In Search of an Architecture of Belonging

AR6001 DISSERTATION C entr e fo r D e ve lo pm en t St u dies a n d Act ivities , In dia Aa ya t Ja riwa la

In Search of an Architecture Of Belonging

Acknowledgement

This dissertation is conceived as a result of vital contributions of the many. I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Aneeta GokahleBenninger and all of the staff at CDSA, Pune for having me on campus, granting me the chance to re-visit and understand the workings of the Center and for the great meal and conversations we shared.

I’m thankful to my tutor, Michael Lee for all the conversations and feedback that have encouraged me to do better. Further, I’m grateful to Prof. Mukund Athavale at JJ. C.O.A, for that first year field trip to Pune, when I was first introduced to the microcosm of CDSA. I’d like also to express my gratitude towards Sir J.J College of Architecture, Mumbai for a year of growth and of experiences that prompted me to question what architecture is (to me), by showing me what it shouldn’t be. Lastly, I’m grateful to my family and friends for being.

I find that the most honest of works are manifestations of our being.

The experiences we have, the people we encounter, the conversations we engage in and the ideas we share, translate into the things and events that evoke something in us. Our encounters contribute to our being and in turn to what we contribute to the world. To understand our niche in the world, we ought to articulate the language of the things that speak to us. My dissertation is the beginning of an attempt in seeking of such a truth that lays both, in the world around and within me.

Contents

Acknowledgement Preface Phase I: An Introduction: The Centre for Development Studies and Activities Chritopher Benninger: Architectural Oeuvre Benninger’s Beginnings in India Architectural Language and Program: CDSA

Phase II: Experiencing India Benninger’s Labour o Love A Jouney of the Senses A Glimpse of Indian Tradition Universal Specifics

Conclusion Bibliography

Preface ‘What is needed most in architecture today is the very thing that is needed most in life – Integrity. Just as it is in a human being, so integrity is the deepest quality in a building.’

F.L. Wright explains the essential quality of architecture in ‘The Natural House’ (Wright, p.

292-3). He denotes that every great architect is imperatively a great poet, for he so skilfully assesses the reality of his time. However, today in a world where architects seemingly indulge in exaltation of the ‘self’ as opposed to that of society, architecture is being reduced to a redundant form of art, meant for the amusement of the elite.

Following Wright’s wise words and the current architectural climate, I contemplate over the essence of the word ‘Integrity’ and what it means (for a person or a building) to possess it.

Perhaps it’s the perpetual seeking and when found, embracing of the truth that underlies the realities of life. As a starting point, I begin the ‘seeking’ within myself. The subject, stance and ideas I put forward in this document arise as result of contemplations explained below.

Prior to studying architecture at Kingston, I was a student at the Sir J.J College Of Architecture in Mumbai for about a year. As a part of the course, I was presented the opportunity to visit the Centre for Development Studies and Activities in Pune on the first year field trip. Even as a student, new to the world of architecture, the institute made an impression on me. The emotions it evoked were sustained in my consciousness, lingering long enough to prompt another glance at it as precedent for my second year studio project.

It was this persistent curiosity about the Center, its making and about its architect(s) that led me to return and investigate further.

As a student in architecture, I have always been inclined towards understanding how architecture - old and new - enhances the life of its inhabitants. I’m interested in examining architecture’s competency in facilitating a communal culture, encouraging chance encounters and addressing the human condition at large. Further, the studies of poetic rituals of everyday life that are reinforced through the architecture of a place are an area of interest.

Additionally, as a child of the post-modern global day and age, I was born and brought up outside my home country – India - in the Middle East by immigrant parents. As a consequence of this hybrid upbringing, one in which I would never be deemed an Arab but also never fully identify with the roots of my culture, I struggle to establish my identity and sense of belonging in the world. Hence, I’m tempted to ask, what it means to dwell, to identify one’s self with and belong to something, to some place. How does identity relate to architecture? Can the architecture of a place contribute to one’s sense of belonging to the world?’

As a result of my investigations into the above mentioned academic and personal curiosities, the dissertation is titled ‘In Search Of an Architecture of Belonging’. It attempts to understand the building, its architect and his oeuvre in the profession.

It also hopes to

grasp the vibrant cultural heritage of the land within which the building sits and its ongoing dialogue with it. Additionally, it explores the universal influences the architect inherits through his education and things that may have informed him of his design decisions as understood through a conversation with his wife and present director of the institute. As an architectural theory, it explores the concept of dwelling in relation to the conception of the institute and tries to uncover the different architectural as well phenomenological characteristics of the spaces that enhance one’s sense of being in the world.

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1:2000 Contextual Site Plan

Fig. 0 The Centre For Development Studies

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and Activities

Phase I An Introduction: The Centre for Development Studies and Activities, Pune The Centre for Development Studies and Activities is an autonomous teaching and research institution for advanced studies, established by American Indian architect and urban planner Christopher Benninger alongside wife and sustainable development planner Aneeta Gokhale in 1976, with renowned British economist Barbara Ward as the founding patron. The fifteen acre campus for the center was subsequently designed in 1987, with the educational and administrative departments completed in 1989 while the entire project including residential quarters for students and staff, was fully built by 1994.

