ATMA House (Ahmedabad Textile Mill Owners’ Association House)

Well-known as the Ahmedabad Textile Mill Owners’ Building or ATMA House, the Mill owner’s Building is one of the finest specimens of the architectural style of Le Corbusier, widely-respected as a pioneer of modern architecture. This building is an architectural masterpiece that attracts architecture enthusiasts and students from around the world.

The textile industry of Ahmedabad owes its origins to the enterprise of Rao Bahadur Ranchhodlal Chhotalal who started a spinning and cotton mill in the city in 1861. Many more mills were launched over the next few decades and, in 1891, the Mill Owners’ Association (ATMA) was formed in Ahmedabad, with Ranchhodlal Chhotalal as its founder president.

By the 1950s, there were more than 60 textile mills in Ahmedabad. The city was dubbed the Manchester of the East. With the growing membership of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners’ Association, it was decided to build ATMA House to house the association’s offices and activities. The master architect, Le Corbusier was commissioned in the mid-1950s to build the Ahmedabad Mill Owners’ Association’s new headquarters, by Surottam Hutheesingh, who was the president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners’ Association at the time.

For a visitor with an interest in architecture, ATMA House is an impressive and architecturally-interesting building. The three-storey building makes ingenious use of a concrete framework on both sides, and the strategic placement of struts, screens and walls, to shade the building from harsh sunlight while allowing breezes to flow through the interiors. The geometric box-like building with light and shadow is also in keeping with the traditional architecture of the region. The building has a ramp sloping gently but dramatically rising to the upper level. Inside the building, you can see a map of the textile mills of Ahmedabad, plans of the building and details of the formation and objectives of the association.

You can also read interesting and inspirational quotes by Le Corbusier. The roof can be accessed by small stairs and has skylights that allow natural light into the interiors below. The use of the terrace with vegetation and hydroponic cultivation goes well with Le Corbusier’s vision of a roof as a reproductive resource. The works of Le Corbusier in Ahmedabad are an example of how green architecture principles were followed in the 1950s.