Christopher Charles Benninger

{{Infobox architect

| honorific_prefix = Prof. Dr.

| name = Christopher Charles Benninger

| image = CCB by RA.jpg

| caption = Benninger in 2016

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|11|23|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|10|2|1942|11|23|df=yes}}

| death_place = India House, Pune, Maharashtra, India

| alma_mater = Harvard Graduate School of Design
MIT
University of Florida

| awards = Great Master Architect of India
IIA Excellence in Architecture
Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in Architecture, CEPT University

| practice = CCBA Designs

| significant_projects = Site and Services EWS Housing at Arrambakkan, Jamnagar, Yusufgowda
Thane and Kalyan Development Plan
SOS Children's Villages at New Delhi and Kolkatta
Thimphu Structure Plan

| website = {{URL|https://ccba.in}}

| significant_buildings = Mahindra United World College
Suzlon One Earth Corporate Headquarters
Azim Premji University
Supreme Court of Bhutan, UN House, Ministry Buildings
Lodha Belmondo
College of Engineering Pune
Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad
IIM Calcutta
Parliament of Burundi
Bajaj Institute of Technology
Green Valley Global Headquarters China

}}

Christopher Charles Benninger (23 November 1942 – 2 October 2024) was an Indian architect and urban planner. Born in the United States, he permanently migrated to India in 1971. Benninger contributed to the field of critical regionalism{{Cite web |date=2018-11-16 |title=Critical Regionalism in the Post-Colonial Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent |first=Sumantra |last=Misra |publisher=Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/sumantramisra/docs/critical_regionalism_in_the_post-co |access-date=2023-08-17}}{{Cite journal |last1=Bahga |first1=Sanyam |last2=Raheja |first2=Gaurav |date=2018-12-01 |title=An account of critical regionalism in diverse building types in postcolonial Indian architecture |journal=Frontiers of Architectural Research |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=473–496 |doi=10.1016/j.foar.2018.09.001 |issn=2095-2635|doi-access=free }} and sustainable planning in India.{{Cite book |last=Rajput |first=Aman Singh |chapter=Intelligent Urbanism Guiding the Smart City Region Development: Case Study of Bhopal |date=2020 |editor-last=Ahmed |editor-first=Sirajuddin |editor2-last=Abbas |editor2-first=S. M. |editor3-last=Zia |editor3-first=Hina |title=Smart Cities—Opportunities and Challenges |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-2545-2_36 |series=Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering |volume=58 |language=en |location=Singapore |publisher=Springer |pages=423–442 |doi=10.1007/978-981-15-2545-2_36 |isbn=978-981-15-2545-2|s2cid=219093510 }}

Following his departure from the position of professor at Harvard in 1971, Benninger came to Ahmedabad, where he was appointed a Ford Foundation advisor to the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology.{{Cite web |title=CEPT University |url=https://cept.ac.in/ |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=CEPT University}} At CEPT, he co-founded the Faculty of Planning with Yoginder Alagh and BV Doshi in 1972. He also founded the Center for Development Studies and Activities in 1976 with Aneeta Gokhale Benninger. He served on the board of directors of CEPT University.{{Cite web |date=5 October 2017 |title=Board of Management CEPT University |url=https://architecture.live/cept-university-academic-hub-ahmedabad-christopher-charles-benninger/}} In 2024, he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in Architecture from CEPT University.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-02 |title=CEPT University: Honorary doctorates for noted urban planner Bertaud and architect Benninger |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/cept-university-honorary-doctorates-for-noted-urban-planner-bertaud-and-architect-benninger-9091080/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}

He worked with various banks concerning policies, and with various countries and states to create development plans. Alongside architecture, Benninger is most identified with developing the Site and Services Model which was originally conceived as his thesis at Harvard GSD and his planning theory Principles of Intelligent Urbanism.

Benninger wrote three books, Christopher Benninger: Architecture for a Modern India (2015), a collection of his works, and Letters to a Young Architect (2011), a collection of lectures and articles, which is a bestseller in India.{{Cite web |date=2016-07-12 |title=Acclaimed architect Christopher Benninger launches book on architecture |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/acclaimed-architect-christopher-benninger-launches-book-on-architecture-2908090/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}} In October 2024, Great Expectations: Notes to an Architect, a sequel to his 2011 book was released posthumously.

