JAWAHAR KALA KENDRA by Charles Correa Project by: Rishabh Sharma
I N T R O D UC T I O N Project: Location: Period of Construction: Architect: Client: Purpose:
Jawahar Kala Kendra (further referred as JKK) Old city of Jaipur, Rajasthan- India 1986-1991 Charles Correa Rajasthan Government, India Cultural centre to preserve the Rajasthani arts & crafts
‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ (JKK) is one the best examples of Indian contemporary architecture built in a planned historic city of Jaipur, where the modernity fuses with the past through different space organisation and materials used. As Charles Correa during his interview with RIBA president Angela Brady told that “The design of JKK comes from city itself, which was based on the nine squares each representing nine planets. And the ruler who built the city was obsessed with the sky, so on one side he used the oldest myths of the sky which is the ‘Navgrah’ (the nine planets) and then he also is the one who built the newest myths which is science, through astronomical instruments. For example, the Jantar Mantar (masonry tools designed to study the sky), which where way ahead of their time. People measured very precisely the movement of the sun and the stars because the instruments were made from masonry and fixed, so otherwise metal instruments could move with the tremor of the earth or something else. So, he had these two different takes on the sky, and he brought them together in this city and since it’s a memorial to India’s first prime minister ‘Jawahar Lal Nehru’, nothing better than to bring back the city its past. Nehru wrote a book called ‘The discovery of India’ which was looking backwards deep into the roots of Indian culture, but he (Jawahar Lal Nehru) also commissioned Corbusier to invent a new future through a modern city Chandigarh. Now how do you bring those two visions together? “
‘Navragraha Mandala’
Masonry instruments for studying sky
To know and understand this (JKK) built space, we must understand the context and background it’s built in and also took inspiration from. We must look back into the past and briefly understand the principals of Indian science of architecture called ‘Vastu Shastra’ and how it was used in the planning of the old city of Jaipur.
Architect’s sketch of the museum facade
C O NT EX T & B A CKG R O UND ‘Vastu Shastra’ an ancient science of architecture in India that identified relations between forces of nature and living in an architectural space. It is about designing a space and eventually buildings, temples and cities in a way to enable living in harmony with the forces of nature. The basis of Vastu Shastra when simplified, seems to rest on the following:
Cosmic influence: The heavily bodies in the celestial space influences the activity on the surface of the earth. Solar energy: Energy levels and radiations from sunrays is not the same all over the surface of the earth. Geo-magnetic fields: The magnetic field between the North and the South poles of the earth affects the bio-organisms. Geology of the crust: Materials used for the construction and otherwise which can be extracted from nearby. Hydrology and Eco-systems: Habitable regions depend on perennial sources of water and the types of supportive vegetation. Socio- cultural beliefs: Emergence of the human society from primitive to tribal to organised levels of a structured society.
Vastupurusha Mandala: Vastu means surrounding environment or nature (Prakriti in Sanskrit). Purush means energy or soul (Shakti in Sanskrit). Mandala means the astrological chart- which relates the layout to the orientation, right direction (both in space and in time), right proportion and right placement. These three collectively, called Vastupurusha Mandala (form-being-diagram), used as a guide for which activities are best suited for each area of the building. As explained in Mansara*, there are 32 such versions of the Mandala that can be used in various circumstances with the simplest being a single square with no subdivisions; the largest has 1024 subdivisions; and the most sacred are the eight divisions giving 64 subdivisions or the nine divisions giving 81 subdivisions. The Mandala can be applied when interpreting the scale of a whole city down to understanding that of a house. In simple words, these squares are the abstraction of cosmos in geometrical form where architecture is perceived as a bridge between cosmos and the man – the model of “cosmic man” (Vastupurusha Mandala). The Hindu culture hence devised the cosmic man model for infinite applications in architecture whether it is at the level of urban design, public buildings or private dwellings.
