The Italian Embassy Cultural Centre – Mumbai Section – is at the Consulate General of Italy, in the building known as Kanchanjunga, designed by noted Indian architect Charles Correa.
Kanchanjunga was the Correa’s answer to urbanization and the climate of the region. Built between 1970 and 1983, is located in the city centre, in the Cumballa Hill neighborhood.
In Mumbai, a building must have a South West orientation to get the sea breeze and to offer the best view of the cityscape. Unluckily, South-West is also the direction of the sun and of the monsoon rains. Indian architects have solved these problems using verandahs and wrapping them in large sails, so that traditional bungalows have two lines of defense against the sun and the rain.
With the Kanchanjunga Correa has pushed his genius to the extreme limit. This is obvious as one observes the four different types of interlocking flats. Indeed interlocking has allowed Correa to create a natural barrier against the harsh climate using verandahs hanging in the air. Correa clearly took his inspiration from Le Courbusier’s Unite d’Habitation built in Marseille in 1952.
The structure comprises 32 floors with 6,3 meters of interlocking balconies. While the use of concrete and the large white areas recall modern western buildings, the large balconies are clearly a modern interpretation of the verandahs one finds in all Indian bungalows.