The Mahindra United World College of India, Pune

The Mahindra United World College of India is one the ten campuses worldwide under the United World College banner, lead by Nelson Mandela and Queen Noor of Jordan. The College, which offers an International Bacheloriate two-year Diploma, houses about two hundred students and twenty-five faculty members, on a residential campus for the nine month academic year.

The self-sufficient campus is located in the Sahayadri Mountains, about one hundred kilometers southeast of Mumbai on a plateau three hundred feet above the Mula river basin. It is surrounded by mountains above it, composing part of the Western Ghats range. It is a rugged landscape historically known for its mountain top forts and water lift system from the river; a water purification plant; a rural electrification grid, backed by transformers and generators, internal distribution cables; a sewage treatment plant; and an independent satellite link for communications. Thus, the campus is a self-sufficient residential community.

The theme of the college is global unity and understanding, while respecting the uniqueness and contributions of various communities. The student body and faculty are represented by about fifty counties and from various communities. The campus plan is divided into an academic area and a residential “village”. Movement within the entire campus is totally pedestrian.

When on builds out of stone in India, one places himself at the mercy of his masons. Though uneducated in the arts, they have a sixth sense about the meaning of their work-good or bad. When they leave the site in the evening, they always turn back in a pause to contemplate what they have done. If they smile in satisfaction, it sends a bolt of joy through an architect’s heart. This project has been widely published in Indian and International journals and the design of the College has won many awards.