It is located in Bavdhan village, situated on the south-western periphery of the industry and education centric, growing city of Pune in India, located two hundred meters above sea level on a hill terrace, emerging where the slopes of India’s Western Ghats Mountains merge with the plains of the Deccan plateau. The campus plan is said to be based on a typical Greek Gymnasia, also set in a suburban terrace on the fall of a hill slope. The location hence proves to be ideal in providing serene views looking up at the mountain range while simultaneously down into the ever-sprawling and bustling urban cityscape of Pune. Further, the temperate weather conditions permit the institute to harness its ambient and semicovered external spaces for hosting wide-ranging activities all year round. (Khan, n.d., p.30) The Centre offers postgraduate courses in M.A/M.Sc. in Development Planning and Administration, a Masters Dip. in Development Planning and Special need based training programs. It is recognized by and affiliated to the University of Pune and is sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. Learning from his personal experiences and the teaching techniques at architect B.V. Doshi’s school of planning (CEPT) in Ahmedabad, CDSA was initiated by the architect out of an ambition to alleviate poverty-stricken areas and districts from their adversities and provide meaningful urban development and housing for slums and rural regions of the developing world. Hence, it came to be a center for exploration, reflection and analysis of ideas that could eradicate poverty. (Benninger, 2013, p. 56) Matters of sustainability, equality and upliftment of the poor were central to the institute that believed in the real world as a learning laboratory, thus encouraging students to experience first-hand the life of a slum/village dweller to truly understand the challenges, issues and needs for those they would plan.

Within India, it collaborated with the Indian Planning Commission, the National Housing Bank, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation and the Ministries of Social Welfare, Rural Development and Urban Affairs and internationally with UNCHS (Habitat) Nairobi, the Asian Development Bank in Manila and the United Nations and World Bank in Washington, producing two decades worth of work undertaken by Benninger to invent, enable and facilitate programs with a focal vision to change the world for the better. The architect describes the Institute as a place for ‘thinker-doers’ to test appropriate channels for exploring ideas and accomplishing goals with an optimism to uplift the world. (Benninger, 2013, p. 57) At present, it remains the only institution of its kind in South Asia which proposes that learning must be field based, having pioneered micro-watershed planning, decentralized planning, micro-level social services planning and participatory planning that seeks to engage local communities and the Gram-Sabhas, encouraging planning models based on self-sufficiency and self-organization while Benninger remains the President of its governing body.

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Chritopher Benninger: Architectural Oeuvre As CDSA’s key institutor and architect, Christopher Benninger was born in Hamilton, Ohio in 1942 and raised in Gainesville, Florida. Growing up, his father worked as a professor at the University of Florida where he consequently, was first formally introduced to architecture under tutors such as Harry Meritt and Robert Tucker.

Sensing great potential and tenacity

in Benninger’s work, Meritt then guided him to move to Cambridge where he studied urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Kevin Lynch and architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design under Spanish modernist Jose Lluis Sert in his Master’s studio. In the subsequent years, he became a part of Sert’s personal practice, learning from and adapting to Sert’s rationalist approach to projects such as the Harvard Science Centre in Cambridge. Further, he studied economics under John Kenneth Galbraith and became a protégé to economist Barbara Ward, accompanying her in attending the Dylos Symposium in Greece.

In 1968, he was awarded the US based Fulbright Fellowship, during which he first met the prominent Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi in his travels to India, proving to be one of the most critical interactions that came to define Benninger’s career. Back in Cambridge, he taught studios with President of the Architectural Association, Jane Drew and other prominent figures such as Roger Montgomery and Gerhard Kallmann, subsequently being promoted to tenured Assistant Professor and Member of Faculty Senate at Harvard, all at the age of twenty-six. In 1973, he migrated to Ahmedabad, India, accepting B.V Doshi’s invitation to initiate the then School of Planning, now known as Centre for Environment Planning and Technology or CEPT. As a stranger to a foreign land, Benninger immersed himself in India completely, undertaking his first ever projects such as the Alliance Francaise and Dr. Bhanuben’s house alongside leading, managing and teaching at CEPT. After accepting India as his new motherland and having acquired a significant amount of knowledge from his guide Doshi, he moved to the city of Pune to start a new and establish his own school of planning, CDSA in 1976.

After decades of projects that produced an astute set of solutions to the complex and chaotic urban planning and social housing issues, Benninger started his own practice in Pune in 1990’s where he received commissions of high stature such as the Supreme Court of Bhutan, the award winning Suzlon One Earth in Pune and the Samudra Institute of Maritime Studies, Lonavla. In 2008, he was awarded the Great Master Architect Award, considered to be the most prestigious award for architecture in India, received by only six others before him, including Charles Correa and B.V. Doshi. He continues to pursue his passion for architecture in his practice to date.

Architecture first emerged in Benninger’s life when he read Frank Lloyd Wright’s book, ‘The Natural House’. Ideas of organic architecture, resistance to false art and glorified ornaments, the importance of materiality and that of the context, formed the foundation of his architectural integrity early in life. (Benninger, 2013, p.40) Academically, he entered the architectural scene in the 1960’s, in an era when modernism prevailed as a beacon of hope. His modernist educators, both at the university of Florida and Cambridge advocated a life in the pursuit of truth, in confronting the realities of the ‘human condition’ and hence, using architecture as a social tool to better the lives of the impoverished and pave a way for communities to not only emerge but also, flourish. LLuis Sert started the first Urban Design program in the world, looking to humanize private real estate interests and form communities (Lefaivre, 2015).

Fig. 1 Doshi’s CEPT

Witnessing the work of grandmasters such as Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Oscar Niemeyer and

marks the start of

F.L.W. in action further strengthened Benninger’s belief in the vision that modernism promised.

Benninger’s Life in

Additionally, his travels around the world, especially Asia evoked in him a sense of awe for

India.

the simple joys in life, catapulting him farther away from self-indulgent and mercantilist Post-

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modernistic movement that began to take over the global North or simply, the Western world in the 1970’s. Fortunately, B.V. Doshi presented him with the opportunity to start fresh in a developing nation that was struggling to emerge post-colonialism and one, which could truly benefit from the architecture design skills and planning knowledge he had acquired since childhood and in Harvard. Thus, Benninger chose to accept this life altering challenge and migrated to Ahmedabad, leaving behind the illustrious life of a tenured Harvard professor, resisting the consumerist culture that America was turning towards.

