CHENNAI: Architecture is not something that just holds things together. Architecture must move people - A dictum that India’s greatest architect lived by and one that his magnificent works, spotted all across the length and breadth of the country, pay living testament to. Chennai’s architect fraternity came together on Saturday to celebrate and pay tribute to their greatest - Charles Correa, who passed away on June 16 this year.
Hosted at Correa’s first and arguably his most exceptional work in Chennai, the MRF Corporate Office, the memorial service saw nearly 250 of the city’s architects come together to celebrate the life, works and thoughts of a man long considered a giant in the field of architecture.
Organised by the Chennai Architecture Foundation, the tribute started with a minute-long observation of silence followed by a tribute from K M Mammen, Chairman of MRF and a witness to Correa’s brilliance as he drafted, designed and oversaw the execution of Correa’s first building in Chennai.
“Twenty eight years ago, MRF was housed in the Dhun building on Mount Road, but as we grew we decided to go for a corporate office. Our association with Correa started with my father saying that we needed to get the best architect and one that was Indian. We found Correa.
But if you thought it was we who made the choice, you might be mistaken. Before he accepted the job, he flew down to Chennai and interacted with every single one of us. It was he who interviewed us,” pointed out Mammen.
“My father telling him that we wanted, not a corporate edifice, but a home, took him aback and was one of the things that convinced him, I believe,” he added.
The MRF Corporate office, to which Correa oft times returned over the rest of his life, was finished four years later and inaugurated December 12, 1991.
“Charles was an amazing person. He used to make surprise visits just to check that the building was being maintained as it was designed. To this day, we have made a concerted effort to keep it true to his vision,” said Mammen.
The tribute by Mammen was only the beginning. There followed a 45-minute film of one of Correa’s last lectures in Mumbai - My Works, My Thoughts. Correa in the video went on to speak of his vision and how it evolved.
“Architecture is not construction. We often mix it up here in India. The purpose of construction is to just hold things together. Architecture’s purpose is to move,” began Correa and proceeded to expound on one of his favourite themes - the dialogue between nature and man and how he tried to bring that dialogue to life in his work.
There followed several other tributes from Chennai’s prominent architects, all speaking of the impact that Correa had had in their work and their lives.
“Correa was not just an architect, but a visionary. It was a very difficult time in 1958 and he had the courage and conviction to chart a new trajectory,” pointed out Pramod Balakrishnan, trustee of the Chennai Architecture Foundation. “His seat in the echelons of architecture will remain forever empty. But he will live on with us through his works and his words,” he concluded.
