Mind Space: A Haveli At MIT

Towering above this high glass roof are vents that ensure the circulation of fresh air. Agreeing that the vents make for an industrial look, Correa says, "They are part of a factory we call MIT." Colour-coded corridors in shades of red, orange and blue connect the three different centres housed in the building, enabling occupants to easily find their way.

The rooms are bright, spacious and full of greenery. "It's meant to look like a jungle," Correa explains, adding he wanted to create a building with "lyrical qualities" and a welcoming atmosphere since researchers will spend large parts of their days here. An example of the design detail is the light-activated shades fitted on the windows, which come down as the temperature rises, ensuring comfortable working conditions always. Correa has taken pains to understand the special needs of the scientists who work here, the design focus is on being research-friendly, flexible and rational. As we speak, he gets a call on his cellphone from Nobel laureate Prof Susumu Tonegawa in Tokyo, director, Picower Center for Learning and Memory. He has last-minute queries and instructions about his new office. Even the coops for the research animals have been carefully thought out. "Elsewhere, they are kept in dark basements. I wanted to put them on the roof where they should be happier," he says.

The Brain and Cognitive Sciences Building is funded through a $350 million gift from International Data Group founder and chairman Patrick J. McGovern Jr and his entrepreneur-wife Lore Harp McGovern—the largest ever to a university for scientific research—and a $50 million gift from the Picower Foundation of Palm Beach, Florida. Every faculty member here is involved in research that generates funding. "In the long run, buildings such as these pay for themselves. That's the great secret about American research," says Dr Mriganka Sur.

Lore McGovern confesses she was sceptical when she heard Correa had been given the project. "I had seen his work, but I thought here is a man from India where it's always so hot, what will he know about building in Cambridge where the weather is so cold!" For Correa himself, it wasn't an issue—he's listened closely to people experienced in building for these climatic conditions. "If you listen to a carpenter," he says, "you'll make a much better table."

Correa worked on this project in partnership with an American firm, and MIT president Charles M. Vest is delighted with the result. He says it combines "the extraordinary urban design sensibilities of the lead designer, Charles Correa, who has created limestone and glass forms of immense power and elegance, and the extensive experience of Goody Clancy and Associates in designing academic buildings and laboratories noted for their effectiveness and efficiency."

For Correa, it was a special honour to be entrusted with this prestigious project by the president of his alma mater: "People knew Indians were individually bright but they didn't think we could deliver the goods, except for some spiritual stuff. Now, with the dotcom boom, they have suddenly realised India is a place going places," he says. But he feels India needs to do much more to retain talent, and invest in building centres of academic excellence— "because you are more valuable if you've done something in India, and then you come here (to the US) and share...you bring a different perspective".

Correa, who's done most of his work in India, says the level of professionalism in the US and Japan is much higher. But, on the other hand, that very professionalism locks you into dull solutions: "The people giving you advice, too many are used to doing it the same old way...you end up with boring buildings." His other building in the US, the Permanent Mission of India at the UN, is in Manhattan.

With his project in Cambridge complete, Correa now plans to finish the buildings he had started, including a project for the Aga Khan Foundation in Toronto. "Buildings take years to finish," he says. "I've done so much work, I have to stop somewhere."

After a pause, he adds, "I love designing...I may design a chair."