The Beautiful Eagle

Four façades of Villa Shodan [1951-1956] by Le Corbusier in Ahmedabad, India.

“The original design of Villa Shodhan was commissioned to the secretary of the Millowners, Surottam Hutheesing, in 1951. His intention was to showcase his social and economic position prior to his impending marriage by building a house reflecting his lifestyle.^[4] However, the plans were then sold to fellow millowner, Shyamubhai Shodhan. Despite his different lifestyle and an entirely new site for the project, Shodhan elected to retain the original plans as was the case for all of Le Corbusier’s Indian projects.

For this building to be incorporated into the culture and style of Ahmedabad, Le Corbusier incorporated features of old Ahmedabad houses, including the ancestral Shodhan residence. The most prominent reflection of this is the double height living room on the ground level. Traditionally, the entrance halls of old Ahmedabad houses were double-height, reflecting opulence and status. This readaptation, along with the open plan of the building allowed Villa Shodhan to be integrated into the Indian environment. This is a very different to his parallel running project, Villa Sarabhai”