la città dell` uomo 024

December
2013
DOMUS 24 DECEMBER 2013
Volume 03 / Issue 02
R200
CONTENTS 31
Author
Contributors
Jasem Pirani
Suprio Bhattacharjee
Photographs
Milo Reid
Dipti Desai
Markus Hafner
Hertha Hurnaus
Michael Wagner
Abner Fernandes
MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
Nigel Young
Foster + Partners
Xavier Boymond
Harshan Thomson
Sarah Mechling
Mohandass Radhakrishnan
024
LA CITTÀ DELL’ UOMO
András Pálffy
Architect and professor
Damien Hirst
33
Confetti
Spot Paintings
Tapan Mittal-Deshpande
34
A narrative in stones: Hampi
Manuel Aires Mateus
Francisco Aires Mateus
40
Time and matter
Sam Hecht
Kim Colin
44
Desk accessories
András Pálffy
46
Between concept and design
Mario Botta
50
Reflections on the development
of an educational programme
53
Footprints from a journey
Kaiwan Mehta
Kaiwan Mehta
INDIA
024
LA CITTÀ DELL’ UOMO
Volume 03 / Issue 02
R200
LA CITTÀ DELL’ UOMO
024 December 2013
Cover: Indian School of Business
in Mohali; Perkins Eastman
acknowledges that the design of
the long horizontality of the main
academic buildings sitting under a
single parasol roof with a consistent
structural rhythm was influenced by
Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex in
neighbouring Chandigarh.
60
Editorial
Sensibilities in architecture
Lotus Design
Projects
Capacity of spaces to transform anew
68
M/s. Prabhakar B. Bhagwat
The oyster and the pearl
78
Norman Foster
Redevelopment of the old port in Marseille
Jasem Pirani
86
Perkins Eastman
Calculated aesthetics
Suprio Bhattacharjee
94
Mancini Architects
Modest spaces of significance
Massimo Vignelli
December
2013
Title
32
Authors
Tapan Mittal-Deshpande
Conservation architect
INDIA
Design
Kaiwan Mehta
102
Rassenga
Bathroom
109
Feedback
The Vignellis’ New York
domus 24 December 2013
PROJECTS 87
Perkins Eastman CALCULATED AESTHETICS
Embodying latest thinking in the planning and design of business
schools competing on an international stage, the new campus of the
Indian School of Business in Mohali, distinctly reflects an increasing
call to brand identity and manufactures appearances that claim
responses to culture and place
Text Jasem Pirani
Photos Harshan Thomson, Sarah Mechling
In a globalising economy,
architecture and urban design
have an increasing role in
facilitating the identity or
imagery of capital. While design
schools continue to propagate
Mies van der Rohe’s famous
dictum that “Form Follows
Function”, the reality in the
world’s great cities is that “Form
Follows Finance,” coined by Carol
Willis — architectural historian
and founder of The Skyscraper
Museum. Design and its cousin,
branding, helps sell everything
from buildings to institutions,
to dreams.
This is not far from reality and
accurately reflects the scenario
in India as it competes among
industries for attention within
Asia, and on a global stage.
The new campus of the Indian
School of Business-Mohali
represents the latest thinking
in the planning and design of
business schools competing on an
international stage. The new 70acre Mohali campus responds to
the school’s mission to provide a
This page: above, the lobby
area within the campus.
Below and opposite page:
the Academic Administration
Building serves as the ‘head’,
the organising element, of
the new Mohali campus, itself
overlooking an expanse of
green field
domus 24 December 2013
88 PROJECTS
world-class curriculum and realworld experience on par with peer
institutions around the world.
In this context, the founders of
the Indian School of Business
understand that design —
especially by international
architecture firms such as
Perkins Eastman — can add
significantly to the value of their
institution. The building design
has to fit the campus in a way
that is not only supportive, but
also sensitive to the environment.
