MUMBAI: Tata Group and Somerville College, University of Oxford, are collaborating to construct the Ratan Tata Building. This building will represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand Somerville’s teaching and learning space, support research with global impact, and articulate the College’s vision of a sustainable and forward-looking academic community.
In a statement, they said that the construction will begin next year. The project is made possible by the decade-long friendship between Somerville College and Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, the late Ratan Tata.
While the decision to name the new building in honour of Ratan Tata in recognition for his lifelong work as a philanthropist and humanitarian was taken some time ago, his death last week, felt so keenly throughout India and the world, gives even greater meaning to this lasting tribute to him, the statement said.
The plans envisage a space that is both inclusive and equitable. “New seminar rooms and offices will exist alongside spaces for shared study and interdisciplinary collaboration, reception rooms and accommodation for visiting academics. The interchange of ideas and model of collegiate working will be facilitated by the space itself”, the statement added.
Somerville College will build it at the Oxford University’s new Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, enabled by the significant philanthropic donation from the Tata Group.
“The location of the Tata Building is unrivalled. Standing opposite the internationally renowned Blavatnik School of Government, Somerville’s new building will occupy the last remaining plot of land available for development on the prestigious Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site, directly opposite the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities”, the statement read.
Somerville College’s Principal, Baroness Royall, said of the news: “This building is the fruit of many conversations, hopes and dreams over the past decade and our long association with Mr Tata. In its capacity to meet our College’s present and future need, to embody our values, and to guide us towards an exciting future, it is unparalleled. Now it will stand as a permanent legacy to the life of a remarkable man and a dear friend of Somerville. I am deeply grateful to Mr Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Tata Group, and all those involved for enabling us to create this dynamic expression of friendship between Oxford and India, to pay tribute to Tata and to cement Somerville’s plans as a world-class academic institution”.
N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, commented, “In Mr Tata’s vision for India, research and critical inquiry went hand in hand with development and prosperity. This partnership with Somerville College is a tribute to Mr Tata’s values. The building in his name will be a home to research that is necessary and urgent for India”. (ANI)