Laxman Mahadeo Chitale
Laxman Mahadeo Chitale | |
---|---|
Born | 1892 Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India |
Died | 1960 |
Occupation | Architect |
Awards | Padma Shri RIBA Fellowship |
Laxman Mahadeo Chitale, (1892-1960) was an Indian architect, author
Biography
Laxman Mahadeo Chitale was born in a family with meagre financial resources in 1892 in the small village of Parshuram which is around 8 km away from Chiplun, in the district of Ratnagiri of the western Indian state of
Chitale returned to India in 1929 and took up the job of an assistant consulting architect at the
The next notable project was the Oriental Life Assurance Co (Later day Oriental Insurance Co.) building[4] along Armenian street in George Town, Chennai, which was the first multi storied building in Chennai with six floors and a basement which served as the vault.[6] This basement was later acquired by Kothari Group who converted it as the vault of Madras Safe Deposit Company, the first safe deposit company in South India.[7] When World War II broke out in 1941, Chitale was appointed as the Regional Camouflage Officer by the State government assigning him with the responsibility of camouflaging the city from night time raids.[4] Chitale later brought out a book based on his work during the time, under the title, Air Raids and Civil Defense.[1] He also carried out a series of talks which came to be known as Lantern Lectures, as he used the cinema slide projection techniques during the talks.[4]
After the war, Chitale went back to commercial architecture and designed buildings for several other insurance companies, the best known among them being the
Prolific Architectural Writer
During L M Chitale’s stay in England for his Architecture and Town Planning studies he developed his penchant for writing. He also did a correspondence course in Journalism while he was in England. During his seven year stay there he published numerous articles that were published in journals in England as well as India.[10]
Later on in his career writing was an important aspect. Some examples of his writings were ‘House Gardens’ printed in People’s Health Journal, 1946,[11] where Architect Chitale details how the provision of adequate open space around a house is an essential requirement in a well-considered house plan. The Reserve Bank of India building at Nagpur received extensive publicity for its remarkable design for the time. Chitale wrote about the design and building process of the structure in the Nagpur Times in October 1956[12] and the April 1958 issue of Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects.[13] His other notable writings are ‘New Buildings’ about the Construction and Design of the Pachaiyappa’s College printed in The Hindu issue of August 12, 1940 and ‘Exhibitions’ that explained the planning and purpose of exhibition in the All India Khadi and Swadeshi Exhibition Souvenir, 1938-39. Some of his writings for The Municipal Gazette, Madras are ‘City Cinemas and Civic Welfare’ in March 1939,[14] ‘Post War Reconstruction’ – about the new order world after World War 2 and how nations could achieve stability and prosperity in September 1941,[15] ‘Fine Arts : A Maharaja’s Contribution’ - about Maharaja of Mysore’s patronage of all forms of arts like music, preservation of monuments, revival of architecture and town planning in September 1940 and ‘The Slums’ - About the unplanned, unsanitary settlements and what is needed to solve the issue and possible solutions in 1943.
The Government of India awarded Chitale the fourth highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1957.[5] He died, aged 68, in 1960; his wife, Leelavathi, who hailed from Tarapur in Maharashtra, preceding him in death. The couple had a son, Srikrishna Laxman Chitale, who is also an architect and heads of the firm his father founded.[4]
See also
- Henry Vaughan Lanchester
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
References
- ^ ASIN B0007JPWHK.
- ^ "The Hindu". The Hindu. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- ^ "Royal Seat of Justice". The Hindu. 7 July 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n R. V. Rajan (March 2014). "Madras Musings". Madras Musings. 23 (22).
- ^ a b "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ "Oriental Insurance". Flickr. 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "The Hindu Business Online". The Hindu. 19 March 2004. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Ram Mohan Palace". Old Indian Photos. 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Bharati Memorial". Thootukudi. 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Rajan, R V (1–15 March 2014). "Designing Landmarks pre-Independence". Madras Musings.
- ^ Chitale, L. M. (November 1946). "House Gardens". People's Health.
- ^ "Nagpur Times Supplement". 23 October 1956.
- ^ "Reserve Bank of India, Nagpur". Journal of The Indian Institute of Architects. April–June 1958.
- ^ Chitale, L. M. (March 1939). "City Cinemas and Civic Welfare". The Municipal Gazette. 1 (X).
- ^ Chitale, L. M. (September 1941). "Post War Reconstruction". The Municipal Gazette. IV.
Further reading
- Laxman Mahadeo Chitale (1942). Air raids and civil defence. L.M. Chitale. pp. 478. ASIN B0007JPWHK.