This collection contains drawings, project and office files, models, and photographic materials related to the career of architect Anant D. Raje (1929-2009). Materials are dated from 1961 to 2009 and reflect the intensity of Raje’s work in higher education and industrial development in India, as well as his collaborations with architect Louis I. Kahn. Projects of note include the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University, and the National Dairy Development Board. Other materials include Raje’s writing and teaching records, datebooks and notebooks, as well as travel and family photography


Archival Description

A working copy, provided in the Summer of 2018 by the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania.

Title: Architectural Records, 1961-2009
Coll. ID: 366
Origin: Anant D. Raje, 1929-2009, architect.
Extent:  Architectural drawings: 5,914 originals, 336 prints;
Project files: approx. 20 linear feet;
Photographs: 2,211 photoprints; 7,157 photonegatives; 1,663 slides;
Models: 17;
Object: 1.
Repository:

The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania
102 Meyerson Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6311
(215) 898-8323

Biographical/Historical Sketch

A leading architect and a dedicated teacher of post-independence India, Anant D. Raje (1929-2009) was born in Mumbai on September 17, 1929 to a family with roots in the town of Karjat, Maharastra state. He received his training at the Sir J.J. School of Art where he graduated with a diploma in architecture in 1954. Three years later, Raje was drawn to the city of Ahmedabad by his school colleague Balkrishna V. Doshi (b. 1927); the soon-to-be artistic flowering that developed in the city—in art, architecture, dance, music, and design—would come to define the young architect’s career and those of his generation who were situated at the vanguard of a rapidly modernizing country. Raje worked in professional practice with Doshi for the next several years on works ranging from rural housing studies (1958-60) to their submission to the Toronto City Hall competition (1957-58). Development of institutions to support modernization—especially in areas of higher education and industrial development—were central goals supported by government and progressive patrons alike. Keen attention was paid to scientific and artistic developments abroad, yoked to Indian sensibilities and realities. The design of such institutions would form the core of Raje’s legacy in the sub-continent.

Between 1964 and 1969, Raje worked in the Philadelphia office of Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974). There, Raje became a trusted associate, contributing to a number of Kahn’s works, including: the President’s Estate in Islamabad, Pakistan; Levy Playground in New York; the Interama Project in Miami; and the Dominican Motherhouse in Media, PA. One of the few Indian architects to work under Kahn, Raje would return to Ahmedabad to serve as Kahn’s on-site architect for the Indian Institute of Management project (IIM-A) overseeing design development and construction of the school’s main complex, dormitories and housing additions, in addition to the initial designs for dining halls and a post-graduate management school (later called the Management Development Centre). Following Kahn’s death in March 1974, Raje would serve as lead architect for the campus’s completion (for Doshi-Raje Architects)—including the development of Kahn’s designs for the Dining Halls and the Management Development Centre. His affiliation with IIM-A ended in 2003, some 29 years after Kahn’s death.

Raje’s experience with Kahn shaped the design of a number of public institutions in the 1970s through his independent practice. For the National Dairy Development Board, Raje prepared plans for multiple dairies in Maharashtra and Gujarat, as well as the Galbabhai Farmer’s Training Institute and the Agricultural Produce Wholesale Market Complex in New Bombay. In the two decades that followed, Raje further refined his concept regarding institutions as self-contained entities rather than series of individual function-defined buildings through his work at the Indian Institute of Forest Management in Bhopal and the Murda Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad (later MICA). He designed several office structures, including the Testing Board Offices and Science Museum in Bhopal, the Commissioner’s Office and Walmi Subcenter in Morena, and the headquarters for the Bhopal Development Authority. Larger urban design statements like the Commercial Complex at MOG Lines demonstrate Raje’s ability to integrate bold volumes and open courtyards into an existing urban fabric.

Starting in the late 1970’s, Raje designed a number of private residences in and near Ahmedabad that further demonstrate his fascination with the relationship between shape and void, and explore the permeable division between interior and exterior spaces. His Kahn-inspired dedication to light and shadow is equally evident in these works.