B.V. Doshi presented him with the excellent opportunity to start fresh in a developing nation that was struggling to emerge post-colonialism and one, which could truly benefit from the architecture design skills and planning knowledge he had acquired since childhood and in Harvard. Thus, Benninger chose to accept this life altering challenge and migrated to Ahmedabad, leaving behind the illustrious life a tenured Harvard professor, resisting the consumerist culture that America was turning towards.

Benninger’s Beginnings In

India

With humanism central to his practice, Benninger began his career in India by taking up social projects such as the SOS Children’s villages in Banawa and Kolkata and a low-income shelter program in Chennai, alleviating the lives of thousands. Simultaneously, he took up his one of his first design commissions such as the Alliance Francaise Centre, successfully generating a convivial work of art using only basic locally sourced materials for construction.

His years in Ahmedabad, saw an ‘integration of the modernist movement with a search for an Indian tradition.’(Benninger, 2015, p. 40) In this manner, he began to explore and exploit his Harvard education whilst searching for a local identity through his work and ergo, developed his architectural language a little further with every project that arose, subsequently initiating CDSA, Pune, as his school of planning.

Viewing the world as a real-life laboratory, he advocates a life of ‘being’ as opposed to ‘seeming’ (Benninger, 2015, p.34). Benninger adopts a ‘thinker- doer’ model to his projects, unpretentiously seeking to address the harsh realities of life while skillfully materializing the potential of India’s earthen hues and rugged landscapes at a human scale, making him ‘one Fig. 2 Blown up axonometric, SOS Children’s, Banawa, India, 1972-78 Fig. 3 Alliance Francais, Ahmedabad - One of Benninger’s first designs Fig. 4 Alliance Francais, Ahmedabad, precursor to CDSA Fig. 5 Centre For Development Studies and Activities, Pune Fig. 6 Mahindra World College, Pune, following CDSA

of the major regionalists of today’s Global South’ (Lefaivre, 2015). Benninger’s deep rooted conviction of the Indian belief in the ‘Guru and Shishya’ relationship (pedagogue and disciple) manages to translate into his projects as well, as one building inspires the next, the latter using the knowledge of the former to reinvent and enrich itself in its set context. Such is in the case of the CDSA campus as it inherits its built wealth from the Alliance Francaise Centre in Ahmedabad and subsequently passes it down to the Mahindra World United College of India, Pune (Benninger, 2015, p.163).

All three projects primarily seek the honest expression of materials using suitable construction technology whilst responding uniquely to their respective sites and integrating modern principles with local forms of space making and thus sharing a common language of architecture. It is also; however clear how the three vary in the architect’s personal expression of himself and his knowledge of the Indian Peninsula. While the Alliance Francaise Centre remains modest in its expression of the Indian experience and traditions, CDSA explores the landscape and applies modern interventions to reinterpret the local culture, subtly inserting glimpses of familiar forms and regional art, common to a typical Indian household in new and unfamiliar ways. In contrast, Mahindra UWC seems bolder and more experimental in its use of forms and levels to facilitate circulation, illustrating Benninger’s maturity in design, command over his architectural language and grasp of knowledge of the Indian sub-continent over the years.

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Fig. 7 Blown Up Axonometric

of the

administrativeblock of CDSA, Pune Fig. 8 Entrance to one

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of the classrooms in CDSA on a summer day

Architectural Language and Program: CDSA

The Centre for Development Studies and Activities consists of two main clusters of functionbased volumes. The first cluster comprises of the administrative, executive, educational and recreational areas that include a library, a clubhouse and a central courtyard. The second cluster is a residential one, intended for students and staff, pulled back into the campus’ natural landscape, as to be a retreat from the busy Indian roads. It comprises of twenty-four rooms, each equipped with their personal toilets and private courtyards.

Benninger divides his architectural language into three elements namely the support, the enclosure and the span, each of which he defines distinctly in his campus design.

(Benninger, 2013, p.119) Basalt, obtained from excavation of site, ’forms a strong pattern of east-west parallel’ load-bearing walls that along with steel rafters supporting the roof comprise the support. The internal spaces enclosed within these rustic stone walls open views to the mountains in the west and the thriving metropolis of Pune in the east. The element of enclosure is defined by transparent sliding glass panels made from mild steel.

These are pulled back from the façade and sheltered by verandas, acting as regulators of natural ventilation and daylight for each individual space and eliminating the need for artificial air conditioning or lights during the day. In addition, these adjustable screens drop the divide between the outside and interior spaces, generating a singular fluid and continuous flow of spaces. The third element, span includes cast concrete beams and slabs at the mezzanine levels and sloping roof tiles enclosing the volumes from above. Acting as a barrier against strong gushes of wind and rain coming in from the southwest during monsoons, the tiles slope more steeply in the west and gently against the dawning sun in the east. (Benninger, 2013, p. 119) All of these three elements are integrated together using connecting devices that Benninger denotes as ‘motifs’ or region specific connectors that stitch the built fabric together.

Additionally, they support and enrich the quality of the defined elements of the architectural language. The window boxes here are employed as a means of locating vistas and modulating the load bearing wall planes that form the support of the project. Similarly, devices such as lotus ponds, courtyards, verandas, mezzanines, stairs, low walls, varying levels across the campus and traditional seating platforms known as ottas are means by which the architect directs movement in space. Furthermore, ornamental devices such as murals from prominent artists of the region, bird feeders, earthen pottery that collects rainwater and metaphoric statues rising up from the ottas are introduced into the campus space, unfamiliarly familiar in a sense of the local climate, serving as distractions to the students and staff, from the over-powering stress of their work, in order to rejuvenate the institute’s creative and imaginative energies. (Benninger, 2015, p.163-167) Based on the design of a Greek gymnasium, one may see glimpses of Le Corbusier’s Maison Mandrot of the 1920’s France, or Wright’s Taliesin West in the United States or even Aris Konstantinidis’ Weekend house on the Mediterranean but yet, experience the Indian culture.

