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Between Order and Adaptation

Rethinking the evolution of IIM Bangalore

This thesis critically studies IIM Bangalore’s architectural framework, its geometry, proportions, and layered spatial order, to understand how Doshi’s design balances structure and adaptability. Through this inquiry, it explores how the campus can evolve with changing patterns of interaction, learning, and urban context.

DESIGN TYPE

CRITIC | EXPANSION

Year

2025

BANGALORE

This thesis examines how IIM Bangalore, originally designed by B.V. Doshi as an inward-looking academic sanctuary, can evolve to reflect the changing dynamics of learning, collaboration, and its relationship with the city. As Bangalore has transformed into a thriving innovation hub, the campus must now engage more actively with its urban context.

The study began with overlays and layered analysis of the Management Block, tracing proportion systems, spatial hierarchies, and circulation. These revealed Doshi’s approach of structured order balanced with flexibility, where clustered symmetries and interconnected courtyards create both coherence and adaptability.

Design principles such as axial alignments, symmetry within clusters, and thresholds define the essence of IIM Bangalore. Each courtyard and corridor becomes a social interface, where light, rhythm, and enclosure shape experience. The research reinterprets these principles for contemporary interaction and collaboration.

Concept

The proposed intervention reimagines the southern edge of the campus, introducing an elevated structure that activates the ground as a public landscape. By extending Doshi’s gridlines and responding to surrounding axes, the design creates spaces that connect the institution, the city, and its users.

Concept

This thesis marks the beginning of a larger dialogue, how can institutional architecture evolve while remaining true to its spirit? It reflects on continuity and transformation, proposing a way for legacy campuses to grow with time and context.