Perkins Eastman’s design for the
campus planning and buildings
draws inspiration from both
traditional and contemporary
architectural precedents, such
that the open spaces and level
differences that have been
defined by built forms is reflective
of Mughal architecture. Similarly,
with other palace and temple
architecture, the design of the
ISB-Mohali campus is a series
of interconnected courtyards,
exterior and interior atriums, and
covered outdoor walkways.
Perkins Eastman acknowledges
that the design of the long
horizontality of the main
academic buildings sitting under
a single parasol roof with a
consistent structural rhythm
was influenced by Le Corbusier’s
Capitol Complex in neighbouring
Chandigarh. In this way, the
Academic Administration
Building serves as the “head”, the
organising element, of the new
Mohali campus, itself overlooking
an expanse of green field. The
use of materials, as well as forms
and fenestration is evidence that
what is accepted today is a sense
of aesthetic that is recognisable
and identified with institutional
buildings. This establishes that
the globalisation of architecture
has resulted in homogeneity
in the built environment —
an increasing international
homogenisation of the appearance
of the built environment of large
institutions as a result of the
combination of several factors:
market liberalisation, cultural
globalisation and identity
of institutions.
With market liberalisation and
growth of cities like Mohali
— where the Indian School
of Business is a part of the
Knowledge city — Perkins
Eastman understands that
architecture is a contributor to
wonderful places and a supporter
of institutional missions. In a
way, buildings become a core
part of the business of education,
and they are instrumental in
attracting and maintaining
researchers, students, faculty, and
administration. They have tried
to fundamentally understand
the institution’s goals, values
and mission to motivate design
and planning. The scale of the
structure and the placement
tell a story, and reflect the
expectation of a liberalised
market — one where there is
mobility of capital.
Among this complex dynamics of
contemporary cultural exchange
and conflict lies an increasingly
dense and interconnected flow
of ideas, values, images and
lifestyles based on consumerism
that are a result of brandbuilding of institutional places
— a Western-based approach to
education culture.
Are all campuses desired to
look the same? This idea of
brand building has led to
disenchantment as novelty,
exclusivity, distinction, and
the romantic appeal of the
built environment have been
undermined by the idea of what
is believed to be the necessary
framework of an institutional
building.
Architects and designers are so
involved in defining the identity
of an institution based on its
values and missions that we
end up defining brandscapes
rather than urban landscapes.
The term ‘brandscapes’ has been
popularised by Anna Klingmann,
whose book Brandscapes:
Architecture in the Experience
Economy notes that brandscapes
This page: above, a covered
walkway; below: the 70-acre
Mohali campus responds to the
school’s mission to provide a
world-class curriculum and realworld experience on par with peer
institutions around the world.
Opposite page: The interior
atrium; the scale of the structure
and the placement tell a story
and reflect the expectation of a
liberalised market — one where
there is mobility of capital
domus 24 December 2013
90 PROJECTS
domus 24 December 2013
PROJECTS 91
UP
1
4
INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
-
MOHALI: CAF É/CONFERENCE
1
ground floor
A
A
2
2
3
UP
Cafe/ conference
1Entry
2Cafe
3 Seating area
4 Stair to
conference room
INDIAN SCHOOL
OF BUSINESS
5Bookstore
MOHALI: CYLINDER CAF É AND
6 Meeting room
CONFERENCE section A-A
4
3
1
Entry
2
Caf é
3
Seating Area
4
Stair to Conference Rooms
6
3
6
3
UP
2
55
3
5
3
44
3
3
2 2
22
1
0
N
Academic quad
1Courtyard
INDIAN
SCHOOL
OFlobby
BUSINESS
2 Breakout
space/
3 Large lecture hall
MOHALI:
ACADEMIC
4 Conference
rooms QUAD
5 Small lecture hall
