IIM-A: Understanding the place of a Modern Institution in the Contemporary City
The post-independence history of the city of Ahmedabad is often foregrounded by the number of remarkable institutions that were established during this period. The IIMA designed by Louis I Kahn and incrementally by other architects is one of the foremost. IIMA has developed a global reputation both as an institution and for its architecture. In 2014 a new masterplan was proposed for the campus which included a strategy for the conservation of the ‘Modern Heritage Buildings’. In 2019, However an RFP was released by the Institute for the demolition of its hostel building, which was followed by a public controversy between the architectural community and the institute, the former pointing to the historical importance of the Kahn buildings while the latter to issues of use, maintenance and cost. The debate opened many questions about modern heritage and conservation, authorship and critique, and a variety of different perspectives about the changing relevance of the Kahn buildings in particular, but aging modern buildings in general, in the context of the contemporary city.