It is this ability of the architect to transport ideas from the across the seas in a timeless manner and have one sit by a bird feeder in the campus’ central courtyard and feel a sense of belonging to the rugged terrains of the Indian Western Ghats, that Kenneth Frampton writes about in his essay, ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance’. Benninger’s vision to harness the knowledge of his travels and education and rendering it in hues of Indian tradition truly qualifies as ‘arreire-garde’ (Frampton, 1983, p.20) in the 1980’s, when transplanting a ‘Southern Mediterranean regionalist aesthetic in the rolling of Maharashtra’s educational institutions’ (Lefaivre, 2015) was unheard of until CDSA paved the path for it to be commonplace cotemporary practice among today’s Indian architects.

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Plan Key: a Entrance Pavillion b Administrative office c Teaching Classrooms d Barbara Ward Library e Central Courtyard f Clubhouse g Residential quarters (Dormitories) h Reception i Water tower jj’ Section Line 1 kk’ Section Line 2 Drwg. 1 Ground Floor Plan - CDSA, Pune

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Drwg. 2 Administrative Block Elevation - CDSA, Pune Drwg. 3 Administrative Block Section - CDSA, Pune

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Phase II Experiencing India Visiting a place and experiencing it in all of its physical totality is a grounding experience.

Only by having traversed a space in flesh does one truly understand the interplay of realities that constitute it and then begin to decipher meanings behind these constituent realities. My venture into India was one of many such presupposition-shattering trips, one which gave me clarity about the making of the Centre for Development Activities and Studies and re-instated my belief in the highly circumstantial and humane (as opposed to abstract works of genius) process that is architecture.

My journey started at the Centre itself, where I had a fortunate rendezvous with Mrs. Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, executive director of CDSA and wife to Christopher Benninger, CDSA’s primary architect. As our conversation proceeded I began to learn of circumstances that caused Benninger to settle in India and more specifically in Pune. Benninger met Mrs. Aneeta while teaching at CEPT in Ahmedabad. Despite belonging to different cultures, they were captivated by one another and chose to enter into marriage, beginning their lives together whilst Benninger continued to work at CEPT and for the Ford Foundation, tying himself down to India. When Ford Foundation offered Benninger a transfer to Singapore, the couple was compelled to reflect on the direction they wanted their lives to move in and decided to move back to Pune, Mrs. Gokhale - Benningers home town, where the couple hoped to establish their own identity. Gokhale comes from an affluent family with connections all over the state of Maharashtra.

With a prominent lawyer as her grandfather and political activist

father, the Benningers already had the base they needed to start building themselves up.

While they started their institute with a temporary base in the city, the couple simultaneously prepared for its more permanent home as they bought

14 acres worth of rocky wasteland

that they were conned into believing was fertile. To add to Mrs. Aneeta’s struggle of making a farm out of a wasteland, the couple began facing death threats on accord of refusing to give off their land based on the whims and monetary interests of a gangster. After years of deliberation and the constant back and forth between Pune’s center and its periphery, the couple undertook the task of designing the institute. I learnt of key figures influencing the design process and the complexities with which architecture of the institute emerged over time. To gain some perspective, they started off by visiting many of the local colleges such as the Deccan College built in Neo-Gothic style during the Colonial era. In addition to Mrs. Benninger, her father also posed as one of the key advisors to Benninger whilst designing the institute’s campus. Numerous aspects of the buildings were discussed and deliberated.

For instance, stone cultivated from the site was deemed to be the most economical material for building but was vehemently opposed by Mrs. Aneeta’s father on account of its resemblance to dingy prison cell walls, from where he had been recently released. Mrs. Aneeta then explained to him (as she did to me) the grace with which the local stone ages with changes in its tones and hues as a consequence of weathering over time. She informed me of the errors in its construction, for instance how the rubble was placed too far apart in the mortar and how much that bothered Benninger. After our brief but enlightening conversation, I spent the rest of my time there carrying out my primary research.

I decided then to explore the city of Pune as context for CDSA and discovered the different aspects of Pune architecture that were consciously transcribed into Benninger’s design Fig. 15 The Centre for

for CDSA. Wandering around Pune, I came across various formal manifestations of locally

Development Studies

sourced stone. From public to domestic to civic elements such as boundary walls, rubble

and

masonry is common place practice in the Deccan region due to convenient availability and

Activities, Pune -

Main courtyard area in

economic viability. CDSA was initially intended to be built with bricks by Benninger, inspired

the Administrative block

by the beautiful use of masonry at CEPT, Ahmedabad. However, he was advised otherwise by

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Fig. 9 Observed use of rubble masonry in Neo Gothic styled Deccan College, Pune Fig. 10 Observed use of rubble masonry in what appears to be a gated military shopping arcade, Pune Fig. 11 Observed use

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of rubble masonry in residnetial houses, Pune

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Fig. 12 A rural settlement, Maharashtra, India Fig. 13 Observed use of rubble masonry in Deccan College, Pune Fig. 14 Rural house in the Western Ghats region of Maharashtra, India

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Fig. 16 Use of Dual Perpestive Views, CEPT, Ahmedabad Fig. 17 Variation in levels with a distinct heirachical articulation of materials bricks

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and concrete CEPT, Ahmedabad

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Fig. 18 Use of Dual Perpestive Views, CEPT, Ahmedabad Fig. 19 Entrance to the central square of the institute, CEPT, Ahmedabad Fig. 20 Articulation of openings, CEPT, India

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23 Fig. 21 Play of light and shadow in main Library area, Alliance Francais, Ahmedabad Fig. 22 View of Library from higher floor, Alliance Francais, Ahmedabad Fig. 23 Articulation of roof, Alliance Francais, Ahmedabad

his partner (Gokhale, 2018) as the quality of brick in the region is generally very poor owing to the type of clay available, making CDSA’s architectural language yet another manifestation of these rugged rocks of the Ghats- using it to generate grounded masses of stone and concrete that seem to emerge from the earth.

