Achyut Kanvinde

Achyut Purushottam Kanvinde (1916–28 December 2002) was an Indian architect who worked in functionalist approaches with elements of Brutalist architecture. He received the Padma Shri in 1974.[1]

Achyut Kanvinde
Alma materSir J. J. College of Architecture
OccupationArchitect
AwardsPadma Shri
PracticeKanvinde, Rai and Chowdhury
BuildingsIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur
PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur, designed by Achyut Kanvinde

Early life and education

He was born in Achra, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, in 1916 in a large family. His mother died when he was two and his father was an arts teacher in Mumbai. Kanvinde, influenced by his father, a portrait and landscape painter, took up art and graduated in architecture from Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai in 1942. He was then sent by the Government of India to study at Harvard where he worked under Walter Gropius and was influenced by his thinking and teaching. The European masters of the Bauhaus – Albert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Marcel Breuer, and the Swiss-American architectural historian Siegfried Giedion also had a great impact. Some of his famous batchmates were Paul Rudolph, I. M. Pei and John Perkins.

Career

When he returned to India he joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1985, he was the winner of the IIA "Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal".[2]

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore campus designed by Kanvinde and Rai

Along with his partner Shaukat Rai, he opened the firm Kanvinde, Rai and Chowdhury in New Delhi (which is currently run by Sanjay Kanvinde, B.K. Tanuja and Murad Chowdhury). The firm has been responsible for IIT Kanpur, National Science Centre, Delhi, The National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, NII Pune, numerous dairy buildings under NDDB (such as Dudhsagar Dairy plant in Mehsana[3]) and many other buildings.[4]

Philosophy

Kanvinde played with space and forms. A famous example is the ISKCON Temple at New Delhi. He gave great importance to natural light. The form of the building is such that the problem of ventilation as well as excessive heat is beautifully solved. He championed the cause of vernacular architecture. He believed that values and historical influences contributed towards good architecture. "Over the years I have come to believe it is imperative that an architect develop a sensitivity to human nature and a respect for human values. This, after all, is at the very core of his work. In India the search for a new architectural expression must continue – and this must go beyond the satisfaction of matter of fact functional needs. I think the designer’s sensibility here must become aware of the accumulated wisdom of generations, but this should go together with the idea of progress reflected in the evolution of technology. In my own case, I must acknowledge my tremendous debt to Gropius – it was he who really exposed me to the power of technology on the one hand and the psychological dimensions of spatial organisation on the other. Actually my present concerns and realisations are all reflections of my earlier preoccupations: as a student at the J. J. School in Bombay my thesis was on “Architectural Composition and its Application to Indian Architecture”."[5]

Design concepts

He believed that a grid of columns forming a matrix giving structural and spatial aspect would turn a design more sophisticated and faceted.

Selected buildings
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References
  1. Jon T. Lang 2002 A Concise History of Modern Architecture in India. Orient Blackswan.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. An Architecture of Independence: The Making of Modern South Asia Archived 2009-06-03 at the Wayback Machine University of Pennsylvania.
  5. http://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-123619
  6. Williamson, Daniel (2016). "Modern Architecture and Capitalist Patronage in Ahmedabad, India 1947-1969". ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. New York University. p. 91. Retrieved 18 February 2020 – via ProQuest.
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