The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar had a unique and sustainable approach towards architecture while planning the institute. The 400 acres campus was proposed to develop on the banks of the Sabarmati river. For the development of the campus, the management came up with the suggestion to provide an opportunity for the architectural firms across the nation. Through a competitive pool of entries, few firms were shortlisted for designing the campus. Shortlisted architectural firms along with specialized consultants were involved in the institute’s campus development. The master plan and landscape design were done by Delhi based firms. The student hostels, staff housing, academic areas, guest house, and research park were allotted individually to the shortlisted architectural firms.
Here is a list of architectural firms involved in campus planning and their contribution to the IIT Gandhinagar campus development:
1. Space Design Consultants
Project involvement: Master planning
Space Design Consultants is a Delhi based firm widely known for architectural, interior, urban, and landscape design services across the country. The principal architects Vinod Gupta and L.P. Singh founded the firm in the year 1983. Their previous projects include private residences, industrial, institutional, and commercial structures. The master plan of the IITGN campus was designed by architect Vinod Gupta.
The campus of the institute was intended to be made sustainable hence the master plan of IIT GN was developed on the same ground. The master plan was supposed to be a guide for the development of the IIT campus for years to come. The Functional convenience, efficient interaction, and later the 5-star Griha rating makes the campus stand out among others.
2. Upalghosh Associates
Project involvement: Master planning
Upal Ghosh Associates is a firm well known for multidisciplinary work in architecture, urban design, planning, and interiors. The firm is Delhi based and was founded by Ar. Upal Ghosh in 1981. The firm has a wide range of work including hotels, educational campuses, townships, individual residences, etc. Architect and urban designer Ujan Ghosh was involved in the master planning of the IITGN campus. The planning included defining open spaces, movement systems, and infrastructural services.
3. MSYK Design
Project involvement: Landscape design
MSYK Design is an architectural firm based in Delhi. The firm was involved in the IIT Gandhinagar project under the leadership of late Mohammad Shaheer. Architect Mohammad Shaheer was a renowned landscape designer and was involved in prestigious projects like Asiad Village, Babur’s Garden Kabul, etc.Ar.Yogesh Kapoor today furthers the landscape design of the IITGN campus.
4. HCP Design, Planning, and Management Pvt. Ltd.
Project involvement: Student hostels
The firm is based in Ahmedabad and was founded by Hasmukh C Patel in 1960. It is widely known for services ranging from architectural design, interior design, urban design, etc. The firm has conferred several awards including the Aga Khan Award and Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in urban design.
HCP worked towards designing student housing for IIT GN under the leadership of Ar. Bobby Desai. The hostels are designed to maximize mutual shading among built spaces, considering building orientation and wind direction. The built form offers variety in public and private spaces at various levels inspired by the Indian ‘chowks’. The open social spaces here are developed to encourage social interaction among students.
5. Mitimitra Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
Project involvement: Academic Area
Mitimitra Consultants is an architectural firm based in Pune, well known for its work in the field of architecture, landscape, interiors, and urban design. The firm was awarded ISO 9001-2015 Certification by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) -The Netherlands.
The architects involved in campus development are Ar. Madhav Hundekar and Ar.Vikram Hundekar. The planning and design of the academic campus (Phase 1 and 2) were done by the firm. The energy optimization was targeted while designing the campus and was gained by reducing heat gain. The architects optedsss for fly ash bricks for the construction to generate the lowest heat gain. The central court called- Samvad court uses an interesting concept of perforated shade. A play of light and shadows can be observed in space.
6. Vastu Shilpa Consultants
Project involvement: Staff housing
Vastu Shilpa Consultants was founded by Pritzker award winner architect B.V. Doshi. Based in Ahmedabad, it is considered to be a leading firm in the field of architecture and urban planning. They have worked on a range of projects like residential, commercial, institutional, etc. They were responsible for designing the housing blocks for the residential staff. Each block was designed to provide an open space centrally. There are measures taken for providing climate response like the use of jali to enhance passive cooling.
7. NMA-Neeraj Manchanda Architects
Project involvement: Guest house
The firm is based in Delhi and was founded by architect Neeraj Manchanda. They have recognized projects in the sectors of education, adaptive reuse, community, hospitality, residential, etc. The firm was awarded IIID national award and was announced as the winner of the National Architectural Design Competition for IIT GN Phase 1B construction. The firm was involved in designing the Guest House at IIT Gandhinagar.
8. Kanvinde Rai & Chowdhury Architects & Planners
Project involvement: Research park
The firm is based in Delhi and was founded by Achyut Kanvinde and Shaukat Rai. Later the firm grew with the participation of Morad Chowdhury, Sanjay Kanvinde, and Tanuja Kanvinde. They were previously involved in designing several leading educational institutes and dairy complexes. The research park at IIT Gandhinagar is currently under the supervision of Ar. Tanuja Kanvinde.
References:
http://www.iitgn.ac.in/
http://www.mitimitra.com/
https://www.hcp.co.in/
https://www.sangath.org/
https://space-design.com/
http://www.ugarch.com/practice.php
https://www.pressreader.com/india/architecture-design/20200101/283107070943245
https://architectureindeed.wordpress.com/2015/11/28/rip-mohammad-shaheer/