Throughout this period of independent practice, Raje taught at the School of Architecture at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), first as a visiting lecturer in 1969, and in the

1980s, as Director of the school. Raje served as a visiting lecturer at various universities in Europe, the United States, and India, while maintaining a steady connection to the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he taught master’s level design studios (1981- 2001).

Raje’s career was recognized by numerous honors including the Indian Institute of Architects’ Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal (1994) and the Architecture Distinguished Professor’s Award for CEPT. Anant Raje died on June 27, 2009 at the age of 79.

Scope and Content Note and Arrangement

The Anant D. Raje Collection is arranged into four series:

Series I.

Architectural Drawings.

Series II.

Project and Office Files.

Series III.

Models and Objects.

Series IV.

Photographic Materials.

Within the first two series, materials attributed to the Doshi-Raje partnership (D-R), Raje’s independent practice (ADR), and those related to the IIM-A project, have been identified as unique subseries, respectively. Additionally, materials may be arranged into subseries by size and format for storage purposes.

In many cases, containers within series and subseries are arranged by project in chronological order. The dates used are based on the earliest dated drawing or file, unlike the chronology utilized in Anant Raje, Architect: Selected Works 1971-2009, which represent dates of project completion. Project names have been standardized as much as possible.

Series I. Architectural Drawings.

This series contains drawings for projects dated 1961-2009. It is arranged into five subseries (A-E):

Subseries I.A includes drawings attributed to Raje’s independent practice (hereafter referred to as ADR). Arranged by project in chronological order. Non-project drawings and unidentified projects are housed at the end of the subseries.

Extent: 122 folders (3,483 originals, 183 prints)

Subseries I.B includes drawings related to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (hereafter referred to as IIM-A). Arranged by project in chronological order. Sketches made by Louis I. Kahn have been identified and are stored in the first four folders of the subseries.

Extent: 73 folders (1,956 originals, 125 prints)

Subseries I.C includes large format drawings, stored flat. Arranged alphabetically by project name.

Extent: 2 folders (32 originals)

Subseries I.D includes large format drawings, stored rolled. Arranged by project in chronological order. Materials for IIM-A are housed together in 366.I.D.002.

Extent: 2 tubes (29 originals)

Subseries I.E include smaller architectural drawings, housed in an 11 x 14 box. Arranged by project in chronological order.

Extent: 39 folders (414 originals, 28 prints)

Series II. Project and Office Files.

This series contains project files relating to the headquarters for Bhopal Development Authority (BDA); the Gas Tragedy Victims Memorial at Bhopal; the Ezhimala Naval Academy; the residences of Ranvir Khatau, J.C. Parikh, and Gajjaman Kulkarni; the Mohanlal Someshwar Mistry Institute (MSM) school at Jetalpur; the Intec Polymer Silvassa Plant; the Commissioner’s Office and Walmi Subcentre at Morena; the Indian Institute of Forest Management(IIFM); the MAFCO Dairy; the Commercial Complex at MOG Lines; the Murda Institute of Communications at Ahmedabad (MICA); the Center for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET); the Lalbahadru Shastri National Academy at Ghaziabad; the Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE); the Videsh Bhavan Project; and the Vyavsaik Pravesh Pareeksha Mandal (VPP-Mandal or VPPP- Mandal).

The series is divided into eight subseries (A-H):

Subseries II.A contains project files from the Doshi-Raje Partnership (hereafter referred to as D-R), particularly work related to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. This subseries largely maintains the order of the files in which they were received. The D-R office used a simple numerical ordering system; this subseries contains file no. 105 to 173, though no. 150, 164, and 171 were unaccounted for. In some cases, file numbers are used more than once, in effect grouping together similar files. Files that did not have a clearly assigned number were placed with the corresponding project files. The last ten folders at the end of the subseries (366.II.A.103-112), did not include a file number and could not be clearly connected to an existing numbered file. Therefore, they were arranged in the order in which they were received. Arranged in original order by folder number. Original file numbers as designated by the D-R office are noted in parentheses.

