Parliament Library

5/21/2018 Parliament Library

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INDIAN

PARLIAMENT

LIBRARYRAJ REWAL


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In the guise of red and yellow sandstone walls, a roofscape ofMughal domes and cool, dignified rooms of quiet solemnity, thisis how "a guru relates to a king". It is an apt and poeticmetaphor used by the architect, Raj Rewal, to evoke the spirit of

his new parliamentary library in New Delhi.


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Symbolically a house of knowledge, the Parliament Library has its site next to

the Parliament House in Lutyens Delhi, which is a key element of the colonial

plan of the city of New Delhi.

Both visually and symbolically, the central hall of the existing Parliament

denotes power, consensus and democracy and is linked to the central core ofthe new complex.

The recently completed Parliament Library, is a response to its

monumental context and yet is ingenious in its originality.

For the library, a formal structure is conceived within the Indiantradition, built in a contemporary idiom to capture the essence

without mimicry of past historical styles.

Designed by architect Raj Rewal, the library is a fine example of

postcolonial Indian architecture. It displays a harmonioussynthesis of high technology with a regional expression, it is

uncompromisingly modern yet rooted in precolonial history, and

it responds thoughtfully to its challenging colonial and political

context.


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CONTEXT

He drew from the context: Lutyens New Delhi. So the building

has a formal and symmetrical layout and structure.

He drew from traditional architecture: Fatehpur Sikri andthe

Raunakpur templesgave this building their meandering

aspect, courtyards, and the pattern of a mandala with a

central core. Courtyards also help the building stay cool, and

the diffuse layout helped preserve many of the trees on the

site.


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THE GURU AND THE KING


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To give the library an identity of its own while respecting the Parliament

building, Rewal says he drew on Indian history and likened the relationship

between buildings to the traditional relationship between guru and king. A

guru acknowledges the power of the king neither confronting norsubmitting and retains the strength of his integrity as a sage.

Hence, Rewal decided to sink part of the library underground, leaving two

of the four floors above grade. The terrace of the library aligns with the

first floor level of the Parliament building. Only the domes of the library

rise higher. The sight lines leading to the colonnade and entablature of theParliament are left unobstructed.

Also, the exterior walls of the library are clad in the same red and beige

sandstone as that used in the Parliament building. This local stone has

been used extensively in northern and northwestern India through the

centuries and therefore expresses regionalism. In these two decisions

regarding height and materials, the guru acknowledges the power of the

king. But the guru's wisdom and integrity are demonstrated in the

architecture of the library.


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THE BUILDING


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The plan appears to be adapted from a reading of the plan, section and

symbolism of the classic Hindu temple. This takes the form, in Rewal's design,

of a crossing of paths meeting under a central dome from under which the

various libraries, auditorium, meeting rooms and cafeteria are gained. TheHindu temple, which traditionally stands on a "tirtha" (a crossing place

favoured by the gods), is, in principle, a cosmic junction-box connecting

humankind, God and the universe, a symbol of universal enlightenment -

which, of course, a library is too. The temple is, in plan, a miniature

representation of the universe and its cosmology; at its hub is a notional spacefor the holy mountain, Meru, the mythological centre of the cosmos, ringed

around by rooms for individual gods. This explains why Hindu temples

traditionally rise to fantastic central heights. They are hollowed out holy

mountains, their dark cores ringed around with sacred caves, or shrines. This

dark space also symbolises the womb, from which Hindus are symbolicallyreborn after devotion. Historically, Indian buildings with interior open-air

spaces helped in defense. But for Rewal, such forms seem to symbolize an

introversion characteristic of the ancient Indian guru. In addition to being

icons of Indian architecture, courtyard plans admit daylight and have social

and climatic advantages.


