A case of Two Educational campuses: Pearl Academy of Fashion, Jaipur and Indian School Of Business, Hyderabad:

 

Recently I had a chance to visit two beautifully designed educational campuses, courtesy accompanying students of architecture for an educational tour as part of curriculum of our college where I am working. We had visited a number of heritage structures and contemporary buildings at different places. Pearl Academy of Fashion-PAF in Jaipur (by Morphogenesis) and Indian School of Business-ISB in Hyderabad (by Portman Architects) were the part of the list. Architecture, I believe, has the power to enhance/assist in the purpose it is built for (in this case learning) and here are two examples that do that very well.

In this blog I am trying to compare these educational campuses which were unique in their way and still had many similarities. Here by comparing, an attempt is made to decode some design facets which may help someone trying to design something in future. Let us look at some of the similarities.

Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF) Jaipur

Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad

Going below ground:

The buildings are in different geographical conditions, yet the architects of both these buildings thought of using the space below ground. The first advantage of doing this is reduction in temperature at that level below ground. Secondly in both the designs the spaces provided in this level are mostly common facilities like canteen, bank, interactive areas with seating, level differences and landscaping all adding to the informality of the space. By doing this, the architects have masterfully segregated informal areas from formal learning areas. Additionally in PAF the space has a ramp walk, to which the steps all around become the seating areas.

Schematic Section of ISB

Schematic Section of PAF

Usage of curve:

Both the buildings use curves in some form. At ISB the central circular structure which raises around 4 levels above the other blocks around is placed within a square courtyard. The usage of a square and a circle both of which are very formal shapes reflect the formality of the business education. The form at PAF though is a strict rectangle externally, is made informal by introduction of freely curving interior open courtyards reflecting the creative ethos of fashion education. Interestingly, curve in the form of a circle in ISB and free curves in PAF both add a vibrant quality to space.

Curves in PAF

Central Circular structure within Square block at ISB

Inspiration from tradition:

Both PAF and ISB have taken inspiration from traditional wisdom. At ISB, the inspiration is from the 9 mandala (pitha) concept. At PAF it is more on the practical usage of various traditional climate control techniques. For example the Jaali seen on the external wall throughout all the sides of the building reduces heat gain. The idea of stepped well in the lower court along with water bodies also derives from traditional wisdom of historic stepped wells.

Jaali work on the exterior facade

Minimum usage of glass:

Both the buildings were constructed in early 2000s when a lot of IT companies along with many other businesses were being established in different parts of India. Most of these buildings were designed with glass facades like in western countries without any consideration to Indian climatic concerns. Still a number of buildings do follow that. Though these two buildings, PAF and ISB both were built during that time period it is really heartening to see minimal usage of glass at only places wherever necessary.

Thoughtful usage of glass

Minimal usage of glass

All architects have their own ways of designing stuff. Sometimes there are certain commonalities like we see above which are a matter of coincidence. The two campuses which we are looking at have certain things differently done too. That is the beauty of the field of architecture. Though in both projects the common goal is to design a building for providing education something’s are starkly different.

Overall Expression of form:

The first word that one gets in mind on seeing ISB is monumentality. It has a strong geometric form with the 9 mandala concept. The outer form of the building is a two floor square. To bring in a sense of monumentality a pseudo wall is raised to one more level and huge punctuations in the form of openings. In addition to this the central circular structure and 4 elevated circular edifices add to the monumental effect. On the contrary PAF is a very subtle approach to design. Here the Jaali work on the elevation breaks down the elevation to a much lower scale. It’s fascinating here that both buildings are predominantly two floor buildings but still one is monumental in character and other is not.

Form of PAF above and ISB below

Material and finish:

Externally PAF is covered with Jaali work, which dominates the whole building. Internally most spaces are finished with plaster and paint. Minimal usage of glass also can be seen. ISB on the other hand is completely cladded in Sandstone to bring the effect of monumentality.

Simple plastered and painted walls

Sandstone clad walls

Overall both the buildings were fascinating examples of architecture for learning. So much to learn and so much more to understand.

A lot of other things on spatial planning etc have not been dealt with here in this blog. This blog is just a result of quick visual analysis done quickly at both the sites. I thank the administration of both these institutes for allowing us to understand their beautiful campuses. We were a big group of students and faculty members (155+8).

All pictures and sketches by the Author.