Critical Regionalism : A Critical analysis  of Golconde and the shift in Modern Architecture   

The essay critically looks at the contemporary built form that had emerged in independent India through the lens of critical regionalism and how that type has shifted to the built form we see today around us.

Abstract

When one looks around today, I find that most of the newly constructed  builtform in the city are standardized and it feels as if the buildings don't have any independent character or language that responds to its surroundings . In this essay I am specifically looking  at  Golconde,  the first  building made with “Modern” materials and construction techniques  in the region through the lens of critical regionalism to understand how the building responds to the surrounding and the process of constructing it .

History

Golconde, The first building made out of reinforced concrete was built in ( 1937 - 1945)  located at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram complex in Pondicherry , in the southern part of India. Sri Aurobindo was a active member of the freedom movement until he had a spiritual awakening due to which he left the freedom struggle and moved to Pondicherry, then a French territory, where he started the  ashram with his spiritual partner Mirra Alfessa popularly named as  ‘Mother ‘. As the number of disciples grew the ashram decided to make a new building in the complex for the disciples therefore a Czech - American architect was commissioned by the Mother named Antonin Raymond to make the building that reflects ashrams philosophies. As Raymond was not familiar with the built form of the building he requested that the photos of the surrounding buildings be sent to him for understanding the typology of the area .

RAYMOND’S CRITIC OF FRENCH ARCHITECTURE  

After studying the built form Raymond wrote back saying “ the french architecture with high ceiling dark rooms behind colonnades and roofed terraces” , these he had criticized as  “ unsuitable in this day and age of advanced techniques and an absence of formal elegance (Aurobindo Ashram 2004) .” The problem with the French colonial architecture was that they were designed from a European perspective and not with keeping in mind the climate of Pondicherry . There were very less openings inside the house from where ventilation could take place; the idea of central courtyard was completely erased which was present in the local Tamilian houses in the area because Pondicherry comes in semi arid zone and has high humidity throughout the year. The french houses  had a proper designation of space as compared to the Tamilian houses and the French houses were all decorated with French stylistic elements . Here Raymond also seems to have looked at the built form from a western eye as he says that local architecture lacks elegance

source - urbanarch foundation 

SPATIAL PLANNING

Therefore Raymond proposes that  a building is to be made from the modern material using modern technique which will be climate sensitive and will respond to the spiritual and physical need of the user. The building is named Golconde to honor the Prime Minister of Hyderabad who donated the money for the building. The name has been derived from the famous Golconda diamond mines in Hyderabad and its French name Golconde has been used as the name for the building. The spatial planning of the building is simple the building orientation is on the east - west direction where the staircase is the central part which takes us to different parts of the building and on the either side of the staircase there are rooms one next to the other. The building forming  a wing like structure is oriented in this way to use the maximum space available. The openings are provided on the north and south side of the building which are covered with louvers . The building is three stories where the ground floor has a semi open and open space which is one step lower that the ground level , it also holds a series of different programs like toilets, washing and drying areas and other areas devoted for other activities. The first, second and third floors have 17 rooms each making the  number of people that can use the building to 51. The building tries to make a balance between community and private space as the lower level is more open and the upper floors are more private 

The resemblance of a chawl 

The spatial planning of Golconde reminds me of the spatial planning of the chawls where  single units are placed next to the  other and which are accessible by a long corridor or a passage area which becomes the extension of the house.  This principle is seen there as well.

EXECUTION ON SITE 

What makes this building more interesting is it‘s execution.  Antonin had planned to complete the site in six months using hundreds of labor which was rejected by Aurobindo and Mother because this would disrupt the environment of the ashram. Instead the sadhaks of the ashram and few skilled workers from outside were asked to work on the site  . George Nakashima from Raymond’s office was posted here to look after the construction of the building and to work and teach the sadhaks a new technique of construction with which they were not familiar with. He writes in his book that “sometimes I felt like I was not only an architect but a contractor on site. The materials were imported from France a testing lab was set up on site to check the quality of the materials that were being imported .

CRITICAL REGIONALISM 

 The idea of critical regionalism is to look at one's surroundings with one's own environment, context, previous built form, learn from them and implement them in a way that the new built form carries the learnings of the past but is incorporated with the contemporary ideas .

The  built forms of Golconde  responds to the climate well, merges with the landscape and serves the purpose it was designed for. The building in a way is energy efficient as the building does not require artificial cooling, but post liberalization somehow increasingly our built form have started to be derived from the western ideas and ignoring our surrounding culture, relationships that exists with city. Somehow we have forgotten the idea of critical regionalism because of which we have  started making standardized spaces and built form. There are many examples where architects like Charles Correa, BV Doshi have designed buildings where they have looked at the building’s surrounding context , social fabrics it creates  and the past designed principle and have produced architecture which is critically sensitive to the place and which are compatible with the modern needs .

References

Aurobindo ashram. 2004. “golconde construction.” the aurobindo ashram. https://auromaa.org/sri-aurobindo-ru/ashram/golconde/construction.htm.

Bahga, Sanyam, and Gaurav Raheja. 2018. “An account of critical regionalism in diverse building types in postcolonial Indian architecture.” Frontiers of Architectural Research.

Gupta, pankaj v., and christine muller. 2010. Golconde: The Introduction of Modernism in india. N.p.: Actar publishers.

Guth, Christine. 2016. “Crafting Community: George Nakashima and Modern Design in India.” Journal of Design History.

Nakashima, George. 1981. the soul of a tree.

Urban arch foundation. n.d. “Pondicherry and Its Architecture.” Accessed 2022.