Sambodhi 2005 Vol 29

Author(s): J B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 74

66
YATIN PANDYA
SAMBODHI-PURĀTATTVA
French maestro Le Corbusier was invited to design institutions for culture and industries alongwith the private residences. Ahmedabad Mill Owners' Association building, Sanskar Kendra, Sarabhai and Shodhan houses are the examples of the cubist modern style characterised by : extensive use of reinforced cement concrete as principal building material, austere facades with reduced or no ornamentation; simplicity and clarity of structural elements; and use of natural finishes of the construction material as a form of decoration have set a new architectural trend and put Ahmedabad on the world map of contemporary architecture. The Indian Institute of Management designed by Louis Kahn, yet another landmark by and internatinally renowned American architect, derives its aesthetics out of the most ingenious use of brick in its purest and structural form, using the local skills and material.
In the momentum of such architectural developments, the younger architects of India began shaping city's skyline in the imaginative blend of international modern style coloured with regional expressions. The quest for quality and enthusiasm to explore has persisted. Gujarat has remained a laboratory of architectural experiments and comprehensive catalogue of diverse 'styles' and 'isms' from antiquity to modernity. Hussain-Doshi Gufa, Sangath, Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, National Institute of Design and Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Ahmedabad, Institute of Rural Management and the National Dairy Development Board Complex in Anand, Doodsagar dairy in Mehsana, planetarium in Vadodara, and the whole range of private residences across the state are the living testimonies of the architectural legacy that Gujarat has inherited, shared, maintained and continued. For the students as well as enthusiasts of architecture, Gujarat indeed is a place of appreciation, admiration and learning. With, remains of Harappan civilizations, vernacular forms of desert settlements of Kutchh, unique manifestations of water architecture, forts and ramparts of medieval defence camps, peculiar expressions of sultanate styles, mature representations of classical temple architecture, creative progressivism of the modern architecture and imaginative explorations of the contemporary, Gujarat remains the most enriching destination in architectural tourism.
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