Mumbai—Charles Correa’s beloved city, described by him as "a great city, but a terrible place"—set the stage for the sixth edition of the Z-axis conference, organised by the Charles Correa Foundation (CCF) on October 12 and 13, 2024. Held at the NCPA experimental theatre, the conference celebrated Correa’s multifaceted legacy and explored his projects, philosophies, writings and advocacy for urbanisation. Correa, widely acclaimed as a visionary of post-independence modernist architecture in India, demonstrated an innate curiosity in numerous disciplines which imperceptibly reflected in his expansive repertoire. Spanning six sessions, the conference brought together 21 speakers from diverse fields to reflect on Correa's protean disposition. The overarching theme captured Correa’s contribution to India’s post-independent search for identity and his ideas on urbanisation, with one of his quotes shining through, "You cannot look at cities without wandering into architecture at one hand and politics into another.”

The conference opened with a screening of Volume Zero by Arun Khopkar, a film that captures Correa’s character as a polymath. Nondita Correa Mehrotra, Correa's daughter and the director of the Charles Correa Foundation (CCF), introduced the first session, 'A Place in the Sun' and spoke about CCF’s intention to take forth Correa's ideas and contrive ways of engaging with them. From Correa’s archives, drawings, photographs and writing have been made accessible through the CCF website, while the intangibles continue to be expanded upon by various means such as publishing books, organising the biennial Z-axis conference, establishing an annual Nagari Film Festival for short films on urban issues and the annual Charles Correa Gold Medal competition for undergraduate theses.

Keynote speakers including historian William J. R. Curtis, conservationist Kulbhushan Jain and Rahul Mehrotra, founder and principal of RMA Architects highlighted different facets of Correa’s work. Curtis reflected on how Correa’s vision and language and his attempt to integrate the mythological concept of the Indian identity into contemporary contexts were not just through mere symbols but were embedded in spatial compositions. Jain expanded on how Correa’s work found a negotiation between the two directions, expressing an evident modernity characterised by contextualising culture and climate. Mehrotra talked about Correa's idea of India; expressed through his advocacy for urbanisation and housing issues, establishing his identity as an activist alongside being an architect and a planner.

In conversation with STIR, Mehrotra spoke about the important lesson architects could take away from his work, “He (Correa) moved through different scales to understand the context he was working in, drawing nourishment from understanding that context—whether it was the city, the dynamics at the national level, and also being aware of what the ideas in the world were. And it was his iterative process of going from a very specific site and a problem to the context that was being worked in. His definition of the context was imagined within the (larger) context of its (immediate) context. And I think what one learned from this was that architecture must come out of the place, it must come out of the people who use it, the culture that produces it and the climate it exists in.”

Malvika Singh, publisher of Seminar magazine launched the book Citizen Charles by Mustanzir Dalvi, the first biography of Correa, during the second session. She shared anecdotes about the persona of Correa and the role of his wife Monika in him becoming an exceptional polymath. "Charles had a dry wit and he never criticised anything without presenting the alternative. Conversations were always very animated, you could talk about textiles, weaving, theatre, and what book you read. It was never limited to projects, urban development and how the cities are falling apart," she shared with STIR. The modern architecture expert Rajnish Wattas discussed Correa’s satirical essay, Chandigarh: A view from Benaras noting that Correa admired Le Corbusier, but was never afraid to critique his work. Calling him a colossus, Wattas spoke of how Correa dazzled as a speaker, writer, urbanist and educator with excellence as he created iconic architecture.

A recurring theme throughout the conference was Correa’s sensitivity to both tangibles and intangible contexts, as exemplified in his Gandhi Memorial project. Multiple speakers cite it as a pivotal work that encapsulated his philosophy of “form follows climate” and his people-centric design approach. Dr Tridip Suhrud, Professor and Director of CEPT Archives, reflected on how the memorial expressed Mahatma Gandhi’s values through architectural restraint. Mirroring the simplicity that Gandhi embodied.

The second day began with the session Buildings as Ideas, where the philosophical dimensions of Correa’s work were discussed. Pradeep Dalal explored Correa’s collaboration with Howard Hodgkin for the mural at the British Council Library in New Delhi. Theorist Kaiwan Mehta discussed the Gandhi Ashram as one of the finest examples of humility in architecture, and the Jawahar Kala Kendra as an example of multiplicity; showcasing the diversity in Correa’s work and his reflection of India’s myriad of identities. Architect Sunil Shelar, who worked with Correa for eight years, presented three different projects that demonstrated Correa’s recurring focus on ritual pathways, climate-responsive design and the use of squares in spatial layouts.

Ashok Vajpeyi, a major cultural figure, reflected on the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, describing it as a “non-building” that gently disappears, integrating into its surroundings and establishing itself as a local cultural landmark. Ajit Kembhavi, an astronomer who was the director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics shared insights into Correa’s design of the institution, which depicted scientific symbolism and cosmic ideas.

In the penultimate session An Urban Manifesto, Planner Vidyadhar Pathak and Jagah Shah, director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs focused on Correa’s ideas and contribution to urbanisation and governance in shaping cities. He discussed his role as the Chief Architect of Navi Mumbai and chairman of the National Commission on Urbanisation. The final session Space as a Resource featured discussions on Correa’s housing for the underprivileged. Rohan Varma and Dirk Van Gameren, professors at TU Delft University highlighted how Correa’s designs balanced functionality and dignity in housing. The conference concluded with a screening of Lovely Villa by Rohan Shivkumar, a film that poetically captures the intimacies of architecture and everyday life around Correa’s buildings.

A final panel discussion moderated by Nancy Adajania, featured Rahul Mehrotra, Malvika Singh, Ranjit Hoskote and Dirk Van Gameren. Audience participation was lively, reflecting the relevance of Correa’s ideas to contemporary issues in urbanism and architecture. The event was intense and thought-provoking and it did not limit itself to reminiscing nostalgic moments but continued to explore the many layers of Correa’s work and ideas. Symbolic of the way Correa approached problems and always found an inspiration to innovate, the event left the attendees with renewed energy and prompted the question ‘Now what?’