BENGALURU: With B V Doshi winning the Pritzker Prize this year, one cannot help but highlight one of Doshi’s pioneering architectural work – the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.Located on a 100-acre land on Bannerghatta Road, the characteristic grey stone buildings of IIMB was designed to reflect the ethos of Bengaluru, according to Doshi. While conducting a guided tour of the campus in 2014, Doshi said, “When I first visited the city, I went to Lalbagh and Cubbon Park.
This is the Garden City, so I thought IIMB too should reflect the city and have a green campus.” Professor M S Narasimhan, Dean, Administration, IIMB says, “Prof. NS Ramaswamy, the founder-director of IIM Bangalore, inspired Dr BV Doshi and his partners with a dream to create a campus that reflects the ethos of the city – green and alive.”
Temple as inspiration
Part of IIMB’s architecture, according to Doshi, was also inspired by a temple in Madurai and by its large corridors and courtyards. “People who came to this temple looked anxious but as they walked in, they seemed relieved. The idea was therefore, to design a campus where there is no pressures once inside,” he said. IIMB started classes in 1973 from a temporary campus and shifted to its present location in 1983. However, throughout the next 20 years, construction carried on in different parts of the campus.
According to Doshi, any construction should be organic and an essential part of the daily lives of the people who inhabit it. “There are little space made in corners for small seminars and gatherings. Buildings change, they must be like us (people), and become part of us,” he said. The entire campus has many pergolas. Sustainability ideas forms a big part of the building. Natural light illuminates the campus. Each window from top of a building to bottom has been built inwards to protect against the sun.
Every corner is distinct
Every corner of the campus is different from the other as envisaged by Doshi. “This building I thought should be built around corridors, partly inside and outside. One can walk under the shade and still be in the open. The campus is also a jugalbandi between walls and columns. I was inspired by wooden onstructions that had this design,” he adds.
Naveen Bharathi, is an advanced doctoral student of Public Policy at IIMB, studied architecture and worked as an architect for few years before shifting to academics. He says, “I joined as student in 2012 and since then, I have been discovering a new design element every day. As an architect, IIMB is like a Mecca.” He further says the architecture of IIMB can be termed as the pinnacle of modern Indian architecture. by its thorough interpretation and amalgamation of modernity and intellectual rootedness.