Correa was born in 1930 in Hyderabad (Secunderabad), but his roots are in the state of Goa (hence his "European" name). Returning from his studies in the United States to his homeland in 1955, he worked under the influence of the ideas of the late Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Robert Buckminster Fuller. The choice of such landmarks speaks of their certain consonance with local traditions, which have always remained important for Correa. So, his earliest and one of the most famous works - the Gandhi Memorial Center in Ahmedabad (1958–63), an ensemble of several asymmetrically located pavilions, including the house where Mahatma Gandhi lived, resembles Kan's works as well as a typical Indian village (moreover the ideas of the American architect Correa embodied in Hindustan before he himself took up projects there). The human scale, including public spaces, the use of traditional materials and craft techniques, the protection of the interior from climatic "excesses" with the help of not glass, but blinds, removal of roofs, etc., indicated the architect's interest in sustainability, including social - long before the beginning of the "eco-era".
Of particular importance are his projects for Mumbai, first of all - the plan for the new city of New Bombay (Navi Mumbai) for 2 million inhabitants, which since 1970 was created across the harbor from the megalopolis located on the peninsula and experiencing an acute shortage of free land. Residential areas were supposed to connect bus routes with each other, and with Mumbai and other adjacent territories - the metro (Correa until the end of his life criticized the Mumbai authorities for their inattention to public transport, primarily electric trains). The lack of political support made it difficult to implement Navi Mumbai, and only recently the city "started working" almost as Correa intended - when the problem of overpopulation nevertheless forced the authorities to develop it in full force. But nevertheless, the architect managed to build there a residential area Belapur (1983-1985) designed for the poor, a low-rise building of high density - no less effective for accommodating a large number of residents than the usual towers in such cases. Numerous courtyards and roof terraces provided important for Correa "openness to the sky", as well as the terraces of the expensive multi-storey building "Kanchanjunga" (1983) already in Mumbai itself. The architect strongly opposed the typical high-rise buildings - both elite and mass - because of its inconsistency with the climate (and dependence on air conditioners), the destruction of the coherent urban fabric, the load on the transport system, etc. In his project, he proposed an alternative: apartments from the sun and rain are covered with two-tiered terraces, reminiscent of traditional bungalows; natural ventilation and connection with the environment are provided.
The social pathos associated both with the era as a whole and with the idealism characteristic of the period immediately after India's independence - and it was then that Correa's career began - was embodied in his public buildings. The cultural centers Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal (1982) and the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur (1993) connecting public spaces and research laboratories The Champalimaud Research Center for the Unknown in Lisbon (2011) features a composition of several human-scale volumes, courtyards, open amphitheaters, inner gardens.
Correa also designed office buildings, university buildings, including the Neurology Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (2005), religious buildings (from the Malankara Orthodox Church in Parumal in southwestern India to its latest construction, a cultural center and jamoathons of the Ismaili Muslim community in Toronto, commissioned by the Aga Khan), government agencies, for example, the building of the Indian Mission to the UN in New York equipped with a sculptural image of the national flag (1985).
Sometimes new motives appeared in the architect's work (the same flag is difficult to consider outside the context of "mo-mo"): despite attention to tradition and the "enduring values" of the profession, Correa, no less harshly than against unrestrained development, opposed the opponents of change. It is ironic, therefore, that the famous philippic of Prince Charles of Wales against the modernist design for a new wing of London's National Gallery, which he likened to a “carbuncle on the face of a beloved friend,” was performed in celebration of Correa's award of the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal in 1984. However, this did not affect the status and career of the architect (unlike many of his English colleagues, who lost orders because of the developers who feared the prince's wrath), this did not affect the assessment of his contribution to world architecture: in 1990 he received the Gold Medal of the International Union of Architects. in 1994 - the Japanese Praemium Imperiale.
Charles Correa, although not too often, nevertheless worked abroad, but one of the sources of irritation for him was in no way connected with the context of the construction of "nomadic" architects who make another project every time they get off the plane. In his opinion, such a practice of working in isolation from culture and environment harms, first of all, the architects themselves, “belittles” them - and this is their tragedy. If we continue this thought, then Correa, without abandoning either numerous, often large-scale projects, or activist activities (he appeared in the press, entering into a dialogue with society, did pro bono projects, etc.), with his creativity showed a realistic an alternative to such a "super-global" career.