5
ground floor
0
250
500
UP
1
1
UP
22
3
3
4
4
1
Courtyard
2
Breakout Space/Lobby
3
Large Lecture Hall
4
Conference Rooms
5
Small Lecture Hall
500
55
55
2
250
500
33
Project
BUILDING ground floor
4
1
2
84
1
A
1000
4
3
2
A
1000
0
UP
3
N
INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
2 2
Academic quad
MOHALI:
ACADEMIC QUAD
1Courtyard
2 Informal meeting space
3 A-A
Faculty lounge
section
4 Group study room
5 Simulation lab
6Classroom
5 5
3 3
66
11
0
250
500
1000
0
1000
1
Courtyard
2
Informal Meeting Space
3
Faculty Lounge
4
Group Study Room
5
Simulation Lab
6
Classroom
0
7
250
500
2
UP
8
4
1
1000
1000
0
44
-
MOHALI: ADMINISTRATION
4
0
Meeting Room
INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
UP
N
Bookstore
3
1000
0
1
UP
Caf é
2
1000
22
4
1
1000
1000
0
250
5
-
Administration building
1Reception
2Atrium
3Boardroom
4 Light scoop
5 Conference room
6 Exit to academic
buildings
7Entry
8 Executive office
4
3
55
3
22
1
0
0
250
500
1000
1000
1
5
5
66
Indian School of BusinessMohali campus (Phase 1)
Entry
Location
Atrium
Mohali, India
Client
Reception
Indian School of Business
Executive Office
Architect
Perkins Eastman
Design team
Principals: Aaron Schwarz
FAIA; Christine Albright
AIA, LEED AP
Project team
John Neary AIA, LEED AP;
Allan Kram; Tania Phillips,
Chang-Yeon Cho, Daniel
Ghesquiere, Katherine
Gluckselig, Milton Lau
Associate Architects
RSP Design Consultants
Landscape Architects
Design Cell Studio
MEP and Structural
Engineering
Tata Consulting Engineers
Limited
Technology
T2 Technology Consulting
Specialty Lighting
Lirio Lopez
Electrical INDIAN SCHOOL
OF BUSINESS
Lighting Consultants
MOHALI: ADMINISTRATION
PMC
BUILDING Jones
sectionLang
A-A LaSalle
Project Area
280000 m2
1
Reception
Carpentry
N/A
2
Atrium
Opening
Project Estimate
3
Boardroom
40M USD (phase 1)
4
Light Initiation
Scoop of Project
Master planning began
5
Conference
Room
February
2009
began
6
Exit toConstruction
Academic Buildings
December 2009
Completion of project
April 2012
Other details
· There are eight buildings
in Phase 1
· The entire design was
completed in BIM
· The project is in
the process of LEED
certification
domus 24 December 2013
92 PROJECTS
are a product of corporate
interests, the conjunction of
economic globalisation and
increasing exteriorisation
of corporate identities. This
identity then begins to physically
manifest and is transposed
onto the built environment.
Identification has become a key
element in linking or de-linking
identity, culture and place while
employing a globalised language.
The design team at Perkins
Eastman has taken into
consideration the high
temperatures and high relative
humidity of the region. The
building has been oriented to
balance both sun and shade. The
parasol roof provides partial
shade and cover to the buildings
and interior courtyards. No doubt,
that the building makes good use
of energy and resources; but could
they have done more? Had they
not been burdened by building
an institution’s identity, could we
have seen a different aesthetic?
One that is not homogenised?
This homogenisation has resulted
in the transformation of a green
field landscape to a place of ideas
— converged ideas of transposed
aesthetics that do not differ in
form and are neither distinctive.
The specificity of buildings gives
it its exclusivity. Buildings can
share ideas and must share
intellectual themes, but should
a building built on a campus in
Mohali look like one that could be
placed in southern Georgia? This
is a question that all of us
as responsible architects,
designers and planners must
ask ourselves as we are often
burdened by factors of finance
and capital growth.
Above: left, the cafe; right, stateof-the-art classrooms of the
Indian School of Business-Mohali.
Below: a covered outdoor walkway
overlooking the central courtyard
domus 24 December 2013
PROJECTS 93
Left: detail of the atrium.
Below: the open spaces and
level differences that have been
defined by built forms is reflective
of Mughal architecture. Bottom:
the Commons building in the
landscaped campus