A magnificent campus of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) at Bhopal was designed by renowned Indian architect Anant Raje. When completed in 1988 it helped the modern Indian architecture to attain another level of excellence in campus design, and of which the entire architectural fraternity felt elated

© Sarbjit Bahga

But with the demise of architect Anant Raje in 2009, the campus seemed to have lost its custodian and the orphaned complex fallen in the hands of many unmindful persons. This is evident from some later additions in the campus as well as up keeping of the existing structures.

In a recent visit to the IIFM campus, architect Surinder Bahga found some glaring shortcomings in its future expansion and maintenance of existing buildings. On behalf of the entire architectural fraternity, he thought it appropriate to bring these shortcomings to the notice of IIFM authorities. These include:

  • Construction of a new pink-coloured academic block was added without giving any consideration to materials, colour scheme, architectural vocabulary, and aesthetics of existing campus.
  • A new Transit Guest House building has been designed without considering the design of main campus.
  • Nicely-designed faculty housing has been painted in green colour which does not match with the existing buildings.
  • Within the main campus, certain repair works have been carried out arbitrarily thus spoiling the original character of the campus.
  • Poor maintenance of the existing buildings spoiled the original grandeur of the complex.

In the light of above factors, it was suggested to the authorities that immediate corrective measures should be taken to restore the original beauty of the campus.

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