Moving beyond Pune, I chose to visit a few nearby rural areas so to compare and contrast the microcosm that CDSA is to that of an Indian village. When investigating and comparing CDSA to the likes of a local village, what stood out most is the significance of central and connecting axes around which dwellings emerge to form a settlement. CDSA thus, seems like an ordered and controlled reinterpretation of this spontaneous form of development. The cluster emerging from the amalgamation of the different volumes in a rural house can be barely compared to the highly organized masses of CDSA but do bear some resemblance from a distance. Other commonalities such as the occurrence of courtyards, thresholds and semiotic symbols can be attributed as a consequence of belonging to the Indian subcontinent.

To gain some more perspective into his beginnings in Pune, I returned to his beginning in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. There I visited the iconic Indian Institute of Management (IIM) by Louis Kahn, the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) by his mentor B.V Doshi and lastly, the inconspicuous and currently abandoned Alliance Francaise center that preceded CDSA on Benninger’s architectural timeline. As I visited IIM, CEPT and Alliance Francaise in that same order on the same day, it became evident to me how one project forms a precursor to the next. While CEPT stands firmly in its own identity, coyly obscuring cues from IIM and Le Corbusier, Alliance Francaise dwindles to find its own voice among these master pieces as it evidently mimics the language applied and form developed in CEPT. This is seen in comparing its openings, circulation and roof resolution with that of CEPT. This can be understood as a means of building confidence prior to maturing as a young architect. Characters of both projects seem to echo as reinterpretations in his more confident design for CDSA.

Benninger’s Labour Of Love Mrs. Aneeta Gokhale Benninger describes CDSA as ‘Christopher’s labor of love’. As previously noted, Benninger met Mrs. Aneeta while teaching at CEPT and they decided to marry and move back to her hometown where Mrs. Aneeta’s affluent family connections would easily enable them to establish themselves. As a means to find their own voice in the echoes, they founded CDSA and were sold a barren wasteland. Being his own client, Benninger enjoyed certain freedoms when it came to designing the institute but the Centre ultimately is a culmination of the struggles and complexities that they were subjected in their quest to belong.

What becomes evident from Mrs. Benninger’s narrative is that CDSA was more than a project for the Benningers; it was an anchor of meaning to their lives. As Christian N.-Schulz denotes in his books,’...architecture represents a means to give man an existential foothold.’

What mankind seeks most is a connection – with nature, with the divine, amongst itself – so as to pursue a reason for being. For the Benninger’s, CDSA becomes the vessel that enables that connection.

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Fig. 24 CDSA’s courtyard from 1990’s Fig. 25 CDSA’s courtyard today, as result of time and

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commitment of Mrs. Aneeta Benninger

C. Norberg attempts to analyze the human psyche and its consequent manifestations in the physical world in his book ‘The Concept of Dwelling’. He explains that ‘to dwell is to identify with a given place, not only to belong to it but also, have it reflect one’s being so as to find one’s true purpose in life.’ Further, he establishes that dwelling comprises of four scales (modes) of living: Settlement, urban space, public institution and the house. These constitute the total environment where natural, collective, public and private dwelling take place. These modes are expressed through two aspects of dwelling: Identification and orientation. While identification relates to the ‘how’ of existence, orientation dictates the ‘where’ in that manner.

(Schulz, p.18) The act of building thus originates with the intention of making a ‘site’ a ‘place’ by adjustments to the phenomena already there so as to uncover the potentials of a given environment. Through his interaction with his surroundings, man undertakes this act by means of visualization, complementation and symbolization. (Schulz, p.17) Examining CDSA through this theory reveals the three fold process by which Benninger sought to embed his foothold in Maharastrian soil. Benninger experiences the clustered rural villages, the rocky mountain ranges and the built environment of the local city and visualizes his understanding of these encounters as is evident from the clusters of uneven alternating pitched roofs resting on rubble masonry walls in CDSA. In their quest to belong, the Benningers complement the barren land by attempting to cultivate on it, and in that sense, add to the environment what it lacks. It is this commitment that has resulted in the transformation of once a rocky terrain into what resembles a forest today with several vegetables currently farmed on campus. Lastly, Benninger symbolizes the Indian way of life through the different motifs he employs throughout the scheme and choice of orientation of the spaces, infusing the familiar into the unfamiliar and thus, providing a reinterpretation on the everyday rituals of life in the region.

CDSA was conceived as the joint dream of the Benningers’ when they were starting out and find their identity in life. Hence, it is a manifestation of the personal aspirations of man and qualifies as a private dwelling. The use of guard dogs in place of hostile boundary walls add to this element of a home. The dogs patrol the vast premises of the land on which the campus sits, stalking and barking aggressively at anyone unfamiliar. The same family of dogs swarms around the director Mrs. Aneeta and her son, seeking their affection. Personally, having the dogs feeling accustomed to my presence in the Centre after a day felt comforting as if I already belonged there, as if I were a part of the CDSA family. CDSA’s intimate yet revealing microcosm undoubtedly provided the Benningers the foothold they so searched for, but in addition to that it triumphantly reestablishes one’s connection to the outside, facilitating one’s sense of dwelling in the world, thus inhabiting a set of students and staff that feel fulfilled in pursuing their purpose in life. It also functions as an institution that is meant to serve the public and provide a forum for meeting and sharing ideas, therefore it also operates as a collective dwelling. In a sense it is the result of man’s choice to end wandering, thus it embodies ideas of a natural dwelling as well.