Benninger's architectural studio CCBA Designs, which he founded with Ramprasad Akkisetti, is based out of Pune, which specialises in sustainable design solutions.{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Bimal |date=5 October 204 |title=Architect-urban planner Bimal Patel on friend and colleague Christopher Charles Benninger, who was a mind with great expectations |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/architect-urban-planner-bimal-patel-on-friend-and-colleague-christopher-charles-benninger-who-was-a-mind-with-great-expectations-9605023/ |website=Indian Express}}

Early life and education

Benninger was born in Gainesville, Florida. Benninger attended United Nations Security Council Meetings as an observer. Sir Robert Jackson, a friend of Benninger's uncle Adlai Stevenson II gifted Benninger a lifetime subscription to the development journal Ekistics, introducing him to a science of human settlement centered around Constantinos Apostolos Doxiadis's theories. Barbara Ward became Benninger's lifelong mentor, inviting him to the 1967 Delos Symposium in Greece.{{Cite web|title=Christopher Benninger: Cyrus Jhabvala Memorial Lecture 2018|url=https://thinkmatter.in/2019/03/28/christopher-benninger-cyrus-jhabvala-memorial-lecture-2018/|website= THINKMATTER|date=28 March 2019}}{{Cite journal |last=Shoshkes |first=Ellen |date=April 2006 |title=Jaqueline Tyrwhitt: a founding mother of modern urban design |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02665430600555339 |journal=Planning Perspectives |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=179–197 |doi=10.1080/02665430600555339 |bibcode=2006PlPer..21..179S |s2cid=143844331 |issn=0266-5433|url-access=subscription }}

Benninger graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida in 1966. While at the University of Florida, he was a student founder of the "Freedom Party". Under Martin Luther King's leadership, he and his sister, Judith Benninger Brown, actively supported the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), entering segregated cinema halls and restaurants with their African-American friends, and forcing the owners to allow access to African-Americans into their establishments.{{Cite book |last=Debeljak |first=Aleš |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ao2DSDX5R3QC&dq=Christopher+Benninger+judith+brown&pg=PA255 |title=Reluctant Modernity: The Institution of Art and Its Historical Forms |date=1998 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-8583-7}}

Benninger completed his Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1967. He studied under Josep Lluis Sert, Jerzy Soltan, and Mirko Basaldella. Benninger studied development economics under John Kenneth Galbraith, past ambassador to India and author of The New Industrial State. After this, he first visited India as a Fulbright fellow in 1968. He continued his post-graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under Horacio Caminos, working on the book Urban Dwelling Environments. He received a master's degree in city planning from MIT in 1971.{{Cite book |last1=Falvo |first1=Rosa Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5BMrgEACAAJ |title=Christopher Benninger: Architecture for Modern India |last2=Akkisetti |first2=Ramprasad |date=2015 |publisher=Skira editore S.p.A |isbn=978-88-572-2687-3 |language=en}} He graduate thesis at MIT (Some notes on cities and urban planning in India) formed the basis of his interest in planning in India.{{Cite journal |last=Benninger |first=Christopher |date=1971-01-01 |title=Some notes on cities and urban planning in India |url=https://www.academia.edu/111288645}}

Career

= Academic and research work =

In 1971, Benninger returned to India as a Ford Foundation consultant to the Ahmedabad Education Society to help set up the School of Planning in 1972 along with Yoginder Alagh and B.V. Doshi.{{Cite web |title=Cept School of Planning founders look back over 40 years |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-cept-school-of-planning-founders-look-back-over-40-years-1798697 |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=DNA India |language=en}} Benninger shifted to Pune in 1976 where he founded the Center for Development Studies and Activities.{{cite web |first=Apurva Bose |last=Dutta|url=http://www.archpresspk.com/m10_interview.htm |title=Christopher Charles Benninger speaks on Architecture |website=Archi Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160139/http://www.archpresspk.com/m10_interview.htm |archive-date=2011-07-07}} In 1983, Benninger wrote the theme paper for the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements 1984. In 1986, he successfully argued to the Asian Development Bank the case for extending financial assistance to the urban development sector.{{Cite journal |last=Benninger |first=Christopher C. |date=1988 |title=Human resources development for the improvement of human settlements |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43622047 |journal=Ekistics |volume=55 |issue=328/329/330 |pages=12–30 |jstor=43622047 |issn=0013-2942}} Benninger was on the board of editors of Cities journal, published in the UK.[http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaleditorialboard.cws_home/30396/editorialboard Elsevier.com] He was on the board of Ekistics and the associate editor of Ekistics and the New Habitat.{{Cite web |title=Prof. Christopher Benninger Receives Honorary Doctorate and Gold Medal from the Indian Institute of Architects {{!}} Ekistics and The New Habitat |url=https://ekisticsjournal.org/index.php/journal/announcement/view/34 |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=ekisticsjournal.org |language=en-US}} He was on the Board of the United States Education Foundation of India (Fulbright Foundation), Member of the Bureau of Indian Standards, and on the Board of University Teaching and Research at the University of Pune, and the Board of Governors of the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi.

