Did you know that Chandigarh’s beloved Panjab University owes much of its striking architectural legacy to the ingenuity and creativity of architect B P Mathur? He ably supported Pierre Jeanneret in this massive enterprise, contributing to the sculptural Gandhi Bhawan, the iconic library and administrative buildings. Individually, he designed landmarks like the Students Centre, Museum of Fine Arts, Hostels, swimming pool and auditoriums.Mathur graduated from the Delhi Polytechnic 1951 and joined the Chandigarh Capital Project, where he worked under Jeanneret, till he was appointed the senior architect of the Construction Cell of Panjab University in 1958. Mathur’s brilliant career was tragically cut short when he passed away in 1976 at the age of 50. However, his legacy endures. Mathur’s fascination with construction in concrete started way back in 1951, when he undertook a detailed study of the architecture of Brazil. In those buildings, he found a unique sculptural quality which explored the potential of concrete while evolving structural systems to support these forms. Fortunately, in the University, he found an astute and able structural designer, Agya Ram, with whom he explored and created a new vocabulary in concrete for Chandigarh. The Students Centre, with its lyrical, encircling ramp, responded brilliantly to its context and function, creating a counterpoint to the strong linear geometry of the surrounding buildings. Originally, the plaza flowed into the open ground floor as a covered space for activities and just students hanging out. The graceful Art Museum in red sandstone and a staggered form does not become imposing next to the iconic structure of the Gandhi Bhavan. The structural system of each module here is composed of an RCC slab supported on a central column, which facilitated a continuous strip window at roof level while ensuring large areas of wall to maximise display space. The Law Auditorium for around 800 people required a column free structure of large span. After many experiments, Agya Ram and Mathur finally decided to construct an RCC dome, which was a major achievement in those times. The open-air theatre, with its gently enclosing curved walls in stone, is another space worth exploring. The swimming pool, boasting of a diving pool 18 feet deep and provision for stadia seating was a structural challenge which Mathur handled with great technical and aesthetic acumen. Hostels designed by Mathur ensured comfort, privacy and interaction with a unique architectural expression for each. The department of distance education building explored ways of keeping the sun out without resorting to either deep verandas, which resulted in almost 20% wastage of space, or horizontal louvers, which became dust and heat catchers in the end. Instead, he provided vertical louvers designed to control the sun, ensuring minimum wastage of material and space while also giving a different aesthetics. Even though the administrative block was designed by Jeanneret, some vital details like the design of the porch are attributed to Mathur and Agya Ram. They were trying different options and decided on a catenary curve to contrast with the rigid geometry of the building. Tarun Mathur remembers how his father studied their geometry book for the equation of a parabola to come up with the curve of the porch and made a model of the same, using jute fabric and plaster. What marks the work of Mathur is his meticulous attention to detail, functional clarity, technical acumen and original aesthetics. Not surprisingly, his works are being recognised and studied by architects worldwide for their balance of monumental form and human scale. He did not merely build structures; he built the identity of a new, post-independence India, proving that modernism could be global in its ambition while being deeply rooted in its context. (The works of B P Mathur can be viewed in the ongoing exhibition “Chandigarh’s Indian Modernists at the Government Museum and Art Gallery.) The writer is former director, Le Corbusier Centre(Note: source of all pics: Tarun Mathur, son of B P Mathur)