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Fig. 26 The different vistas at the entrance threshold of the administrative block Fig. 27 The adminitrative offices

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wrap around this smaller courtyard.

A Journey of the Senses ‘The authenticity of architectural experiences is grounded in the tectonic language of building and the comprehensibility of the act of construction to the senses.’ (Pallasmaa, 2013, p.69) The architectural experience of visiting CDSA comprised of the genuine immersion of all my senses.

An anonymous gate marks the entrance to the Centre. It is obscured by the use of a curved road offset from the main road that connects it to the city. Upon entering the gate, a muddy slope escalates in front of me. I see three distinct elements in an otherwise heavily forested landscape. The first is an independent pavilion towards my left, made from rubble stones and concrete, rising heftily from the earth, standing almost as if it were the guarding spirit of the institute. It poses as the first glimpse at the architectural language that is prevalent throughout the institute. The second and farthest from me, at the top of the rising slope is a

shed, made from scaffolding and metal sheets and one which the watchman

inhabits for most of the day. In front of me, a series of concrete steps terminating at a small platform emerge out of the sloping ground. Appearing ambiguous at first glance, this platform acts as a focal point that presents an opportunity to proceed in three different directions. The first leads you back to the main gate overlooking the curved road and highway beyond, the second directs your eyes toward the administrative block and the third alludes to the dormitory quarters. I feel a sense of control and being in that place.

I start towards the administrative block via a paved path that is carved into the forested landscape surrounding me. A rubble stone structure reveals itself step after step until I approach a threshold. I go up four steps of this threshold to land on an intermediate level that opens into different vistas. It leads to the main courtyard through a few steps on the left and into the administrative reception in the front. The cobbled stone beneath me changes to a polished tiled floor as I enter the reception that smells of incense sticks.

Light glistens softly through it as it pours heavily outside. After a brief conversation with the administration, I turn to the courtyard, where I find an abstract sculpture of lady overlooking the courtyard and loosely most of the institute. I enter the courtyard that is surrounded by rubble masonry structures, placed at various horizontal levels. The aged texture of the stone and concrete render them a part of the landscape as opposed to standing out in it.

I get the sense that I’m deep in the mountains of the region.

The scent of jasmine flowers

prevails in the atmosphere post-showers.

The interplay of solid and void, with light, textures and scale instills CDSA with a tactile quality of being. While the rugged rubble masonry and thick concrete slabs add to a sense of enclosure and the strong presence of gravity in addition to inducing a feeling of security, the use of contrasting light mild steel screens counterbalances the heaviness with fluid permeability through the spaces. The appropriate use of scale further enhances and balances this heaviness by relating the proportions of the architecture to human dimensions.

Light too, is materialized skillfully with respect to not only the spaces, but also the surface materials and how they react to it. While concrete slabs absorb light, it timidly glows in the rubble while boldly gleaming in the polished tiled floor. The honest expression of materials leads to interesting manifestations of their properties. Time serves as a tool in offering a multitude of experiences at CDSA and generating atmospheres apt for different aspects of life to unfold. During the monsoon showers, the silence of the rain echoes in the interior spaces, accompanied by the fragrance of jasmine flowers all through the campus. Similarly on clear days, the contrast of bright exterior and dim interiors enlivens the spaces with an energy generated from the opposing forces. These intangible atmospheres coincide with the academic year at the Centre that ends before the onset of monsoons (when only the

Fig. 28 Offset curved road leading to

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entrance gate of the institute, CDSA, Pune

Fig. 29 An indpendent pavillion standing as the guarding spirit of the Centre, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 30 The apparently ambiguous flight of stairs, with the watchman’s shed in the backgound, CDSA, Pune Fig. 31 The flight of stairs, the pavillion, the gate and the road

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beyond, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 32 Paved path leading to Administrative block entrance, CDSA, Pune Fig. 33 A dirt road alluding to the residential quarters, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 34 Presense of strong visual axis, CDSA, Pune Fig. 35 Entrance into one of the two teaching spaces, CDSA, Pune Fig. 36 Simultaneous views into central

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courtyard and office courtyard, CDSA, Pune

Fig. 37 Residential quarters, CDSA, Pune

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administrative staff works on campus) and resumes approximately after. Conversely, the ageing stone sets a more permanent tone in the life of the campus humbling our existence in this world. As a result one feels a heightened sense of being and experiences the landscape in all of its totality as a consequence.

Glimpses of Indian Tradition ‘Tradition is a continuous sequence of all innovation, therefore the most reliable guide to the future. Tradition is like an arrow pointing to the future, never to the past. Transmission – tradition’s real meaning, its reality.’ (Le Corb, p. 133) Tradition - unlike history which remains static - adopts, adapts and morphs to the given context thus, perpetuating a feeling of belonging, of being rooted in a distinct identity. Like many developing countries today, as India competes to acquire a global status in this golden age of technology, its lasting bond with its culturally-rich and diverse set of traditions keeps it grounded to a certain extent.

Tradition transcends all aspects of life in India and spaces are designed to receive and reflect this dynamic culture. The washing area at the rear of the kitchen of the club house, reminds one of a typical dwelling in rural India, with its wash area in the courtyard of the house. The fragrance produced by the use of incense sticks in the office reception of the center upon entering, reinstates a calm of the likes that can be found in an Indian household on an early Sunday morning. This strange familiarity in a remote gated institute in the Western Ghats re-affirms one’s sense of being in the Indian Subcontinent.