= Early projects =

One of Benninger's first projects was an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) township in Jamnagar developed with the Gujarat Housing Board in 1972. In 1973, he worked with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and developed a site-and-services approach to EWS housing in Arunbakkam.{{Cite book |last=Lang |first=Jon |date=2020-11-09 |title=The Routledge Companion to Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century Urban Design |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003016670 |doi=10.4324/9781003016670|isbn=978-1-003-01667-0 }} In 1976, Benninger assisted the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority in its first project, a 2000-unit township for government employees.{{Cite book |last=Jain |first=AK |title=Housing for All |publisher=Khanna Publishing House |year=2019 |isbn=9789386173560 |pages=74, 78}} He designed the SOS Children's Villages in Bawana in 1975 and in Kolkatta three years later in 1978. In 1976, designed the Alliance Française Centre in Ahmedabad. In 1984, he designed the campus for the Center for Development Studies and Activities which he had founded in 1976.{{Cite book |last=Lang |first=Jon |title=A concise history of modern architecture in India |date=2002 |publisher=Permanent Black : Distributed by Orient Longman Ltd |isbn=978-81-7824-017-6 |location=New Delhi}}

= Planning =

As a World Bank consultant, Benninger planned out the site and services, core housing, and slum upgradation programmes for the Calcutta Metropolitan Development in 1974. In 1979, he was a part of the team to design and programme Indonesia's first National Rural Development Program, in collaboration with the newly established Urban Development Ministry. Later that year, under Christopher Benninger and Aneeta Benninger, CDSA developed India's pilot Integrated Rural Development Program.{{Cite journal |last=Benninger |first=Christopher C. |date=1987-01-01 |title=Training for the improvement of human settlements |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0197-3975%2887%2990044-0 |journal=Habitat International |series=Special Issue Land Use Control |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=145–160 |doi=10.1016/0197-3975(87)90044-0 |issn=0197-3975|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Settlements |first=United Nations Centre for Human |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8QgHFBtQzsC |title=Women and Human Settlements Development |date=1989 |publisher=UN-HABITAT |isbn=978-92-1-131118-1 |language=en}} In this period, CDSA also prepared social inputs for Area Development Plans in Goa and Almora.{{Cite book |title=Economics, development, and the quest for alternatives: essays in honour of professor M. A. Oommen |date=1997 |publisher=Concept Publ. Co |isbn=978-81-7022-678-9 |editor-last=George |editor-first=Kolanjiyil Kuriakose |edition=1. publ |location=New Delhi |editor-last2=Oommen |editor-first2=Malayil A.}} With UNICEF, he led a CDSA team to prepare a plan of action for the development of Bhutan (1979–80). He was engaged by the UNCHS to develop plans for six cities in Sri Lanka: Jafna, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Hambantota, Galle, and Matara.{{Cite journal |last=Benninger |first=Christopher C. |date=1988 |title=Seminar on urban management and finance for South Asian countries |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0264-2751(88)90008-x |journal=Cities |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=194–199 |doi=10.1016/0264-2751(88)90008-x |issn=0264-2751|url-access=subscription }} In 1986, Benninger worked on the development plan for Thane and Kalyan with a focus on urban management and poverty upliftment.{{Cite book |last1=Centre |first1=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZgtAAAAMAAJ |title=Register of Development Research Projects in Asia and the Pacific |last2=Centre |first2=Asian and Pacific Development |last3=Pacific |first3=Association of Development Research and Training Institutes of Asia and the |date=1989 |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |isbn=978-92-64-03237-8 |language=en}} In 2001, Benninger was appointed to prepare the structure plan for Thimphu.