IIM AHMEDABAD

Sai A. Pradhan l L. S. Raheja School of Architecture Traversing Through Architecture

Indian Institute of Management Studies, Ahmedabad, also known as IIM-A, is one of the leading institutes in India which has revolutionized the higher education system and given it an edge with the international education institutes. It was designed and executed by three leading architects- Louis I. Kahn, B. V. Doshi and Anant Raje. Having started under the leadership of Louis Kahn, the structure emulates his design principles and keeps the structures rooted to its context.

The institute was started in collaboration with Harvard Business School to incorporate a more western style of teaching to increase interaction among students. Taking this ideology forward, the architects tried to fuse local materials with geometric shapes. The carving out of curved chapes from the rigid grid structures further helped in accentuating the form of the structure.

The main academic block is placed beyond an elevated entrance hall which ensures that the privacy of the students is maintained. The residential structures are placed in proximity with the academic block to ensure that the students can perform more functions on campus. The negative spaces that occur between various structures have been used to promote interactions among the students and provide a more holistic approach to learning. The walkways leading to the classrooms and library promote interactions among various user groups.

The negative spaces connecting the various primary functional areas have a direct connect with the surrounding natural environment and the built form. This is facilitated through the large openings of the built form which allow a continuous visual access and a seamless physical access too. With this play of physical and visual permeability which frames various views of the spaces and thus encourages more participation, the users are always engaged. This ensures that users establish a direct connect with the built form.

One of the key factors that helps establish a connect with the surrounding built form is the material used. The use of bricks in a brutalist manner gives an unfinished yet comforting feeling to the users which ensures that the students on campus who stay away from their families are surrounded by an atmosphere that is conducive of learning yet creates a homely feeling which offers comfort to them. Concrete beams have since been used to strengthen the structure as a part of conservation and heritage schemes.

Sai A. Pradhan l L. S. Raheja School of Architecture Traversing Through Architecture

“If you think of Brick, you say to Brick, ‘What do you want, Brick?’ And Brick says to you, ‘I like an Arch.’ And if you say to Brick, ‘Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you. What do you think of that, Brick?’ Brick says, ‘I like an Arch.’ And it’s important, you see, that you honour the material that you use. […]

You can only do it if you honour the brick and glorify the brick instead of shortchanging it.” – Louis Kahn