Figure 1: Letter to Architect Christopher Beninger by Riyaz Tayyibji

a. After talking about the iconic nature of the existing building and how much you felt you needed to ‘respond to it’; to give it its due; The opening sequence of your video does exactly the opposite. What is the first thing you see? THE PAVING? And an architectural promenade. As a colleague of mine asked, “Do you sense the existing building (which is right before you)? No. The Camera turns to the right as soon as you cross the gates. And there it is. The brand spanking new project”. in your video, your new building is so much more important than the existing building, even the grey paving is more important than the icon. But then, why should we be surprised? it is paving that is changing the campus most drastically. And it must! For the strength of Doshi’s architecture lies in the treatment and attitude to ground. The continuities of movement under buildings, through and across building. We have a lexicon of terms that have given the campus and the buildings their identity: THE RAMP, THE BRIDGE, THE STEPS, these particular ‘places’ are embedded in an attitude to ground. This particularity is being paved over in a manner that makes what has been proposed completely self important and self conscious! You only have to look at the library building to know what I am talking about. In the absence of you articulating a new attitude to ground, the promenade seems like just another gesture, unfortunately destroying the ‘iconic’ idea that underpins the earlier building. New Grounds for Old I say!

Images extracted from the architect's video presentation and published under fair use provisions of applicable laws, including The Copyright Act (India) and Berne Convention

This image is embedded in ...