(Collection #366) Anant D. Raje, 1929-2009 A Finding Aid for Architectural Records, 1961-2009 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania © 2016 The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Anant Raje Col. 366 Archival Description Descriptive Summary Title: Architectural Records, 1961-2009. Coll. ID: 366. Origin: Anant D. Raje, 1929-2009, architect. Extent: Architectural drawings: 5,914 originals, 336 prints; Project files: approx. 20 linear feet; Photographs: 2,211 photoprints; 7,157 photonegatives; 1,663 slides; Models: 17; Object: 1. Repository: The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania 102 Meyerson Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6311 (215) 898-8323 Abstract: This collection contains drawings, project and office files, models, and photographic materials related to the career of architect Anant D. Raje (1929-2009). Materials are dated from 1961 to 2009 and reflect the intensity of Raje’s work in higher education and industrial development in India, as well as his collaborations with architect Louis I. Kahn. Projects of note include the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University, and the National Dairy Development Board. Other materials include Raje’s writing and teaching records, datebooks and notebooks, as well as travel and family photography. 2 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Anant Raje Col. 366 Biographical/Historical Sketch A leading architect and a dedicated teacher of post-independence India, Anant D. Raje (1929-2009) was born in Mumbai on September 17, 1929 to a family with roots in the town of Karjat, Maharastra state. He received his training at the Sir J.J. School of Art where he graduated with a diploma in architecture in 1954. Three years later, Raje was drawn to the city of Ahmedabad by his school colleague Balkrishna V. Doshi (b. 1927); the soon-to-be artistic flowering that developed in the city—in art, architecture, dance, music, and design—would come to define the young architect’s career and those of his generation who were situated at the vanguard of a rapidly modernizing country. Raje worked in professional practice with Doshi for the next several years on works ranging from rural housing studies (1958-60) to their submission to the Toronto City Hall competition (1957-58). Development of institutions to support modernization—especially in areas of higher education and industrial development—were central goals supported by government and progressive patrons alike. Keen attention was paid to scientific and artistic developments abroad, yoked to Indian sensibilities and realities. The design of such institutions would form the core of Raje’s legacy in the sub-continent. Between 1964 and 1969, Raje worked in the Philadelphia office of Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974). There, Raje became a trusted associate, contributing to a number of Kahn’s works, including: the President’s Estate in Islamabad, Pakistan; Levy Playground in New York; the Interama Project in Miami; and the Dominican Motherhouse in Media, PA. One of the few Indian architects to work under Kahn, Raje would return to Ahmedabad to serve as Kahn’s on-site architect for the Indian Institute of Management project (IIM-A) overseeing design development and construction of the school’s main complex, dormitories and housing additions, in addition to the initial designs for dining halls and a post-graduate management school (later called the Management Development Centre). Following Kahn’s death in March 1974, Raje would serve as lead architect for the campus’s completion (for Doshi-Raje Architects)—including the development of Kahn’s designs for the Dining Halls and the Management Development Centre. His affiliation with IIM-A ended in 2003, some 29 years after Kahn’s death. Raje’s experience with Kahn shaped the design of a number of public institutions in the 1970s through his independent practice. For the National Dairy Development Board, Raje prepared plans for multiple dairies in Maharashtra and Gujarat, as well as the Galbabhai Farmer’s Training Institute and the Agricultural Produce Wholesale Market Complex in New Bombay. In the two decades that followed, Raje further refined his concept regarding institutions as self-contained entities rather than series of individual function-defined buildings through his work at the Indian Institute of Forest Management in Bhopal and the Murda Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad (later MICA). He designed several office structures, including the Testing Board Offices and Science Museum in Bhopal, the Commissioner’s Office and Walmi Subcenter in Morena, and the headquarters for the Bhopal Development Authority. Larger urban design statements like the Commercial Complex at MOG Lines demonstrate Raje’s ability to integrate bold volumes and open courtyards into an existing urban fabric. Starting in the late 1970’s, Raje designed a number of private residences in and near Ahmedabad that further demonstrate his fascination with the relationship between shape and void, and explore the permeable division between interior and exterior spaces. His Kahn-inspired dedication to light and shadow is equally evident in these works. Throughout this period of independent practice, Raje taught at the School of Architecture at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), first as a visiting lecturer in 1969, and in the 3 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Anant Raje Col. 366 1980s, as Director of the school. Raje served as a visiting lecturer at various universities in Europe, the United States, and India, while maintaining a steady connection to the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he taught master’s level design studios (1981- 2001). Raje’s career was recognized by numerous honors including the Indian Institute of Architects’ Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal (1994) and the Architecture Distinguished Professor’s Award for CEPT. Anant Raje died on June 27, 2009 at the age of 79. Scope and Content Note and Arrangement The Anant D. Raje Collection is arranged into four series: Series I. Architectural Drawings. Series II. Project and Office Files. Series III. Models and Objects. Series IV. Photographic Materials. Within the first two series, materials attributed to the Doshi-Raje partnership (D-R), Raje’s independent practice (ADR), and those related to the IIM-A project, have been identified as unique subseries, respectively. Additionally, materials may be arranged into subseries by size and format for storage purposes. In many cases, containers within series and subseries are arranged by project in chronological order. The dates used are based on the earliest dated drawing or file, unlike the chronology utilized in Anant Raje, Architect: Selected Works 1971-2009, which represent dates of project completion. Project names have been standardized as much as possible. Series I. Architectural Drawings. This series contains drawings for projects dated 1961-2009. It is arranged into five subseries (A-E): Subseries I.A includes drawings attributed to Raje’s independent practice (hereafter referred to as ADR). Arranged by project in chronological order. Non-project drawings and unidentified projects are housed at the end of the subseries. Extent: 122 folders (3,483 originals, 183 prints) Subseries I.B includes drawings related to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (hereafter referred to as IIM-A). Arranged by project in chronological order. Sketches made by Louis I. Kahn have been identified and are stored in the first four folders of the subseries. Extent: 73 folders (1,956 originals, 125 prints) Subseries I.C includes large format drawings, stored flat. Arranged alphabetically by project name. Extent: 2 folders (32 originals) 4 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Anant Raje Col. 366 Subseries I.D includes large format drawings, stored rolled. Arranged by project in chronological order. Materials for IIM-A are housed together in 366.I.D.002. Extent: 2 tubes (29 originals) Subseries I.E includes smaller architectural drawings, housed in an 11 x 14 box. Arranged by project in chronological order. Extent: 39 folders (414 originals, 28 prints) Series II. Project and Office Files. This series contains project files relating to the headquarters for Bhopal Development Authority (BDA); the Gas Tragedy Victims Memorial at Bhopal; the Ezhimala Naval Academy; the residences of Ranvir Khatau, J.C. Parikh, and Gajjaman Kulkarni; the Mohanlal Someshwar Mistry Institute (MSM) school at Jetalpur; the Intec Polymer Silvassa Plant; the Commissioner’s Office and Walmi Subcentre at Morena; the Indian Institute of Forest Management(IIFM); the MAFCO Dairy; the Commercial Complex at MOG Lines; the Murda Institute of Communications at Ahmedabad (MICA); the Center for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET); the Lalbahadru Shastri National Academy at Ghaziabad; the Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE); the Videsh Bhavan Project; and the Vyavsaik Pravesh Pareeksha Mandal (VPP-Mandal or VPPP- Mandal). The series is divided into eight subseries (A-H): Subseries II.A contains project files from the Doshi-Raje Partnership (hereafter referred to as D-R), particularly work related to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. This subseries largely maintains the order of the files