Presentation, explaining the installation "Squaring the Circle" by Sameep Padora at conference "inhabitations: Conference on Contemporary Practices of Space" held in January 2018 at Jaipur Kala Kendra

Many thanks to Rupali & Prasad and to the curatorial team for inviting me to be a part of this conference, and to Pooja Sood for hosting the exhibition and this event at this incredible building.

The email from Prasad allocating a general framework asked that I structure my talk on projecting the broader theme of Drawing & Thinking Space through processes involving computational techniques. My lecture today though structured on this broad thematic will attempt to look at Mathematics & Geometry as a basis for computational techniques, divorced somewhat from any indulgence or focus on the tools for this exercise.

The drawings that prompted the design of our installation in the Spathik gallery here at the Jawahar Kala Kendra.
The drawings that prompted the design of our installation in the Spathik gallery here at the Jawahar Kala Kendra.: What you see here is the trope of the grid that Charles used in numerous projects. This drawing documents and analysis three key Correa projects and their engagement of the grid in 4 dimensions. The first is the Gandhi Ashram, a grid in plan able to exponentially expand in the x & y axis. The second is Kancanjunga with the the grid in the 3rd dimension where a simple plan with a central core creates incredibly variated spaces in the vertical axis through sectional articulation. Lastly the jigsaw puzzle that is the plan of Artists Village in Belapur where the original scheme allows for the open space structure to be retained while the architectural fabric changes in time. © sP+a
In India we tend to think of the work of our masters Correa, Doshi and others in isolation
In India we tend to think of the work of our masters Correa, Doshi and others in isolation: The second drawing attempts to place these 3 projects in the context of the genealogy of the geometric grid type through history, acknowledging the evolution of these projects and their influence going further. © sP+a
Development
Development: We use the square module of the Correa grid and underlay it in the only circular gallery in the JKK. Extruding it through the 'eye' of the mezzanine we are able to construct a minimal surface geometry. © sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
© sP+a
Diagramme of the unrolled fabric surface as cut panels that were eventually stitched together for the installation
Diagramme of the unrolled fabric surface as cut panels that were eventually stitched together for the installation © sP+a

The project is a tribute to the genius of Charles Correa, It’s entirely probable that the formal potential of this space would have been possible for Mr Correa to achieve without the computational tools available to us (he did design the folded concrete pavilion for Hindustan Lever in the early 60’s) the computational tools perhaps are only beginning to preempt how his genius might have pushed our understanding of Space & Form with these tools, had he worked in today’s time.

Squaring the Circle, by Sameep Padora + Associates
Squaring the Circle, by Sameep Padora + Associates The geometries-mathematics thread seems contiguous in many of Charles Correa’s projects ranging from JKK’s stringent articulations of the 9 square grid or its sectional turn in Kanchenjunga around the central core. One cannot overstate Correa’s ability to reason these geometric possibilities in 3 dimensions. The installation articulates his subliminal abilities in geometry through current mathematical and computational possibilities. Within the gallery the geometry of a square on the floor is lofted to the circular roof of the space. The form further extends outwards as portals from the adjoining landscape along two axes accessing the installation. © Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur
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