A living legend amongst Indian architects, S. D. Sharma has worked closely with Le Corbusier, and been a part of creating Chandigarh. In a career spanning over six decades, the modernist has built significant structures such as the Vikram Sarabhai Hall at Ahmedabad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre Master Control Facility at Sriharikota, and the Central Scientific Instruments Organization at Chandigarh. At 93, the smiling and feisty veteran narrates his life story with a beguiling humility.
1947 - the beginning of the journey
I was born in a middle-class family in Montgomery (now known as Sahiwal, in Pakistan). When the partition of India was declared, I was in Sialkot with my parents and brothers, visiting our relatives. We heard the news on the radio and ran, without taking any clothes or money… and ended up in a refugee camp in Amritsar. I was barely 16, and had to even work as a labourer while doing my diploma. After a few years, I heard that the Chandigarh administration was recruiting architects. I applied and got the job. That is how I became a part of the Capital Project Team in 1954.
On working with Le Corbusier
The best prize obviously was to work directly with Le Corbusier! I started out as an architect in the Chandigarh Capital Project Team helmed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.
Corbusier's influence on me as also on other Indian architects was profound. He heralded modernism in the country, starting with the entire city of Chandigarh - which is one of the only cities in the world to be designed by an architect.
At that time modernism was new to India. Only two Indian architects - Habib Rehman and Achyut Kanvinde - who had studied in the USA, had designed modernist buildings in the country so far.
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