
Museum
Building Type- Cultural Institutions
City : Ahmedabad, Gujarat
• Use of locally available material
Brick Wall, Stone Floors, Wooden
Floors, Handmade Terracotta Roof
tiles
• Semi openness of the museum and
the asymmetric grouping of 6m X
6m Modular units which shows the
randomness of the Indian village
• This example shows the
characteristics context specific
architecture as well as the
materiality .
Architect – Charles Correa • Church has series of interlinked
spaces, some covered and others
Year- 1977 open-to-sky make design puros
• The shell roofs are ventilated at the
Building –Salvacao Church top, thus setting up continuous
convection currents of air
Building Type- Religious • This example shows the
characteristics Climate Responsive
City : Bombay, Maharashtra architecture as well as the social
and culture Appropriateness.

Architect – Charles Correa
Year- 1986
Building – Belapur Housing
Building Type- Housing
City : Belapur ,Maharashtra
• Belapur housing are low rise courtyard
homes built with simple materials at a
human scale.
• Each house allows family to extent and
adapt their own house, no shared party
walls
• Technology: external walls of brick, roof
structure covered with wooden shingles.
• Building methods enables local crafts
masons and craft people to construct
them.
Architect – Charles Correa
Year- 1992
Building – Inter University centre for
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Building Type- Higher education and
research
City : Pune, Maharashtra
• Building has various courtyards
and architectural spaces is
strongly influenced by how we
arrive at each spaces.
• One of the courtyards has black
hole and it has 4 scientists
sculpture in the courtyards.
• Central courtyards opens up to
major for elements of library,
faculty, offices, lecture halls,
students facilities

Architect – Charles Correa
Year- 1997
Building – Vidhan Bhavan
Building Type- Government
City : Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
• Building Fuses deeply traditional elements
with abstract – modernism.
• Buildings form is deeply influenced by
ancient Buddhist stupa at sanchi located
50 kms from site.
• Floor layout within circular form is divided
into nine parts alluding to the diagram of
ancient Hindu Mandala.
• Open and semi open courtyards serves
the dual purpose of providing daylighting
and ventilation to adjacent floor areas.