{{Cite journal |last=Benninger |first=Christopher Charles |date=2002 |title=Principles of intelligent urbanism: The case of the new Capital Plan for Bhutan |journal=Ekistics and the New Habitat |volume=69 |issue=412/413/414 |pages=60–80 |doi=10.53910/26531313-E200269412-414386 |jstor=43619538 |issn=0013-2942|doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=SONAM |first1=DHENDUP |last2=SHERAB |first2=JATSHO |last3=SONAM |first3=TSHERING |date=2021 |title=Exploring Teachers' Perceptions of Professional Development: A Research Study Undertaken in Thimphu District Schools |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.14.3.17523 |journal=I-manager's Journal on Educational Psychology |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=29 |doi=10.26634/jpsy.14.3.17523 |s2cid=236726094 |issn=0973-8827|url-access=subscription }} In 2004, the Government of Bhutan along with the Government of India appointed him again to prepare plans for three towns along their shared border.Benninger Architectonics USA Inc. (2004) Gelephu Structure Plan, BhutanBenninger Architectonics USA Inc. (2004) Samtse Structure Plan, Bhutan In 2012, he designed the new town of Denchi in East Bhutan. Benninger's work in urban design, city management, and town planning resulted in his principles of intelligent urbanism.[http://www.dudh.gov.bt/Thimphustructural/Index.html Dudh.gov.bt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623013525/http://www.dudh.gov.bt/Thimphustructural/Index.html|date=2010-06-23}} He designed the master plan for Sasson Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital and College of Engineering Pune.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-22 |title=Christopher Benninger designs Sassoon hospital plan; state nods to allocate Rs 100 cr for initial phase |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/christopher-benninger-designs-sassoon-hospital-plan-state-nods-to-allocate-rs-100-cr-for-initial-phase-7369838/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}} He was a member of the Mumbai Port Trust Land Development Committee{{Cite web |title=Mumbai Port Trust Committee - Report On Mumbai Ports Waterfront and Port Land Development, 2014 PDF {{!}} PDF {{!}} Mumbai {{!}} Containerization |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/273809543/Mumbai-Port-Trust-Committee-Report-on-Mumbai-Ports-Waterfront-and-Port-Land-Development-2014-pdf |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Scribd |language=en}} and the head of the jury for the design and construction India's National War Memorial, appointed by the Ministry of Defence.{{Cite web |date=2019-03-03 |title=Explained: India's National War Memorial |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-indias-national-war-memorial-5600880/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}

= Architectural works =

Benninger's designs include the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, the Bajaj Institute of Technology, Suzlon One Earth Global Headquarters in Pune, the Mahindra United World College of India, the Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies, the YMCA International Camp in Nilshi, India, the Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Azim Premji University, in Bengaluru, 23 Metro Stations in Pune, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.[http://www.g-therapy.org/index.php/center-campus.html G-therapy.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512195745/http://www.g-therapy.org/index.php/center-campus.html |date=2010-05-12}} Benninger's work has been noted as one of the first instances of critical regionalism in India.{{Cite book |last1=Tzonis |first1=Alexander |title=Critical regionalism: architecture and identity in a globalised world |last2=Lefaivre |first2=Liane |date=2003 |publisher=Prestel |isbn=978-3-7913-2972-7 |series=Architecture in focus |location=Munich New York}}

Personal life and death

Benninger was married to Aneeta Gokhale Benninger, an environmentalist, and had a son.{{Cite web |title=People |url=https://cdsaindia.org/people/ |website=CDSA}}

