HCPDPM - HCP Design and Project Management Pvt. Ltd.

It was during this period, that Balkrishsna Doshi, along with his comrades, proposed
the idea of a ‘new’ and Modern School of Architecture and established one in 1962.
Ahmedabad’s reputation as the modernist architectural capital of India, was further reinforced
by the works of Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.
Amongst the numerous buildings designed by Hasmukh Patel, Newman Hall for the Society
of Jesus, (1965) is a fine example where the South facing main façade and the
North facing back façade are different while the courtyard is framed by corridors with
the chapel at one end. A peaceful seminary atmosphere, in the modern idiom, with exposed
brickwork, defines the ambiance of the project. In the eighties, there was a noteworthy
project designed by Hasmukh Patel’s son architect Bimal Patel who was still a
graduate student at UC Berkeley. The architecture of the Entrepreneurship Development
Institute, Ahmedabad was a response to the postmodern movement; however, some of
the modernist ideas of expression of materials and pronounced architectural elements
were clear in this work which was well-received and remains a project to be reckoned
with. The project won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1992.
If 1947 was a historic moment for India, 1991 was also a turning point as the country
resolutely moved away from the closed, socialist economic approach, embracing open
and competitive economic policies. This was also the time when Dr. Bimal Patel returned
from the USA to join M/S HCP Architects, introducing gradual shifts and expansion in
the practice to meet the new challenges of a fast globalizing and aspirational society.
As India opened up to the international world, real estate development emerged as the
primary means of creating the built environment in the urban areas, a reality that demanded
increased levels of performance, work processes and professionalism. The practice
now called for a different approach, a shift from an individualist platform to a more
collaborative and competitive one. Inventiveness and innovativeness became the key
words for the HCP practice, while attempting to hold on to the best of the past.
It was a new context in architecture and planning that had to be constantly negotiated.
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