Among the many spatial principles that comprise Indian Architecture, the constant juxtaposition of time over space is an essential premise of Indian space-making. Possessing this temporal quality, an urban square that acts as grazing ground for cattle early morning, a parking lot by afternoon thus becomes a public market by night. Hence, spaces remain the same, acquiring a multitude of meanings based on their interaction with time, rendering them as vital, vibrant and dynamic. (Pandya, 2005, p.13) CDSA, Pune explores and interprets this principle of a spatio-temporal architecture on the various scales of time ranging from a day to the life span of the institute. In turn, it enhances the feeling of experiencing a particular time of the day, season of the year or even the life of the institute in all its totality. Hence, unlike most contemporary architects that often seek to mute the sensations of time by employing artificial lights, active service systems and sound proofing materials, Benninger at CDSA for instance, embraces the annual season of monsoons and harnesses its fierce forces by use of prominent gutters, generating a renewed sense of connection to nature.

The Indian notion of existence rests on dualities - Atman (infinitesimal component of the human spirit) and Brahma (the overall schema of the universe).This paradigm of belief thus paves way for a ‘homogenous heterogeneity’ wherein the part is viewed as whole and the whole as a part. This enables individual identity amongst collective unity. (Pandya, 2005 p.14) Benninger grasps this spatially to some extent as can be seen through the use of unifying language and form to constitute a whole from the independent and fairly distant residential and administrative blocks at CDSA, Pune. A similar symbiotic relationship can Fig. 38 The ground covered with jasmine petals after monsoon shower, CDSA, Pune

be drawn between the individual blocks of the administrative/teaching quarters that are unified through their orientation around the central courtyard and adjoining axes. Bipolarity of existence constitutes another aspect of this Indian notion of existence. Simply put, it is the belief that everything exists as means of validating the existence of another and in that manner; its existence too is validated by the existence of the other. Hence, a void is only

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Fig. 39 Washing area at the rear of the kitchen, CDSA, Pune Fig. 40 Water falling from the gutter during a monsoon shower, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 41 Sculpture of a woman over looking the central courtyard People at the institute call it ‘ Karuna’ which in Sanskrit means ‘wisdom tempered by compassion’; the guiding spirit of the Centre, CDSA, Pune (Akkisetti, 2013, p.167)

experienced by means of the surrounding mass, light by darkness and so on. These serve as mutual references, maintaining equilibrium in the universe. The light mild steel screen for the openings set in contrast to the heavy rubble enclosing exemplifies this belief at CDSA. In terms of spatial organization, CDSA manifests the Indian Architectural notion of kinesthetics as a means to direct one’s experience through the institute. Kinesthetics or the ‘dynamic perception of space through movement’ (Pandya, p.20) is accomplished through setting up spatial narratives that actively engage the perceiver by gradually unfolding a series of spaces that heighten their curiosity. In the case of the center, the interplay between the varying horizontal planes situated on different vertical levels, semiotic symbols that are placed at focal points, thresholds that exalt movement and the adjoining axes between these, cause simultaneous concealment and revelation of different aspects of the place. This simultaneous process in turn heightens the senses and different aspects of Benninger’s center are brought to focus as one remains deeply involved in experiencing it.

In addition to creating key focal points in space, semiotics take up memories that helps us familiarize and associate better with a place. The antique pot outside the library suddenly brings the word ‘library’ to one’s mind as the woman’s statue does ‘entrance’.

Universal Specifics While the architecture of the Centre can be understood in terms of the concept of dwelling and principles of Indian space making, it would be ignorant to overlook the role of modernism in the design and construction of the Centre. As an advocate of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas with a modernist education, Benninger articulates the architecture of the Centre using the language widely prescribed by his mentors – Wright, Le Corbusier, Kahn and Doshi.

Wright professed for an architecture of integrity and one which pursues the truth. He sought to address the human condition through his work. He based houses around activities of life and pleasures of the eye, designing in terms of interior spaces that possessed a sense of spatial continuity. Hence, the exteriors of his houses emerged as a consequence of organically designed interiors that embraced their surroundings, rising from the earth, following its changing levels and by the value which is given to different view-points they emphasize its beauty (Zevi, 1950, p.109). Further, he sought after the honest expression of materials functionally. Wright considered the house as a shelter and the sense of gravity his houses possess bear witness to this paradigm. CDSA exemplifies this approach to architecture as the connection between the outside and inside is indisputably palpable.

Glimpses of Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn’s pluralistic approach to late modern architecture aimed to add character to individual works of architecture as a response to characterless early functionalist works by means of taking regional differences - geographical, historical, cultural and economic factors and an implied way of life – into consideration to create architecture of meaning. (Schulz, 1985, p.204) The simplistic forms with an emphasis on details such as a protruding gutter or the pre-fabricated staircase alludes to this approach.

Drawing from the eclectic sources of inspiration that informs Benninger of his design for the Centre, CDSA can be illustrated as a reinterpretation of the Indian concept of spatiality in the age of late modernisms, serving as a 20th Century manifestation of man’s urge to belong.

Fig. 42 The Centre on early winter morning, with the traditional stepped sitting well or

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‘Kund’ in the main entry podium, CDSA, Pune

Fig. 43 Looking towards the library from the office block, during the monsoons, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 44 Views of the central courtyard from the library, CDSA, Pune Fig. 45 Use of bird

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pond as a motif by the architect, CDSA, Pune

Fig. 46 Use of urn as a motif by the architect placed on a traditional sitting platform or otta CDSA, Pune

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Conclusion In summary, Benninger was born, raised and educated in the United States under modernists such as Lluis Sert and felt deeply inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. In an effort to sustain his integral values, Benninger decided to quit his tenured post at Harvard with a rising dominance of consumerist post-modernistic discourse in the States and migrate instead to India. There, he worked with B.V Doshi, met Mrs. Aneeta and chose to permanently settle down in India. The Centre for Development Studies and Activities came about as a vessel to establish his identity in the Peninsula.

