IIM AHMEDABAD

-LOUIS KAHN
INTRODUCTION
The Indian Institute of Managemnent (Indian Institute of
Management) was one of the few commissions that Kahn made outside
the United States. The commission initially offered to a local architect
Balkrishna Doshi Vithaldas, but that he had met Kahn in Philadelphia and
was aware of the importance of their fairly flat, Kahn outlined a map of
inherent scale and geometric forms and related to the institutional
hierarchy of the various buildings and programs.

Contrary to the minimalist aesthetic dominant in the period in

which the buildings were all equal and only identified by signs, buildings
Kahn told of their appearance goals of their programs, allowing the
juxtaposition of types, a massive monumental school sharing space with
an exterior repetitive and lower on the residence buildings. The unifying
element of these two formal types was the use of diagonal wall surfaces.

work and the importance that the new project would have both Kahn and
for India, recommended that be given the new project to American
architect.

The implementation of this program required different types of

buildings, a school, dormitories for students and housing for teachers and
service.In this arid area of the country and in an area of 26 hectares
LOCATION
It was built in an isolated rural area many miles away from the first
point urbanized city of Ahmedabad, one of the most populous in India, in
Gujarat state, west of the country and bordering with Pakistan to the
northwest.

In this city, which enjoys an intense cultural life, commercial and

political Kahn project completes a series of great works of architecture,
both ancient and modern.

CONCEPT
Kahn conceived the Indian Institute of Managemnent as a mixture
of austerity and majesty, including spaces for informal interaction and
achieving a balance between modernism and tradition, which captured
the timeless spirit of India.
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
Walls diagonal

These have been used as a unifying element between the different

formal types of buildings. Have been used subtly in the four corners
of the school building and is the main organizing principle within the
school buildings, residence and staff accommodation and service.

Halls

Facilities include wide corridors that serve as semicubiertos transitional

spaces in the complex interaction between teachers, students and
visitors.
Features

Distinctive features of these buildings include the many square

arches and brick structures on the walls with carved circles.
Spaces
The special social conditions and site determined the organization
and layout of spaces.

With the location given to the three main parts of the whole school,
the residence of students and teachers houses managed to maximize
the airflow and thereby improve ventilation. The intense light and
heat were attenuated by covered walkways, light boxes and interior
courtyards. All these elements are integrated in the whole plastically.
Residences
Private Teacher

Private Students

Private Married students

Student residences Plants

Ground floor: This floor is a great hall, kitchens and dining rooms.

First floor: hall to the dining balconea

Second and Third Floor: hall, bedrooms and bathrooms

The relationship of the plant shows the relationship between the school
and the different residences, creating both a constructive and functional
unit.The provision of student dormitories and the school encourages
human contact. The broker or hall of student dormitories is finished in a
sort of triangular apse where you can meet a group of people.

Residences for teachers Married teachers or students could enjoy more

complete housing units, are actually small apartments with lounge,
kitchen, one or two bedrooms, shower room, bathroom and terrace.
Lake
This artificial lake divides asymmetrically and residential buildings for
teachers of students and school.

Courtyard
The school is organized around a courtyard with an amphitheater.

Other school spaces

Library

Teacher Offices

Classrooms

Tower Service

Centre for Management Development

Materials
It is basically a building made of brick, traditional Indian materials. In
some walls and brick facades combined with concrete, resulting in a
mixed construction and ornamental.