UP: Old painting showing the ‘Navagraha Mandala’ LEFT: Vastupurusha Mandala diagram
*Mansara: an ancient literature, a Vastu Shastraarchitectural treatise
OL D CITY O F J A I PU R Taking this thought ahead and with the help of a Bengal priest ‘Vidyadhar Bhattacharya’, the city plan of Jaipur was the idea thought and drawn by the Maharaja, a scholar, mathematician and astronomer, Jai Singh the Second, in the mid-18th century. His city plan was based on the ancient Vedic Mandala of nine squares which represents the nine planets. The city of Jaipur stands in a crescent-shaped valley embosomed among hills on three sides of it, which are strongly fortified by nature, while the fourth or southern side has no defence except the high city wall. Also, due to the presence of a hill one of the squares was transposed to the east and two of the central squares were amalgamated to house the palace, several of the departmental offices of the state, the astronomical observatory, and the temples of Brajnandji and Anand Krishnaji. Jaipur was built with perfect symmetry; its artery nodes are wide; absolutely straight avenues cross broad straight streets at right angle, and the house-facades along the roads are so designed as to produce a uniform artistic effect. Old city lanes
Imitation of ‘Navagraha Mandala’ for the Jaipur city planning
Entry gates inside the city into individual zones
Topographic map of Jaipur city as planned in 18th Century
Old city setup
‘ JK K’ D ESI G N & it ’s rel a ti on wi th th e c on te x t Charles Correa’s plan for the ‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ invokes directly the original navagraha’ or nine house mandala. His ideology was to invoke the underlying construct of the cosmos they are meant to represent, rather than just mere representation. Correa’s interest in the mandala was insomuch as it can be used to “structure the environment”. Hence the primary function of the nine square mandala is “structuring”. However, the question remains why Correa chose to use only the nine square mandala and not any other. An immediate response would be that the museum had to accommodate nine spaces type laid out in the program of the museum. However, this was not the only reason. By using the nine squares mandala, Correa is also imitating the geometry of Jaipur city. In the museum, Correa’s direct imitation of the Jaipur city is evident in the displacing of one of its square from the nine square construct to create a main entrance. Hence on a closer examination one could suggest that Correa used the nine square Mandala not only as a structuring device but also to consciously invoke the symbolism of traditional city. Insofar the museum uses it as a structuring principle, “structuring” becomes the primary function and insofar as the museum imitates the plan of Jaipur city - the symbolism of the “traditional city model” becomes its secondary function.
‘Jawahar Kala Kendra’ layout plan
Entrance to the museum
Each of the squares is defined by 8-metre-high walls. The building programme has been “disaggregated” into eight separate groupings corresponding to the myths represented by that particular planet: for instance, the library is located in the square of the planet Mercury which traditionally represents knowledge, and the theatres are in the house of Venus, representing the arts. The astrological symbol of each planet is directly expressed in a cut-out opening along its external wall. The central square, as specified in the ‘Vastu Shastra’ is a void: representing the Nothing which is Everything. The flooring pattern in this square is a diagram of the lotus representing the sun in Hindu mythology. Following list gives a brief functional programme of the ‘JKK’:
Planet
Venus Jupiter Ascending node (Rahu) Saturn Descending Node (Ketu) Mercury Moon Mars
Colour
White Lemon yellow Iridescent Earth Red Brown/ Black Golden Yellow Milky White Red
Quality
Function
Art Drama/ Theatre Knowledge Library (meditation) Devourer/ Restorer Documentation Knowledge Museum II Anger Museum I Education Lok Kala Kendra Heart Cafeteria Power Administration
The materials used have been carefully picked which can related and reflect to the nature of the space. The use of local yellow sandstone, red sandstone, lime, red-rubble, marble, terracotta and other materials, narrow passage ways and wide courtyards, frequent openings with connecting vistas, the imitation of step wells in the courtyard and through many other small details Correa has carved out this place making it more culturally belonged to the place and its locals. Correa, with the help of traditional artists of Rajasthan, re-created the images from the history on the walls of the museum, breathing life into it Hand painted ceiling by local artists, representing different ancient hindu mathmatical and scientific elements
C O NCL U S IO N
Chand Boari - one of the oldest and famous step wells near Jaipur
This work of Charles Correa is important not just because it demonstrates the way ancient science is balanced with the modern in an architectural example that is applied. It is significant because of the way it creates an experience of living the ancient science in navigating and interacting through the spaces. It uses symbolism & extends it into a liveable experience quite effectively by crafting spaces based on the elements of nature and their symbols. The reason his buildings look more human, is that, according to him architecture is a sculpture, but it is a sculpture used by human beings. So it needs door and windows, it needs place for light and air, and those openings don’t spoil the sculpture, they make it complete. Now, just by expressing how people use those gestures, give scale to that abstraction and hence a meaningful architecture.
The use of reference from traditional architecture is evident through out the museum
BIBLIOGRA PHY BOOKS: - Contemporary Architecture in Asia, KIRA, Seoul, pp.28 – 31 - Contemporary Vernacular, by William Lim & Tan Hock Beng, pp- 66-75 - India Modern, by Herbert J.M. Ypma, pp- 218-229 - World Architecture, A critical Mosaic 1900-2000, vol. 8, South Asia, Ed. Rahul Mehrotra - A History of Jaipur: C. 1503-1938 by Jadunath Sarkar, Ed. Raghubir Sinh
JOURNALS: - Charles Correa: Jawahar Kala Kendra’, Light in Architecture, A & D, London - Pradakshina: The Works of Charles Correa’, Special Report, Approach, Tokyo - Jawahar Kala Kendra’, Progressive Architecture, New York - Charles Correa’, by Satish Grover, A+D, Delhi (September 1991) - Charles Correa’s Architecture by Sarayu Ahuja, Indian Architect and Builder, Bombay (1991)
