Modern arches

criticism in our city is synonymous with a ruthless bashing of all that’s been built after independence. Every age builds monuments reflective of its time, so it’s terribly pessimistic to whimper and whine on about the soullessness of Modern architecture.

Nostalgia in small doses, is quite enjoyable; but to constantly keep pointing to the past and asking of architects today, "Why can’t you build the way they did?" is degrading to the architects, and a humiliating indictment of the abysmal level of public perception of what great architecture is all about. Luckily for the masses, architects are a self-deprecating bunch. They themselves will cheerfully agree that nothing of consequence has been contributed by their generation to our heritage. Seldom will you find an architect, patiently explaining to the agitated layperson, that the drab rows of PWD housing is not representative of modern architecture, just a cheap bastardising of its tenets. That Hafeez Contractor and his innumerable clones are the greatest makeover artists of suburban skylines are byproducts of socio-economic forces, and not the last word in urban architecture.

It’s a piquant situation: on the one hand are the masses of people who believe that the Disneylandesque residential complexes which have colonised the landscape from Virar to Vitthalwadi are by far the best things to have happened to the city, overpriced and garish as they are. On the other hand are the sniffing society types who would much rather spend evenings tragically deploring the state of the city and pointing to the past for answers.

But there is a middle path: there are buildings which while walking the tightrope of form and function, superbly transcend it to remain etched in your mind forever. Charles Correa’s buildings for the city, such as the Portuguese Church at Dadar and Kanchanjunga Apartments at Peddar Road are two examples which spring to mind.

At Kanchanjunga, it is the breathtaking concept – of bungalows in the sky, which qualifies it for a permanent place in Mumbai’s architectural Hall of Fame jostling with other worthies such as Phillip Johnson’s NCPA.

Kanchanjunga has been called many names by the ignorant, but that can hardly take away from the joy it gives to its residents. The correct orientation allows each luxury apartment to catch the sea breeze. Colonial bungalows were very comfortable because they protected the residents from tropical heat by a buffer space between the inside and the outside – the verandah. Correa used the same concept for a high rise apartment, employing an ingenious sectional arrangement to create apartments that are comfortable, without compromising on privacy or safety.

Goregaon has the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research designed by architect Uttam Jain. It is a sprawling campus that passes the acid test for all architecture: it makes its users extremely happy. This is a building that is as Indian as it is contemporary; its courtyards and staircases encourage one to linger and explore and appreciate the architect’s creativity.

The Bharat Diamond Bourse coming up in the Bandra-Kurla Complex is yet another building to look forward to, combining as it does futuristic technology in a form that is reminiscent of a glittering multi-faceted gem. The architect? The post-Independence master builder, B V Doshi.

The Stock Exchange Building, which would have been a fine piece if built in any other location, was roundly criticised for being insensitive to the scale of its surroundings. It mars the beauty of the Gothic spires in the foreground, the noble silhouettes of the High Court and the Rajabai Tower. Similarly the Reserve Bank of India building , with its sleek, streamlined form would have been more at home in the newer commercial precincts of the city, rather than the hallowed grounds where the British built in such profusion in the `good old days’.

It is a debatable point, whether these new structures detract from the old. The more hardnosed and less aesthetically sensitive would argue that the Rajabai Tower and the Stock Exchange Building are symbolic of their era. The Stock Exchange Building celebrates Mumbai’s economic strength — it is memorable, photogenic and sculpturesque. And how many of those who criticise Chandrakant Patel’s most famous creation, would have been able to operate under the kind of constraints he did? The site is hemmed in by congested alleys and historic buildings that made even the simplest tasks doubly difficult.

So it is only fair to applaud those efforts of modern architecture in Mumbai, which, without resorting to the scrapbook of historical styles or pastiche succeed as buildings, as spatial experiences in a congested environment, as works of art in the third dimension.