Extent: 112 folders

Subseries II.B contains project files from the office of Anant Raje, Architect (ADR). These records similarly maintain the order in which they were received and are organized by their assigned file number. Numbers assigned to the D-R office files (subseries II.A) are repeated in the ADR file organization system. Arranged in original order by folder number. Original file numbers as designated by the Raje office are noted in parentheses. The fifteen unnumbered files at the end of the subseries (366.II.B.148-162) are arranged alphabetically by project.

Extent: 162 folders

Subseries II.C includes bound copies of tender (contracting) and cost estimation records for both D-R and ADR projects. Arranged alphabetically by project name.

Extent: 106 folders

Subseries II. D comprises Raje’s general office files and teaching records. Specifically it contains applications, award correspondence, conference materials, inquiries into possible projects, lecture invitations, and personal files. It includes teaching files from the Italian University at Rome, The School of Architecture at Ahmedabad, the University of Canberra, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Pennsylvania. Arranged alphabetically by subject. Original file numbers as designated by Raje are noted in parentheses.

Extent: 45 folders

Subseries II.E contains lectures, writings, interviews and other publications. An attempt was made to maintain some of the original order while rendering the material accessible by arranging the records into six groupings: A.D. Raje Interviews, Materials for Publication, News Clippings, Project Information, Works about Raje, and Other. A.D. Raje interview files have been broken up by interview or publication andorganized alphabetically by title when available, and when not available,by publication or author. Many of the dates or publication details of the items include were pulled from an interview list that was included in thematerial (now housed in 366.II.E.1). For this reason, it is placed at thebeginning of the subseries. Of particular note, are various manuscriptversions of writings that are included in Anant Raje, Architect: Selected Works 1971-2009, including “Notes on Sketching,” “Sources andInterpretations,” and “Place of Model Making in Testing Abstract Ideas In the Process of Exploring Architectural Designs.” Not all of the filescomprised in the binder are interviews or writings by Raje, as severalrelate to his colleague and teacher, Louis I Kahn. To maintain the originalorder, they are included here. Of particular note is a proposal for the 2003film written by Nathaniel Kahn, My Architect. The Oscar-nominateddocumentary about Louis Kahn is here referred to by an early workingtitle, “Citizen Kahn.” Materials sent to publication are organizedalphabetically by where they were sent, and when that is lacking, by the title of the publication or author. Materials sent for publication include answers to questionnaires sent by publications, images for reproduction, and project information. This subseries also comprises various news clippings, several from after Raje’s death in 2009 that commemorate thelate architect. There are two bound parts to a selection of compiled newsclippings that are titled “Architectural Profile.” They contain articles about Raje’s work, project information, and some early manuscripts of materials that are included in Anant Raje, Architect: Selected Works1971-2009. The project information in this series comprises manuscript files for nineteen of Raje’s projects, arranged alphabetically. Subseries

II.E includes written works about Raje. Manuscript versions of Volume Iand II of A.D. Raje Sketches, and mock-ups of Anant Raje, Architect: Selected Works and Thoughts 1971-2009 are included here with a copy of a student thesis titled “Proportioning Systems as an Ordering Principle: An Inquiry into the Works of Architect Anant D. Raje.” At theend of the subseries are miscellaneous writings and publications,including promotional material titled, “The Next Step Toward Getting aLaurie Baker Home,” referring to the popular cost-effective homes built by British architect Laurie Baker in India in the 1970s and 1980s. Arranged into six groups: Interviews and Publications; Materials sent for Publication; News Clippings; Project Information; Written Worksabout Raje; and Various Other Writings and Publications. Within thesegroups, materials are arranged in original order by folder number.

Extent: 112 folders

Subseries II.F contains thirty one of Raje’s date books, recording both personal and professional activities, dating from 1974 to 2009 (excludingthe years 1976, 1978, and 1979 which are not located). The date books arearranged in chronological order.

