IIT Convention Centre | Mumbai

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) quintessentially represent one of India's greatest global brand and are often perceived as one of the most influential undergraduate schools in the world. When the IIT Mumbai approached the architect to create a signature hostel facility to vitalise the ambiance of the entire campus, it was instantly realised that the context demanded a bold response and a compelling architectural gesture to reflect the aura of the brand IIT. In the early stages, the architect recommended the institute to create a grand promenade along the Powai Lake, which eventually turned out to be the site for the hostel block. Originally, the hostel design featured triangular shaped 14-storey structures with tube like bridges connecting the blocks. This conception was considered too radical by the institute. Subsequently the design evolved to its present form, which has radiating blocks with a stepped form.

The site is contoured with numerous trees and the architect endeavoured to retain all the trees and build around them. The requirement was for 1,000 additional rooms. This facility has been provided in two clusters of 3 blocks each, which radiate from a point. The profiles of these blocks have a certain organic quality as they follow the natural contours of the site. The floor layout of the hostel block has a central corridor flanked on either side by rooms. Fixed built-in furniture optimises the spaces inside the rooms. The 15-m high sky bridge which emerges out of one building like a glass tube and connects to the next is an especially interesting element. It houses activity zones and pierces through each cluster of three buildings. These futuristic elements take on a life of their own in the evening. They appear like floating masses of space and add a whimsy quality to the development. The activity zones housed in the sky bridge include a TV lounge, table tennis, gym, music room and lounge areas. A dramatic cone accentuates the entrance to the underground cafeteria, which is located in the centre of the complex. With its distinct vocabulary, it forms the focal point from which all the buildings radiate outwards. The giant meandering organic shape of the cafeteria again follows the natural landscape of the site.

The hostel clusters with their lack of rigid symmetry in composition invite the viewer to experience the buildings as a variety of changing vistas. A composition of voids, colours, curved roofs, stepped forms and the luminescent sky bridge create a toy-like expression.