URBAN DESIGN

NORTH BLOCK SOUTH BLOCKRASHTRAPATI

BHAWAN

VIJAY CHOWK, RAJPATH

In 1911, the British government decided to build New Delhi, an extension to the old city of Delhi, to replace Calcutta as the capital of British India.

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was appointed as chief architect of the Delhi Planning Commission to design this new capital city.

Due to his distain for pastiche, he sought a European plan for New Delhi, one that had similarities to other imperial models for capital cities such as Baron Haussman’s plan for Paris and L’enfant’s plan for Washington.

Lutyens’ Plan for New Delhi

L’enfant’s Plan for Washington

The site of Raisina Hill was chosen for a capital complex as Lutyens planned the new capital to the southwest of the walled city of Shahjahanabad.

The plan was centred on two intersecting axes- King’s Way and Queen’s Way; which were later renamed Rajpath and Janpath respectively.

The Viceroy’s house (Rashtrapathi Bhawan) was placed atop King’s Way on Raisina Hill and the Secretariat buildings on either side of it.

Directly opposite to Viceroy House is the War Memorial known as India Gate, which is located along the perpendicular parade route that cuts across King’s Way and Queen’s Way. Within the capital complex is the circular Parliament building (previously council house).

Aerial View

The requirements of delhi planning commission were for an area of about 25 sq miles which would not be too costly to acquire or too distant from the existing city, and which would be fertile irrigated and healthy with room for future expansion. Another consideration was to avoid building over any of the many sacred sites and tombs which was scattered around the delhi area after weighing many alternatives, the commission finally recommended a flat area of fertile river plain south of Old Delhi between Indrapat in the east and the ridge, an area of high ground to the west.

An elevated site on Raisina Hills in a commanding position over looking delhi, an area to the north west of the site was finalized

Reasons for the shifting of the capital:

Contoversial partitioning of Bengal in 1905 – right to vote between Bengali Hindus and Muslims.

Delhi’s geographical position at the centre of north India (roughly equidistant from Bombay and Calcutta)

Delhi’s historic importance (important seat of the Mughal empire; for Hindus-Mahabharata-era city of Indraprastha)

Perceived political need to rearticulate british power.

On December 15, 1911, King George V and Queen Mary laid the foundation stone for New Delhi, at a Darbar under a purposely built Shah Jahani dome. The message was clear : the British were legitimate successors of the Mughals and their new capital was intended to express the power of the Raj, just as Shah Jahan’s capital had expressed the authority of the Mughals.

Lutynes’ Delhi was planned on the most spacious garden city lines with great avenues decorated with classical buildings with lush landscape.

The Layout of Lutyens Delhi was governed by three major visual corridors, linking the government complex with:

Jama Masjid

Indraprastha

Sajdarjung Tomb

The plan reflects Lutyens’ “transcendent fervor for geometric symmetry”, which is expressed through amazing sequences of triangles and hexagons, through sightlines and axes.

Lutyens’ plan is also remarkable for the generous green spaces, lawns, watercourses, flower and fruit-bearing trees, and their integration with parks developed around monuments.

The attempt was to include all natural and historical wonders in the new city.

Besides the major Pathway, there were extremely wide avenues. The original design of the road network was capable of accommodating 6000 vehicles, however these avenues, had the potential of increasing their carriageway- the reason why the road layout has survived till today.

In general the road network consisted of diagonals and radials, at 30 degree/60 degree angles to the main axis, forming triangles and hexagons.

Lutyens laid out the central administration area of the city. At the heart of the city was the impressive Rashtrapati Bhawan, located on top of Raisnia Hill. The Rajpath connects India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan, while Janpath, which crosses it at a right angle, connects South end with Connaught Place.

The Secretariat building, which houses various ministries of the Government of India including Prime Minister’s Office are beside the Rashtrapati Bhawan, were designed by Herbert Baker.

Also designed by Baker was the Parliament House, located on Sansad Marg, running parallel with Rajpath.

Lutyens’ grandiose Government House (Rashtrapati Bhawan) – located on Raisina Hill, and one of New Delhi’s major thoroughfares, Rajpath, connects it to the Purana Qila.

Lord Hardinge chose the Raisina Hill site for locating the viceroy’s palace because:

It was a well drained site.

Constituted of slopes and plains between the ridge and river.

