Bruno Dias Souza (born 6 October 1925) is an Indian architect. He is credited with having "belonged to a generation of architects that sought to rediscover what Modern architecture meant for India" and having had an "illustrious architectural career".

Early years

Souza is known to have grown up in the Goa village of

Badem Badem is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of th ...

Salvador do Mundo Salvador do Mundo (Portuguese for ''Saviour of the World'') is a village in Bardez taluka, Goa, in India. The village is located south west of Socorro and east of Porvorim. The Mount has a Chapel, which is used to hold services during the Len ...

, and building models of boats and little houses as a child. He was educated at the ''Liceu Nacional Afonso de Albuquerque'' in the then Portuguese-ruled

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

. He moved to Dharwad and Bombay for inter-science and a stint in mathematics and physics as part of the B.Sc. programme at St Xavier's College. After his undergraduation and postgraduation in the United States, he worked for international firms in Central as well as South America—including in Brasilia,

Brasil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, before returning to Goa. In Goa, still under

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

rule, he designed government primary and secondary schools.

Career

Souza was educated at Columbia and Harvard. He spent his early years as a young professor and practitioner at the prominent

School of Planning and Architecture The Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) are a group of autonomous public institutes of higher education under Ministry of Education, Government of India. They were established with the objectives of providing quality Architecture and p ...

(SPA), in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

. He also served as a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

consultant, won the national competition for the

Goa High Court Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

, besides receiving a special honor from the Government of Portugal. His acclaimed works include

Okhla Okhla is a suburban village located near Okhla barrage in the South East Delhi district of Delhi near the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Its nearest industrial area called commonly as Okhla Industrial Area (OIA) or Okhla Industrial E ...

Parish Church and Loretto Convent in

, his own house

Altinho Altinho ('' pt, High'') is a hill neighbourhood of Panaji, the state capital of India's smallest state Goa. In the past it has been considered an elite residential colony, with the State's chief minister's residence and the Archbishop's palace ...

Panjim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

, the

Goa Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The asse ...

, and other

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

projects. Souza has worked on projects in Sudan, Vietnam, Liberia, Republic of Cape Verde and the Republic of Guinea. He served as the Director of the School of Planning and Architecture from 1983 to 1988. In Goa, Souza has been critical of bureaucratic functioning and corruption in the system, where he won two competitions but was edged out of the same.

Views on the Goan capital

Souza has argued that the Goan capital of Panjim is "forgetting its past by trying to redesign open spaces." He has argued that the scenic capital "was a space of parks...."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Bruno 1925 births Living people People from Goa Indian architects