Charles Correa Exhibition
London, UK (2013)
Correa is someone who has that rare capacity to give physical form to something as intangible as culture or society. - David Adjaye
To celebrate Correa’s gift of his archive of over 6000 drawings to the RIBA Library, ‘Charles Correa: India’s Greatest Architect” exhibits an extensive series of drawings, plans, photographs, models and films behind his projects.
As architect of the exhibition, David Adjaye’s design was guided by the ambition to communicate Correa’s key messages which David understood more deeply after profiling him in 2006 for BBC Radio 3. For the programme, David journeyed through India, taking in Correa’s milestone building projects firsthand. He talked to political and religious figures, India’s architectural elite, as well as the men and women who used the buildings and whose lives have been changed by his progressive philosophy.
International buildings showcased in the exhibition include the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Museum, India; the MIT Brain and Cognitive Science Centre, USA; the InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India and the Champalimaud Centre for the Study of the Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal. The exhibition also features Correa’s designs for housing and cities, looking closely at climate change, affordable housing and his projects to improve cityscapes, including his urban masterplan for Navi Mumbai (New Bombay).
