Indian architecture studio Charged Voids has designed a student housing block in a suburb of Chandigarh, featuring brightly coloured surfaces and columns that reference the architecture of pioneering modernist Le Corbusier.
The accommodation building forms part of the campus of the Chandigarh Group of Colleges, which is situated in the Landran district of Mahali ? a satellite town to the west of the city designed by the Swiss architect in the 1950s.
Above: the student housing forms part of Chandigarh Group of Colleges. Top image: it recalls the work of Le Corbusier
Charged Voids was tasked with delivering an affordable building to accommodate 500 students on the 25-acre campus.
Rather than designing for the proposed greenfield site, the architects suggested slotting an open and accessible triangular structure onto an awkward lot occupied by an existing bus yard. It features brightly coloured surfaces and columns
"The primary idea was to design a hostel building with no boundary walls in a campus divided by gated compounds for all living spaces," said Charged Voids.
"This would also serve the purpose of creation of public spaces and amenities in a campus that has a serious shortage of covered spill-over spaces."
There is a variety of public spaces
The building has a variety of public spaces on its lower levels, including a double-height covered plaza connected to a triple-height sunken courtyard.
From the adjacent road, steps lead up to an open-air commun...