Books
Architecture for Modern India
This large format monograph traces architectural practice, through Benninger’s work, over the past five decades of economic transformation and social change. Benninger’s experience begins in the socialist, closed economic era, when India was a rural society. It blends into the present free market, urban society of the world’s largest global economy. Each of Benninger’s creations, whether in urban planning or architecture is a benchmark of India’s evolving character and persona.
Letters to A Young Architect
Letters to a Young Architect is a sensitive memoir of Christopher Benninger’s life in India and his personal concerns about architectural theory and contemporary urban issues. Through the medium of articles and lectures presented over the past decade, a lucid collection of essays emerge that testify the commonality of mankind’s condition. This is a collection of autobiographical narratives and ideas reflecting a man’s journey of the spirit from America to India and the philosophical considerations that matured from his experiences. His travels are not only stories of the dusty roads he traveled on, but also of the passions and emotions of those he met along the way.
Great Expectations: Notes to an Architect
This is a sequel to Christopher Benninger’s bestselling book, Letters to a Young Architect. This book is a chronicle of his life’s journey on the path to find the spirit of architecture, replete with anecdotes and experiences from his pursuit spanning more than half a century. It captures his personal concerns about architectural education, design and practice. Like Letters, this is a collection of autobiographical narratives and ideas, presented through the medium of articles and lectures presented over the past two decades. It is his story of self-discovery and a testament to his search for truth.
60,000+ Copies Sold, Published in 4 Languages
The book has been immensely popular within the architecture community, especially students and young architects starting out. Letters to a Young Architect reflects on the role and direction of architecture in framing a new man and a new society in the new millennium. Benninger notes his encounters with gurus like Jose Luis Sert, Walter Gropius, Arnold Toynbee and Buckminster Fuller and the manner in which their personal passion for humanity shaped the lives of others. He is concerned with the education of architects; the nature of architecture itself; and the role of urbanism and planning in the creation of a new society. The role of Indian masters like Balkrishna Doshi, who guided him in his search, is a touching tribute to the Indian “Guru- Shishya” tradition.
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