Building industry abuzz over Charles Correa's visit to Surat

SURAT: Britain calls him India's greatest architect and rightly so. Charles Correa, the country's most prominent face for contemporary architecture, will visit Surat next week. Ahmedabad boasts of his first most important project- the magnificently detailed Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Museum (1958-1963) and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, which hosted India's first ODI between India and England in 1981.However, this is only the second presentation that Correa will be making in Gujarat, where he will be the key note speaker at an event arranged by Jignesh Modi, chairman of The Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID), Surat Regional Chapter. "We are delighted that Charles Correa will be addressing the entire architectural and interior designer fraternity of Surat, and also IIID architects from Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bharuch and Saurashtra, who have been invited for this rare occasion. The guests of honour will be IIID national president Nitin Saolapurkar and IIIA national president Prakash Deshmukh," Modi said.
Noted film editor and national award winner, Sankalp Meshram, will be making a presentation of his film on Charles Correa's 'Champalimuad centre for the unknown'. This is his latest work and it has been depicted in a way as unique as his vision. Architecture and cinema make an interesting combination. Cinema has the capacity to make a journey into an intense experience with interesting dialogue, which makes visions come alive. This one is beautiful and a tribute to its creator," Meshram said.
"IIID is extremely proud and humbled that the icon we all look up to, Charles Correa will be sharing his works with us. I have never missed to hear him at his national conferences and the Surat chapter will be no exception," says Nitin Saolapurkar, national president, IIID.
"Correa is a living legend of architecture at the global platform. He has heard very positive things about Surat's heritage structures and about it being amongst the fastest growing city and therefore wished to visit it along with his wife. He was looking forward to arriving here in the double decker train, which runs exclusively between Mumbai and Surat. However, now he has decided to travel by road instead from Mumbai. His presentation is an eagerly anticipated occasion which a phenomenal number of more than 600 architects/designers will be attending," said Jignesh Modi, chairman IIID, Surat.