[T]he WMF, an international nonprofit advocating for the conservation of cultural heritage sites, says the Kahn campus must be preserved in its entirety to protect the architect’s aesthetic and functional vision.1

The complex’s design is distinctive for its arched passages and simple geometric forms, including large circles cut into the façades for window openings. The plan also represented a new model of campus organization based on the integration of different pedagogic spaces that bring educators and students together.2

[IIM Director] D’Souza, however, appears to reject Kahn’s architectural notion of socialization and connection. “In today’s world our experience is that students hardly use these shared spaces as they have gravitated to virtual modes of interacting,” he wrote in his letter.

The IIM-A has issued a request for proposals from architectural and design firms for the replacement dormitories. The announcement of the new bid drew surprise and confusion as a Mumbai-based conservation firm, Somaya and Kalappa Consultants (SNK), had been brought on for a campus restoration project that included the 18 dormitories, Indian Express reports. 

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• 1. New York, NY – World Monuments Fund (WMF) calls for the Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to reevaluate the partial demolition of the visionary building complex designed by architect Louis Kahn. This is in response to plans by IIM-A to dismantle 14 of 18 buildings within the historic campus and replace them with newly constructed dormitories.

  “World Monuments Fund’s depth of experience helping hundreds of global heritage places adapt to contemporary challenges demonstrates that thoughtful conservation can meet contemporary needs,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and Chief Executive Officer of World Monuments Fund. “We stand ready to lend our expertise in finding a solution that protects the Kahn campus so that future generations of students and educators may draw inspiration from its groundbreaking design.”

  Built between 1968 and 1978, this exemplary grouping of modernist buildings represents a vision for higher learning rooted in enriched student and faculty interactions, while reflecting progressive concepts of sound planning and sustainable use of resources. Its original construction reflects best practices embraced today, including a reliance on locally available materials and methods of passive lighting and cooling. Considered by many to be the very heart of IIM-A’s campus, the Louis Kahn complex represents a pivotal moment in the modern development of Indian higher education and continues to be a touchstone for IIM-A alumni.

  Conceived as an ensemble, the Kahn campus must be preserved in its entirety to protect the aesthetic, functional, and symbolic values imbued within. WMF has reached out to IIM-A officials to offer its expertise and counsel on managing the challenges of maintenance and repair of these buildings in the hopes that a viable, long-lasting solution can be reached.

  Source: https://www.wmf.org/press-release/world-monuments-fund-urges-protection-iconic-louis-kahn-campus

• 2. “Rather than focusing attention on the classrooms as the center of learning, Kahn created new opportunities for interaction across the campus, emphasizing informal gathering spaces as the locus of knowledge transfer and championing a framework for higher education that endures today,” Bell said. The Kahn campus, he added, was “symbolic of India’s newly proclaimed center of global excellence in management.”