As a consequence of Benninger being his own client, his vision gleams boldly, control reigns over every aspect of the project but since his discretion is rooted deep in the observation of the prevailing culture (aided by advice of his wife and family), the Centre emerges as a success. Aspects of the project can seem repetitive, as if architectural moments mimicked at different locations on site. None the less, CDSA is a dynamic institute that provides one with a rich sensorial experience, renewing one’s connection to the landscape. As it emerges from one’s honest aspiration to dwell, it in turn heightens one’s sense of belonging in the complex web of realities that is the world. The conscious or unconscious reinterpretation of modernism as well as Indian notions of space renders it timeless. Unfortunately, as Benninger advances further onto other more prestigious projects, Benninger begins to lose touch with the ‘real’ and the honesty that he so skillfully applies in CDSA. In my search for architecture of belonging and through my reading, experiences and contemplations I find that people belong to a place as a totality. This is because people belong to nature, to other people, to the culture of their ancestors and to the everyday rituals that surround them. Architecture in this respect is nothing but an enabler of these complex connections that man makes in his lifetime and cannot be seprated from the non-architecture. It is the amalgamation of these sub-layers of life combined with the built environment that forms a place. What contemporary architecture can then do in its very limited scope, is understand and address the different ways of life that people adhere to in a place and generate spaces that much like a sponge soak up the underlying culture and enable life to occur. This necessitates not only a keen observation of the physical qualities of a given environment but also a deep understanding of the psychological and symbolic habitudes of a locality. Through my study of CDSA as a medium that enables life to happen, I offer five possible considerations valued in the making of the architecture of belonging.

‘Spaces where life occurs are places.’(Schulz, 1980 p. 5) This is to say that architecture solely belongs to its inhabitants and it is their needs and notions of life that ought to be the primary focus of an architectural project. Understanding of, interaction and consultation with the locality and possible future inhabitants enable the architect to empathize with the local way of life. The conception of CDSA is unimaginable without the counsel of Mrs. Aneeta Benninger and her father who aided the American architect’s understanding of the region. In CDSA, time is felt. While the orientation of the spaces renders them different during the cycle of a day, the use of the gutters and landscaping emphasize the different seasons of the year. Use of materials that age gracefully and harness the exceptional qualities of the tropical light heightens this feeling of time. Hence, the design of spaces Fig. 47 Articulation of enclosure, openings and the roof in the Club house, CDSA, Pune

and the use of materials should inculcate time as a quantifiable unit that enhances the experience of living. Through nature, man pursues meaning. Therefore, the inclusion of the natural elements in informing the ‘inside’ is vital to establish this connection that man so desperately seeks in nature. Permeability through spaces, tactility of the materials and the tangibility of the atmosphere in the Centre embodies this understanding.

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Additionally, as social beings, we are conditioned to seek the company and validation of others without which life can seem devoid of meaning, manifesting these needs in various ways.

With the ever-increasing rate of apathy towards one another and the dominance of

technology, architecture needs to re-emerge as a tool (as opposed to its current object like status) which facilitates the formation of resilient communities that foster a strong sense of identity for its members. Most importantly, the task of architecture is to serve as a receptacle of our being.

‘In a home, we find the things we love and cherish and by means

of which we gain the foothold we need to act in.’ (Schulz, p.91) Thus, in order to create architecture of belonging, we need to create architecture that inherently belongs to people, adept in inhabiting fragments of their personality.

In the era of mass migration and globalization, the definitions of terms such as ‘culture’, ‘belonging’ and ‘identity’ are being constantly challenged.

Alienation from nature and

deterioration of communal life, have lead people to experience a ‘loss of place’ in most modern cities. (Schulz, p. 191) As architects, the challenge to combat this increasing culture of loneliness remains vital, demanding an architecture of belonging more than ever before.

Fig. 48 Inhabitation as an expression of one’s being. CDSA. Pune

Measured Drawing of Administrative Office-2 Elevation, Pencil

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Fig. 49 Entrance Threshold, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 50 Path leading to administrative block, CDSA, Pune Fig. 51 Seating spaces in the central courtyard, CDSA, Pune Fig. 52 View of the Barbara Ward Library and teaching classroom from the clubhouse mound, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 53 Entrance to dormitory block, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 54 Dormitory, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 50 Dormitory rooms on the first floor sharing common exterior balcony and bathroom, CDSA, Pune Fig. 51 Strong visual axes established in residential quarters, CDSA, Pune

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Fig. 57 The theatrics of

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light: Inside a teaching space, CDSA, Pune

Fig. 58 Heirachy of Public to Private: Private Courtyard of teaching space, CDSA, Pune

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INSTITUTIONS. (1990).Architecture Plus Design,7(3), 22.

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Benninger, C. (1998). An architecture for learning.Ekistics,65(391-393), 207.

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Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India.

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Khan, H. (n.d) ‘Centre for Development Studies and Activities’,Mimar 37: Architecture in Development, pp.30-33.

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Benninger, C. (2013)Letters to Young Architects. India: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

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Okakura, Kakuzo. (1997).The Book of Tea.

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Illustrations: •

Site Plan, by author with reference to site plan provided from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 162

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Fig. 2 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 39

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Fig. 3 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 157

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Fig. 4 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 156

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Fig. 5 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India p. 165

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Fig. 6 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 183

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Fig. 7 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 169

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Fig. 8 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, p. Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p.169

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Fig. 24, taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p.169

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Fig. 42 taken from Akkisetti, R., Falvo, Rosa Maria, & Benninger, Christopher. (2015).

Christopher Benninger: Architecture for modern India, p. 166

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Drwg. 1-3, drawn by author with reference to drawings provided by CCBA Designs, Pvt. Ltd. Pune, India

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All fig.s (with exclusion of those mentioned above), photographed by author as part of primary research

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Pencil rendered measured drawing, by author