The unbuilt works of an architect are perhaps the purest form of their ideology, often untouched by multiple rounds of editing. The unbuilt work of Charles Correa- competition entries, commissioned projects and public projects, though unrealised in built form, saw their presence in several of his built works, thereby contributing to his ethos as an architect.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Low Income Housing, Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Year: 1961
The project was for the Gujarat Housing Board.
Punjab Group Housing, Mumbai, Maharasthra | Year: 1966-1967
Cablenagar Township, Kota, Rajasthan | Year: 1967
The houses were designed in the form of row houses with community spaces- later observed in the planning of Previ housing, Peru.
Cochin Waterfront, Kochi, Kerala | Year: 1971
This was an initiative by the Government of Kerala to develop land along the waterfront to accommodate housing, shopping facilities along with amphitheatre and public promenades.
Structural Plan for Bangalore, Bangalore, Karnataka | Year: 1974
The strategy was to shift Bangalore’s fast-growing growth rate from the city centre to its north- the old Cantonment area which was observing continuous degradation.
Mixed-Income Housing, Indore, Madhya Pradesh | Year: 1983
HUDCO Courtyard Housing, Jodhpur, Rajasthan | Year: 1986
HUDCO courtyard housing was the extension of an existing settlement. 176 houses in the form of two module sizes were designed on a grid, using local materials and independent courtyards.
Gopalpur Steel Town, Bihar | Year: 2004
RESIDENCE
Futehally House, Mumbai, Maharasthra | Year: 1959
A variation of the twin houses in Bhavnagar using brick walls and terracotta tiled roofs, Futehally was a small two-bedroom house.
Cosmopolis Apartments, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1960
Correa’s Kanchanjunga and the unbuilt Boyce houses saw reflections of the principles adopted in Cosmopolis Apartments, such as the usage of verandahs to protect the living areas.
Hutheesing House, Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Year: 1960
Sen Farmhouse, Kolkata, West Bengal | Year: 1961
Sen Farmhouse was a weekend home designed in the form of four caves around a pergola covered central-space
Boyce Houses, Pune Maharashtra | Year: 1962-1963
Boyce Houses saw a cluster of townhouses using different prototypes based on the further development of Correa’s Cosmopolis concept.
Thakore House, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1963
Thakore House was a three-bedroom house facing the Juhu beach.
Shukla House, Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Year: 1963
Shukla House was a small two-bedroom house with open terraces.
Correa House, Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Year: 1968
DCM Apartments, New Delhi | Year: 1971
The proposal saw Correa’s familiar use of enveloping living areas with verandahs, studies and bathrooms to form a protective zone.
Rallis Apartments, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1973
Calvetty Group Housing, Kochi, Kerala | Year: 1980
The project was a cluster of 85 housing units on a site overlooking the entrance to Cochin Harbour.
Beach Houses, Mandwa, Maharashtra | Year: 1981
These were a group of 10-weekend homes across Mumbai Harbour.
Cunningham Crescent, Bangalore, Karnataka | Year: 1983
Kapur Think Tank, New Delhi | Year: 1986
Kapur Think Tank’s design was reflected in Correa’s built project- Surya Kund in Delhi, built using brick and mud plaster.
Bukit Cahaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Year: 1992
Several architects from around the globe were invited to design two houses -one on the downhill and uphill sites each, in this luxury housing project. This house was Correa’s proposal for the downhill slope, in the form of a module whose elements could be rearranged when being used on a different site.
Green Earth Farmhouses, Rewas, Goa | Year: 1994
Cochin Back‐Waters, Kochi, Kerala | Year: 1994
The project was a large housing complex on three islands located in Cochin’s backwaters.
MHADA Housing, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1999
Competition
COMMERCIAL and OFFICES
Lal Darwaza Centre, Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Year: KSEB Office
The Lal Darwaza Centre was to be a major bus interchange for Ahmedabad, with commercial activities such as shopping, restaurants and offices above, leading to an interlocking of various pedestrian and vehicular flows.
KSEB office, Bangalore, Karnataka | Year: 1973
Taif City Centre, Taif, Saudi Arabia | Year: 1979
The brief called for urban-form studies new centre in Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Palm Avenue Offices, Kolkata, West Bengal | Year: 1980
Proposed on a restricted site, Correa proposed a small office building rotating downwards to accommodate the driveway’s radius.
BD Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Year: 1980
The project was for Indian Express Newspapers Pvt. Ltd, calling for shopping, housing and offices on a 10-acre site that once used to house the Madras Club.
Computer Centre, Singapore | Year: 1981
HMT Headquarters, Bangalore, Karnataka | Year: 1988
Located in the ‘Garden City’ Bangalore, the proposed design was a horizontal complex with terraced gardens.
NPC Headquarters, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1988
The NPC Headquarters design was a further development of the HMT Headquarters’ with a large circulatory ramp forming the centre.
Textile Export Promotion Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1993
Alameda Park Development, Mexico City | Year: 1994
The proposal was for an office building on a site destroyed by the 1995 earthquake in Mexico. The low-rise building was conceptualized on a cube, with the lower two floors comprising shops.
INSTITUTIONAL- EDUCATION
Wallenberg Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Year: 1976
The Wallenberg Centre was a training centre. Correa proposed low-rise, tiled roofed buildings with courtyards.
Shimoga Campus, Karnataka | Year: 1976
The Campus, a part of Mysore University, was designed using the region’s vernacular elements- white plastered walls and tiled roofs. The site for the campus was at the top of a hill.
ACME Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Year: 1992
National Academy of Construction, Hyderabad, Telangana | Year: 1999-Present
HOTELS
Erangal Beach Resort, Mumbai, Maharashtra | Year: 1972
Located on a beach near Mandwa, the Maharashtra Government’s Department of Tourism’s project was to be developed as an international tourist centre.
Kumarakom Resort, Kumarakom, Kerala | Year: 1979
MUSEUMS and PAVILIONS
India Pavilion, Osaka, Japan | Year: 1969
The Pavilion was developed on the themes of the Handloom and Hindustan Lever Pavilions.
Archaeology Museum, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | Year: 1985
Correa conceived the museum as a system of courtyard galleries separately built in a pattern defined by a continuous masonry wall.
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar | Year: 1998
The Museum of Islamic Art was Correa’s winning entry design to the competition, based on two themes- wall and courtyard.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
BVB Centre, New York, USA | Year: 1982
Designed for the Bharati Vidya Bhavan, BVB was a cultural centre for Queens’ Indian community. Facilities for dance, art, music and language schools were clustered around an internal street.
Capital Complex, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh | Year: 1995
