Updated: December 25, 2020 10:47:04 am
The board of the Indian Institute of Administration in Ahmedabad has decided to demolish the dormitories built by the legendary American architect Louis Kahn on its campus. sparking a controversy. The restoration of the dormitories was part of an ongoing project by a well-known Bombay consultant.
Why are the bedrooms being demolished?
IIM-A’s plans to tear down at least 14 of the 18 bedrooms that were built between 1968 and 1978 have problems with leaky roofs, damp walls, leaky bathroom walls, tiles, etc. In addition to this, the 2001 earthquake caused significant structural damage to these buildings.
In a letter to the alumni, the director of the IIM-A, Professor Errol D’Souza, has justified the demolition and construction of new dormitories that will increase the accommodation capacity on campus from 500 to 800, according to the tender. In the letter, he also questioned the exposed brick structure of Kahn’s firm, rating the bricks deficient. Since no concrete lining was used to protect the rebar embedded in the brick, the bars have rusted and the brick has cracked, he has written.
Designed by Louis Kahn on the old campus. (Express photo: Nirmal Harindran)
What is the new IIM-A offer and the controversy surrounding it?
The institute has invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) from architecture and design firms for the ‘comprehensive design of student housing on the main campus’, a five-year, two-phase project likely to start mid-2021 with a 60 to 80 percent dormitories (almost 600 rooms) followed by student housing of almost 200 rooms in the second phase which is expected to begin in mid-2024. The institute aims to add between 50 and 60 percent (almost 300 rooms out of the existing 500) additional rooms with efficient use of space.
This, even as well-known Mumbai conservation architects Somaya and Kalappa Consultants (SNK) were working on an ongoing restoration project on campus that included the 18 dormitories, the Vikram Sarabhai library, the faculty and administration block, and the building. of the classrooms. SNK won the competition for the restoration in 2014 and “was not aware” of the new offer. The conservation architects had restored dormitory D-15 as a sample in 2017, which the institute deemed “unsatisfactory,” according to the tender announcement.
The tender announcement was published on December 4, just a week after one of SNK’s founders, Brinda Somaya, gave a virtual presentation at CEPT University on “Restoring IIM-Ahmedabad: Continuity and Change.” In her talk, accessed to a recording in this article, Somaya also talks about how Kahn’s spaces “supported and promoted easy personal interaction and provided inspiration.”
The IIM-Ahmedabad dormitory. (Express photo: Nirmal Harindran)
In his letter, D’Souza also questioned Kahn’s central theme that revolved around the concept of “encounter.” “In today’s world, our experience is that students hardly use these shared spaces as they have gravitated towards virtual modes of interaction,” he wrote to the student in the 11-page letter labeled with pictures of the damaged parts of those bedrooms.
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What does demolition mean for the IIM-A?
For architecture students, tearing down Kahn’s buildings also means defeating all that restoration and conservation stand for. Alumni have also expressed concern about the loss of Kahn’s cultural campus and architectural heritage, some have also stated that this will cause the campus to lose its central theme of “meeting and socializing”.
Contrary to the tender document that says that the 18 dormitories must be demolished, the email sent by the director of the institute says that “after much circumspection” it has been decided to restore the dormitories 15 to 18. These are the ones that are located along Along the cricket ground that have been the backdrop for all the usual group photos creating memories batch after batch for years.
Furthermore, the IIM-A symbolizes the best example of Public-Private Participation (PPP), built in collaboration with the space scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the eminent industrialist and philanthropist Kasturbhai Lalbhai, and the support of the then Chief Minister Dr. Jivraj. Mehta, who brought together central and state governments, local industrialists, the Ford Foundation, and the Harvard Business School to found the institute.
IIM campus in Ahmedabad. (Express photo: Nirmal Harindran)
In his letter, D’Souza said that for other bedrooms in the inner core, the architects have been invited with options of ‘buildings that are in sync with the façade of the existing bedrooms’ and’ the structure congruent with the grammar that Kahn envisioned. for campus. ‘
The institute director argued that the Building Committee and the Board of Governors discussed all the issues, including questions such as “why should we assume that the past is not changeable and why should we assume that future generations will value things exactly the same the way past generations have. We wonder if it is appropriate for us to colonize future perceptions of living spaces. While trying to preserve the past to avoid loss, how much are we creating our own imagination of the past? “
The new dormitories propose attached bathrooms, unlike the old ones, which are preferred by today’s students. D’Souza promises graduates to provide a “contemporary spatial experience” in the new dormitories.
The new campus
To meet the expansion needs of the institute, the new campus built on almost 40 acres with 16 bedrooms, an academic block, seminar rooms, residential blocks for married students, sports complex, guest rooms was completed in 2006. It is said to be in harmony with Louis Kahn’s “heritage campus”, although “avoiding mimicry”, the project was carried out by HCP Design, Planning and Management. The two campuses, separated by a busy road, are connected by a subway that runs underneath. Unlike Kahn’s imposing old red brick campus, the new campus buildings are constructed of exposed concrete as the main building material with fenestrations in a combination of mild steel and wood. However, the students share that the old campus is still “more interactive” than the new one, although they add that the new campus dormitories are “more comfortable.”
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