Christopher Charles Benninger (born 1942) is one of India's highly decorated architects. His award-winning projects are, The Mahindra United World College of India, The

Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies The Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies is one of India's advanced centres of marine engineering (marine propulsion) and navigation. In addition to research, the institution offers extensive education and training in pre-sea and post-sea tra ...

, The Suzlon One Earth world headquarters, The National Ceremonial Plaza at Thimphu, Bhutan and India House, architects' residence and design studio.

Career

Benninger studied under

Josep Lluis Sert Josep is a Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, cartoonist and ...

and worked in his studio. On the invitation of

B. V. Doshi Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi OAL (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect. He is considered to be an important figure of Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India. Having worked ...

, in 1971 he resigned from his tenured post at Harvard and shifted to

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

, India as a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Advisor to the Ahmedabad Educational Society, where he founded the School of Planning. In 1976 he shifted to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India, where he founded the Center for Development Studies and Activities. In 1983 Benninger wrote the Theme Paper for the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements 1984. In 1986 he was engaged by the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

to author their position paper on

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

, arguing successfully the case for extending financial assistance to the urban development sector. Benninger is on the Board of Editors of ''CITIES'' journal (UK).

Architectural works

Benninger's designs include the Center for Development Studies and Activities, the

Mahindra United World College of India UWC Mahindra College (sometimes known as the ''Mahindra United World College of India'', or MUWCI) is a pre-university international boarding school, located west of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The college is a two-year programme with about 250 ...

, the

, the YMCA International Camp, Nilshi, India, the Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies and the International School Aamby. The Centre for Life Sciences Health and Medicine in Pune is a radical departure from his earlier work. The Mahindra United World College of India won international recognition as the recipient of the ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''/

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in a ...

Award for Excellence in 2000. This award was sponsored jointly with the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. ''Business Week'' called the Mahindra United World College of India one of the ten super structures of the world in 2000. The project also won the Designer of the Year Award in 1999. Benninger's work in urban design, city management and town planning resulted in his principles of intelligent urbanism, which guided his planning of the new capital of Bhutan.

Awards and recognition

Benninger is the sixth winner in India of the Golden Architect Award for Lifetime Achievement (2006), conferred in May 2007 by the A+D and Spectrum Foundation. Six Indian architects had previously been honored with the Great Master's Award. Over several years he was recognized as one of the top ten architects in India by ''Construction World'' Magazine. He was conferred with the Singapore Lifetime Achievement Award by the Singapore-based Business Excellence & Research Group (BERG) in 2015.

Awards

* 2000 , Top 10 Best Buildings of the World , The Business Week Architectural Record Awards of

, USA for

. * 2001 , The

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fields ...

for

as the top 20 best projects of the world. *2002 , The World Architecture Awards, Berlin for Mahindra United World College of India as a finalist. *2006 , Recognition for Excellence in Design, U.K. - Lifetime achievement award. *2006 , Golden Architect Award for Lifetime Achievement by A+D and Spectrum Foundation *2010 , World Architecture Community, U.K. - Citation for Nabha House, Haryana Cultural Centre, New Delhi, India. *2011 , Holcim Sustainability Awards, Switzerland for Lifecare Multi-specialty Hospital, Udgir - Certificate of Appreciation.

Publications

* ''Letters to a Young Architect'' , 2009 Letters to a Young Architects is a sensitive memoir of Christopher Benninger's life in India and his personal concerns about

Architectural Theory Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

and contemporary urban issues. * ''Architecture for Modern India'' , 2015 This is a book about the practice of Architecture in South Asia and the kinds of artifacts CCBA Designs has produced over the past many years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benninger, Christopher Charles 1942 births Living people American urban planners Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Architects from Ohio 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American male artists 20th-century American architects People from Gainesville, Florida New Urbanism American emigrants to India People from Butler County, Ohio