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4th ANNUAL CHARLES CORREA MEMORIAL LECTURE ORGANIZED BY AMBUJA NEOTIA GROUP
Kolkata, 24 June, 2019: The architect-fraternity of Kolkata and Ambuja Neotia Group organized the 4th edition of “Charles Correa Annual Memorial Lecture” at the Royal Bengal Room, City Centre Salt Lake, in the presence of eminent guests and delegates. Ambuja Neotia Group has planned to continue this annual lecture to commemorate the death anniversary of the visionary architect Charles Correa and pay tribute to his legacy through engaging activities.
This year eminent architects Yung Ho Chang and Sanjay Mohe graced the event.
Chang is the Founding Partner and Principal Architect of Atelier Feichang Jianzhu (FCJZ) and the former Head of Department of Architecture, MIT. He participated six times in the Venice Biennale since 2000.He held the Kenzo Tange Chair at Harvard GSD in 2002 and the Eliel Saarinen Chair at Michigan in 2004. From 2011 to 2017, he was a Pritzker Prize Jury member. Recently FCJZ has been recognized as one of the 100+ Best Architecture Firms 2019 by Domus magazine.
Sanjay Mohe, the founding partner of Bangalore-based architecture firm ‘Mindspace’, had a working association with Charles Correa in Mumbai. Mohe employs elements of nature, the five senses, and attempts to use ‘light and air’ as building materials in his designs, attributes which echo Correa’s concerns and values. He won the Golden Architect Award by A+D & Spectrum Foundation Architecture Award (2009), J K Cements Architect of the Year Award – 1991 /1999 /2001 /2004 /2007 /2008/2013; The Award of the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects-2002; AR+D International Annual Award of Architectural Review (1999), London, Gold Medal from ARCASIA (the Asian Forum for Institutes of Architecture-1998).
Interestingly, Mr. Correa’s connection with our City of Joy is unique and deep set. He exclusively designed the City Centre in Salt Lake, a project developed by Ambuja Neotia. Mr. Harshavardhan Neotia shared a special bond with the architect. They carved out an inclusive facility that was open and inviting providing an ideal rendezvous redefining the syntax of Mall design.
The primary idea of this annual lecture in his memory is not only to remember his legacy on a specific day but also to encourage research and practice of his values in Architecture throughout the year. The master architect had a natural bond with the Group through a shared philosophy of environment-friendly and sustainable architectural development. Charles Correa’s work consisted of ideas formed and expressed by both his aesthetic and visual sensibility as well as his understanding of the cultural, political, social and economic realities of India.
The previous three editions of the Memorial Lecture were all eminently successful. Mrs. Monika Correa (Correa’s wife), Prof. Rahul Mehrotra, Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at GSD Harvard and renowned Paraguayan architect Solano Benitez, graced the inaugural year. Richard Hassell of WOHA, Singapore along with Kamal Hadkar of Sterling Engineering Consultancy, Mumbai came for the second year. Architects Kashef Chowdhury of Urbana, Dhaka and Uday S. Joshi, of Uday Joshi and Associates made the third edition a memorable one.
Mr. Ashish Acharjee, noted architect from the city, and the principal of the organising committee for the Memorial Lectures said, “I had worked (87-90) with Charles Correa on some of his landmark projects across India. Conceived by me as homage to Correa, after his demise in 2015 and patronised by Harshavardhan Neotia, the Annual Charles Correa Memorial Lecture (ACCML) is into its fourth edition this year. Not only do we have two exceptionally accomplished architects from China and India, speaking on the occasion this year, we also have the honour of receiving five architects who have worked with Correa, joining us to express their gratitude to the master.
The Memorial Lecture has received both encouragement and appreciation from the Charles Correa Foundation in Goa as well as the fraternity of architects nationally and internationally. We are happy to share that we already have confirmations from globally reputed architects for the fifth and sixth editions of the ACCML.”
“From Charles Correa we learnt that sustainable architecture should address more needs, be more relevant and engaging to its surroundings. His vision of City Centre highlighted urban sustainability and the location’s future efficacy and redefined urban open space” said Mr. Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group.