Christopher Benninger spent his significant part of his life with his long term companion Ramprasad Akkisetti since 1993.{{Cite web |last=D. |first=Aastha |date=11 October 2024 |title=Christopher Charles Benninger: A reflective obituary |url=https://www.stirworld.com/inspire-people-christopher-charles-benninger-a-reflective-obituary?utm_source=stirworld_404.php&utm_medium=STIRfri_Exclusive |access-date=14 October 2024 |website=Stir World |quote=His studio at India House, Pune, is a site of knowledge in the arts, culture and architectural practices, a mini institute of its own standing, now headed by Ramprasad Akkisetti (Ram), his loving life partner.}} They both founded CCBA, an architecture and planning firm in 1995. Ramprasad Akkisetti was instrumental in the realisation of Benninger's quest for avant garde architecture and literary contribution.{{Cite web |last=Rao |first=R Raj |date=8 October 2024 |title=Christopher Benninger Obituary: A True Friend Who Assisted In Life's Nitty-Gritty, Writes R Raj Rao |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/pune/christopher-benninger-obituary-a-true-friend-who-assisted-in-lifes-nitty-gritty-writes-r-raj-rao |access-date=14 October 2024 |website=Free Press Journal |quote=It was in the early 2000s that I first met Christopher Benninger and his partner Ram.}}{{Cite book |last=Benninger |first=Christopher |title=Great Expectations: Notes to an Architect |publisher=CEPT University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-93-83184-88-0 |edition=1st |pages=2}}

Benninger died following a prolonged battle with cancer in Pune, Maharashtra, on 2 October 2024, at the age of 81.{{cite news |title=American-Indian architect Christopher Benninger passes away at 81 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/american-indian-architect-christopher-benninger-passes-away-9599224/ |agency=Express News Service |publisher=The Indian Express |date=2 October 2024}}{{Cite news |last=Kumar |first=Sujatha Shankar |date=2024-11-01 |title=People's architect Christopher Charles Benninger |url=https://www.thehindu.com/real-estate/architect-christopher-charles-benninger-india-pioneer-construction-buildings-design/article68818541.ece |access-date=2024-11-02 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}

Publications

Benninger, C. (2011). Letters to a Young Architect. India House Art Gallery. {{ISBN|9788192156804}}
Falvo, R. M., & Akkisetti, R. (Eds.). (2015). Christopher Benninger: Architecture for Modern India. Skira editore SpA. {{ISBN|9788857226873}}
Benninger, C. (2024). Great Expectations: Notes to an Architect. CEPT University Press & India House Art Gallery. {{ISBN|9789383184880}}

Awards

Christopher Benninger has been the recipient of over 200 awards.

= 2024 =

Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal - Indian Institute of Architects{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=https://www.ccba.in/awards |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=CCBA Designs |language=en}}
Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Architecture - CEPT University, Ahmedabad.{{Cite web |title=CEPT University to bestow two Honorary Doctorates |url=https://cept.ac.in/news/cept-university-to-bestow-two-honorary-doctorates }}

= 2023 =

India's Top 10 Architects Awards - Construction World Architect and Builder (CWAB) Awards

= 2019 =

Excellence in Architecture for Industrial category - Indian Institute of Architects

= 2015 =

Lifetime Achievement Award - BERG Awards for Real Estate (Singapore)

= 2014 =

Excellence in Architecture for Industrial category - Indian Institute of Architects

= 2013 =

Excellence in Architecture Green Architecture - Indian Institute of Architects

= 2008 =

Excellence in Architecture for Institutional Building - Indian Institute of Architects{{Cite web |last=Desk |first=Punemirror |date=2009-11-27 |title=Benninger's firm gets coveted award |url=https://punemirror.com/pune/cover-story/benningers-firm-gets-coveted-award/cid5254955.htm |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=punemirror.com |language=en}}
Great Master Architect Award - JK AYA Council of Architecture{{Cite web |title=JK Architect of the Year Awards {{!}} 17th AYA |url=https://aya-jkcement.com/17thjkaya.html |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=aya-jkcement.com}}

= 2001 =

Mahindra United World College of India won the Designer of the Year Award{{Cite web |title=Christopher Benninger |url=http://archlib.njit.edu/aboutus/benningerlecture.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805200851/http://archlib.njit.edu/aboutus/benningerlecture.php |archive-date=2010-08-05 |access-date=2010-06-23 |publisher=New Jersey Institute of Technology}} in 1999. It also was the recipient of the Business Week Architectural Record American Institute of Architects Award for Excellence in 2000. Business Week called the Mahindra United World College of India one of the ten super structures of the world in 2000.{{Cite web |title=Businessweek.com |url=http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_45/c3706129.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030816/http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_45/c3706129.htm |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2024-10-05}}