Its eastern and southern margins were studded with monuments of vanished empires. A broad crescent from Shahajanabad and Kotla Firoz Shah, south to Tughlaqabad and the Qutub with tombs of Safdarjung and Lodhis as well as Jantar Mantar in the foreground could be viewed from the site.

The Secretariat building was designed by architect Herbert Baker in Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture.

Much of the building is in classical architectural style, yet it incorporated Mughal and Rajasthani architecture style with motifs in its architecture.

These are visible in the use of Jaali.

Another feature of the building is a dome-like structure known as the Chattri.

The style of architecture used in Secretariat building is unique to Raisina Hill. In front of the main gates on buildings are the four “dominion columns”, given by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Parliament House was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.

It was built with indigenous materials and by Indian labour and the architecture of the building bears a close imprint of the Indian tradition.

The layout of fountains both inside and outside the building, the use of Indian symbols, the “Chajjas” and the varied forms of “Jaali” in the marble are reminders of the story of the craftsmanship displayed in ancient monuments and memorials.

Starting from India Gate at the lowest and eastern end of Rajpath, nearby land was allocated to numerous princely states, each of which built small palaces, such as the Bikaner House (now the Rajasthan tourism office) and Jaipur House (now the National Gallery of Modern Art).

It might be said that this placement mirrored the British settlements toward the Princes, who lost much of their former power and status during the British Raj. Here , too are the state Bhawans (houses), where you can taste the cuisine of each state.

The largest of all palaces in New Delhi-a building that suited the status of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Designed by Edwin Lutyens. The majestic mansion has 36 rooms.

Lutyens designed Hyderabad house in the shape of a butterfly – a plan that he had first used for Papillon Hall in Leicestershire in 1903.

The main architectural feature of Hyderabad House is a dome with an entrance hall beneath which symmetrical wings radiate at an angle of fifty five degrees. Its round arches flanked by rectangular openings to the height of the impost was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, a city where Lutyens chose a combination of rectangular and round arches that were inspired by the Uffizi to the Amo in Florence.

The majestic building that boasts of courtyards, archways, obelisks, large flower containers, grand stairways, marble fireplaces, fountains, had a pre-dominantly European character with some Mughal motifs.

Situated next to Hyderabad House, is another magnificent building designed b Edwin Lutyens. He designed the Baroda House on a train from Bombay in 1921, and it took 15 years to build it. The Prince of Baroda, who was educated in England, wanted his palace in New Delhi to be Anglo-Saxon in style.

The grand Baroda House is known for its terraces, grand corridors, cooling arcades, beautiful gardens and well-ventilated salons and richly done up living rooms.

The Gaekwads led a very westernised lifestyle.

Patiala House was foremerly the palacial residence of the Maharaja of Patiala, part of th central vista, this building built in the 1930s, has a central dome with a butterfly layout, similar to other buildings of the Lutyens zone. Today it houses the district Courts complex for New Delhi District. A double storeyed building, the cental portion is emphasized with a domed pavilion on the terrace and projection porch over the upper storey, there is a projecting chajja running the entire length of the building. It has seen interesting occupants ever since the Maharaja vacated it.

Jaipur House (now National Gallery of Modern Art) is located diametrically opposite Hyderabad House. Like other princes’ resedences, the building was also designed in the shape of a butterfly with a cental dome. But very few people know that it was British architect Charles Blomfield, who designed the building. It was designed in a mix of Neo-Classical and Art Deco style. The butterfly shaped building has two symmetrical “wings” radiating from the cental court.

Two similar wings radiate towards the back facing gardens. The façade of this comparatively austere palace is marked by two levels of small, vertical, slit-like windows. A continuous sunshade or ‘chajja’ in redstone caps the entire façade. The building has arched openings framed by Rajput columns.

In this whole process alost no attention was paid to the problems of Old Delhi. Due to the creation of New Delhi, the old city experienced a 28% surge in population from 1916-1926 resulting in the spilling over of the population from inside the walled city to the Paharganj area, whose restructuring was later abandoned by Lutyens due to resource constraints.

Also, no provision of housing was premeditated for the large no. of skilled and unskilled workers which immigrated for the construction work of New Delhi.

This negligence of the planners towards Old Delhi resulted in its transformation to a large slum area through deterioration and dilapidation.