Balkrishna Doshi Criticizes Razing of Louis Khan’s IIM-A Buildings
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad's decision to demolish 14 of its dormitories designed by legendary American architect Louis Kahn in the 1960s has come under heavy criticism, with Kahn's three children and renowned architect Balkrishna Doshi objectin
Published -
Dec 30, 2020 4:09 AM
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Ahmedabad's decision to demolish 14 of its dormitories designed by legendary American architect Louis Kahn in the 1960s has come under heavy criticism, with Kahn's three children and renowned architect Balkrishna Doshi objecting to the decision. The institute said that these dormitories have suffered damages beyond repairs over the years, due to various reasons including 2001 earthquake and water seepages. Kahn, a world-famous architect, had been called to Ahmedabad by renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai to design various buildings. IIM-A was one of the iconic buildings built by him in the 1960s. After long deliberations, it was decided to commit to doing whatever it takes to restore the core of the Louis Kahn buildings the library, the faculty wings, and the classroom complex and the dorms on the periphery of the system of buildings. For the other dorms, however, it was decided to be guided by three imperatives: (1) functional needs, (2) cultural heritage, and (3) available resources, he added. "After much circumspection, we have decided to restore Dorms 16 to 18. Along with the restored Dorm 15 as you would recollect they constitute the periphery of the built campus and are the first buildings that persons who enter the campus see and understand along with the LKP and associated buildings as the grandeur associated with the work of Kahn. For the other dorms (1 to 14) that are in the inner core, we will invite architects from across the world to present us options as to how we should go about making new dorms, IIM-A director Errol D'Souza said.
Tags : News/Views Ahmedabad architect Balkrishna Doshi IIM-A Buildings