When Charles Correa looked to the skies

If you walk around looking down you can have endless arguments with the pavements But look towards the sky and the city will put a smile on you face A friend gave me this piece of advice years ago and it often comes back to my mind A little bit of sky above is always a good sign More so in Mumbai where the blue above is shrinking by the dayProject Bambai tells its stories through cityrsquos famous statues This year Project Bambai and Mumbai Art Map issue 19 bid farewell to iconic architect Charles Correa The illustration depicts the Our Lady of Salvation Church at Dadar that was designed by Charles Correa Illustration CourtesyGarima GuptaThe Our Lady of Salvation Church popularly referred as Portuguese Church is a famous landmark in Dadar and the rest of Mumbai Every Sunday as the church bells ring in slow harmony a large wave of people slowly disappears into this peculiar building Its unflattering facade and oddly tall twin bells never reveal the oasis inside to anyone who reads this book by its cover But those who have been here know it as Charles Correas Open to Sky marvelCharles Correa at an event in MumbaiSee and gazeThe structure is a beautiful manifestation of his open to sky philosophy where the concrete recedes at intersections letting the eye wander into the sky Correa was a practitioner of functional spaces and his work respected the boundaries set by the climate of a place Its not surprising then that the large doors of the prayer halls sit neatly on either side of the pillars channelling the air for excellent ventilation The interlocking courtyards and covered concrete shells provide an open environment and also extend the space for a larger congregationFamily members of Charles Correa at his funeral held at Our Lady of Salvation Church Dadar on June xx 2015 PicsSatyajit DesaiInside the church design skips all the authoritative ingredients of a holy shrine There are no towering altars arched windows or overpowering columns In fact its bare minimum demeanour is the most beautiful feature The first completed structure in 1977 had a stark and exposed concrete environment for worship which was later painted due to discolourationBells The 19th century Baroque Portuguese style cross preserved and retained inside the church compoundThese concrete walls converge upward like a pyramid leading the eyes straight to a single point where they meet the skylight much like the oculus at Pantheon Light filters here through a glass panel which depict Biblical stories hand painted by MF Hussain in his whimsical style Hussain later dedicated the fresco to Cimabue the fountainhead of Italian renaissance paintingMortuary memorial to a Baretto Located outside the church the text on the plate refers to the area by its older name Mahim ArtGarima GuptaDivine and designThe Church site is believed to be 400 years old and is currently in its fourth avatar In its early years its unconventional design displeased many But over time the devotees have found an exceptional sense of peace in this quaint church in Dadar Correa was always known to be ahead of his time But his architectural sensibilities were far more deeprooted than otherwise assumed As Mumbai bid goodbye to this visionary in the Portuguese church last month we hope he will find solace in the blue skyLog on to wwwprojectbambaiwordpresscom