Subseries II.G comprises Raje’s notebooks, dating from approximately1981 to 2006. Though the notebooks were undated, approximate date ranges were determined using project information. The notebooksinclude important notes, calculations, estimates, and sketches for various projects. The most heavily referenced projects are IIMA, IIFM, BDA, MOG Lines, Murda, and Morena. Drafts of correspondence, teaching notes, and book planning notes are also contained in the sixty-sevenvolumes. Not all of the writing appears to be in Anant Raje’s hand; it is possible that several of the notebooks were used in part by Amita Raje. Arranged chronologically, in original order, by folder number.

Subseries II.H contains oversized office and project materials. Thissubseries is described at the item level, and it includes project reports for IIMA and the Videsh Bhavan competition, estimates and schedules forIIFM, articles about Raje, as well as an English-French dictionary thatbelonged to Francois Serneels, the wife of Willy Serneels who worked onthe IIM-A under Kahn from 1964-1965.

Arrangement: Arranged in original order by folder number.

Series III. Models.

Contains models for NDDB, Galbahai Training Institute, VPPM, National Academy of Administration, Mines and Minerals Museum, Bhopal Gas Victims Memorial, MICA Campus, Mohanlal Someshwar School, IFM Bhopal, INTEC Polymer Factory and Laboratories, and Commissioners Offices and Walmi Subcenter Morena. Arranged by project in chronological order.

Series IV. Photographic Materials.

This series is arranged into four subseries (A-D):

Subseries IV.A contains photographic prints for Raje’s architectural projects. They are organized in alphabetical order by project name. The largest set ofimages are from the Indian Institute of Forest Management and the IndianInstitute of Management. Also contained here are photoprints from Raje’s travel in the United States and India. Arranged by project in chronological orderstarting with IIM-A.

Subseries IV.B contains photographic negatives. This subseries is organizedchronologically by month (when available) and year, spanning form February1969 to May 2006. Personal images are often integrated with photographyassociated with professional projects. At the end of the subseries are twelve undated series of images (366.IV.B.152-163), which are organized alphabetically, relating to both major projects and personal photography. Folder366.IV.B.162 contains multiple miscellaneous contact sheets that were receivedwithout any corresponding negatives. Throughout the subseries, it is also noted where sets of negatives are lacking a matching contact sheet. Arrangement: Arranged in chronological order. Note: Unless otherwise noted, all negativesare taken by Anant Raje in a 35mm format. Most rolls are paired with contact prints, some include annotations. It is noted when no contact prints have been found.

Subseries IV.C contains 35mm color slides and transparencies. The subseries is organized alphabetically by project name. Included here are travel slides fromthe United States and India as well as a set of portraits of Anant Raje.

Series Overview

     

I.

 

Architectural Drawings.

 

I.A.

Anant D. Raje Works

 

I.B.

Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad

 

I.C.

Large-format, flat stored

 

I.D.

Large-format, rolled storage

 

I.E.

Small-format, stored in 16 x 20 box

     

II.

 

Project and Office Files

 

II.A.

Project Files, Doshi-Raje Partnership(IIM-A)

 

II.B.

Project Files, Anant Raje, Architect

 

II.C.

Project Files, Tender & Cost EstimationFiles (D-R; ADR)

 

II.D.

General Office Files & Teaching Records

 

II.E.

Lectures, Writings, Interviews &Publications

 

II.F.

Date Books

 

II.G.

Notebooks

 

II.H.

Oversize Project and Office Materials

     

III.

 

Models and Objects

 

III.A.

Models

 

III.B.

Objects

     

IV.

 

Photographic Materials

 

IV.A.

Photographic Prints

 

IV.B.

Photographic Negatives

 

IV.C.

35mm color slides and transparencies

Access Points for Indexing (Controlled Vocabulary)

Administrative Information

  • Restrictions on access: This collection is available for research by appointment only.
  • Preferred collection citation: Anant D. Raje Collection, The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania.
  • Acquisition: Gift of the Anant Raje Foundation, 2015.
  • Processing: The collection was processed and the finding aid prepared by John Giganti, Labib Hossain, Katie Marshalek, Heather Isbell Schumacher, and William Whitaker.