World renowned Japanese architecture and planning company Maki and Associates bagged the contract of designing the two iconic structures, Assembly and High Court, at proposed new capital Amaravati.
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced this Friday after watching presentations from three companies- Richard Rogers (England) and DV Joshi Architects (India) and Maki and Associates (Japan), which submitted their plans. The important component is that the two iconic buildings -state Assembly and High Court will be designed by the Japanese company.Announcing this Naidu said today was a historic day.
According to chief minister Maki & Associates’ design was recommended by the jury of six renowned architects as well. ” We want to construct a best capital, that should become one among the top ten cities in the world. The capital will be eco friendly and embodies the green and blue concept. It should be a people’s capital. We conducted a competition among to elicit best design from companies of international repute and finally we have got some wonderful designs,” the CM said.
Lauding the sacrifice of the farmers of capital region, who offered 34,000 acres of land for the capital construction, Naidu said the design would be placed before public for their critical appreciation. ” The designs of two important buildings in the capital city are with us now. They are good. But let us place them before public for discussion. We want to elicit opinions from engineering colleges, premium institutes like IITs. We will integrate all the suggestion we receive from them into the plans of Maki’s firm,” the CM said.
Stating that other two designs also had their own positive aspects, Chief Minister said they would be integrated into the final plans and services of those two firms would also be availed. “Even though we want three iconic buildings to come up in Amaravati, Assembly, High Court and Secretariat – we have not taken any decision on the Secretariat yet. The design for the first two has been finalised now,” he said.
“ The structures,” he said , ” will embody the elements of Andhra culture.” An iconic bridge ‘Kuchipudi’ will come up connecting the two parts of the city on the two banks of Krishna. The task has been entrusted with a Chinese firm,” Naidu said. Talking about the historic significance of the day, the CM said, Friday was the birthday and coronation day of Kakatiya Queen Rani Rudrama Devi, 755 years ago. Later, the Chief Minister presented mementos to the Architects and jury members and thanked them for their cooperation.
Maki & Associates
The company was set up in 1965 by Fumihiko Maki, a former professor and Pritzker Prize winner. He is known for his studies in the use of new materials and fusion of the cultures of East and West. Since early 70s Maki & Associates started projects outside Japan. Some of the important works of the company are: Swire House, Japan (1970), Novartis Pharma Tsukuba Research Centre (1993) Steinberg Hall at Washington University in St. Louis Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Isar Büro Park Office Complex in Munich, Germany, Sam Fox Arts Center at Washington University in St. Louis, Republic Polytechnic in Singapore (2007). Currently the firms overseas works include Tower 4 of the World Trade Center Redevelopment, New York (2013), Media Corp, Singapore (2015), Bihar Museum, India (2015), Shenzen Sea World Cultural Arts Center, China (2015), United Nations Consolidation Building, New York (2016), and Block 20-02 Office Tower, Beirut (2017).