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The parts of the library are assembled like satellites around an interior that

is also structured. By choosing this motif of an active concentricity, by

allowing exterior and interior to communicate like this, Rewal is trying to derive

his design directly from the historical context of Indias most important

buildings. Millennia- old Hindu temples vary this motif in a multitude ofways, Mogul architecture like the Taj Mahal, the city of Jaipur in north

Rajasthan or also the ideal cities in south India are all based on this concentric

structure. The form is seen as a spiritual motif alluding to a cosmological

dimension, a cosmogram. Largely divided into nine parts which indicate seven

existing and one imaginary planet of the solar ecliptic, the centre as the axismundi, the axis of the universe, the source of all creation. Architecture as an

image of the cosmos is a primeval motif of Indian building, and is

interpreted here in a new context as a house of growing knowledge.This is a

simple but highly abstract motif, and with its pure geometry it

contains a timeless dimension. Yet its very real differentiation alsosuggests the complexity of the secular element of the building commission. In

this way the library design emancipates itself completely from the

predominance of the parliament and retains its own identity.


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THE SITE AND THE BUILDING


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Site conditions and trees prohibited the northwestern corner of the plan

from being built, leaving the square incomplete. Otherwise the plan, with

its courtyards and axes, is similar to historic precedents.

The full-height central core of the building, formed at the point of

intersection of the two axes, houses the reading room for members of

parliament (MPs), the research area and archival storage, committee

room, and a banquet hall. Beyond this central core are the courtyards, and

further beyond are separate entrance lobbies for MPs, scholars, and the

public.

The corners of the incomplete square and the nodes formed at the ends of

the axes are designated for various functions. The axes and the sides of

the square form corridors and outline the courtyards.


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Each courtyard symbolizes one aspect of the Indian constitution. One is an

amphitheater, symbolizing freedom of expression. Another courtyard has

a pool of water symbolizing equality. A tree forms the focal point of the

third courtyard, representing social justice.

Rewal transfers the parliaments monumental gesture only in the form of a

strictly axial quality running through both centre points and creating the

first main link. He further chooses the square as a basic geometry, which

equals the circle as an archaic element, and also contains its concentricity,

with the diagonal of the library square corresponding to the diameter of

the parliaments circle. The figures of both buildings draw life from this

centre, where the most important things happen.


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Because of the presence of an existing grove of trees, one corner of the

powerfully symbolic square remains empty, the essentially rigid and

austere figure of the library is broken up and changes into

an asymmetrical, incomplete fractal geometry. Here Rewal is following an

entirely modern structural idea of axiality, symmetry and the disturbance

of symmetry as a component of our thinking today. The whole that is

entirely complete as such, absolute and fixed, in equilibrium, does not

exist as an ideal, the break suggests change, development, growth,it symbolises the relative and includes the unpredictable.

Courtyards are created between centre and ring, also a classically Indian

motif from a hot climate, offering protection from heat, dust and noise,

but also making spiritualisation and concentration possible.


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TECHNOLOGY AND STRUCTURE


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Dome of light

At the junction point in the centre remains empty,the axis mundi becomes a multi-storey hall, with aglass dome and flooded with light as it is theonly hall, symbolising growing knowledge andconsciousness to the point of enlightenment.Around the core, which Rewal calls a dome oflight, with light meant literally and as a metaphorfor enlightenment, are spaces for a scholars library,the bureau of parliamentary studies, a 1,100-seatauditorium, reading rooms, meeting rooms,research and archival offices, a media centre andstacks for 3 million volumes.

To add to the symbolic load of the domed core andemphasise its pan-Indian aspect, Rewal inlaid thefloor with a giant Ashok Chakra, which is the centralemblem on the national flag.


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Traditional Craft Modernist Idiom

Some Eastern architects are exploring ways to merge traditional

architectural forms and modernism. One such attempt is Rewal's use of

handcrafted stone grills, or jalis. In precolonial Indian architecture, jalis

were used for decoration and to separate the outside from the inside, to

diffuse the harsh sunlight, and to visually and audibly connect two spaces

while physically separating them.

Rewal's search for a contemporary Indian identity does not stop there. The

building typology and the spirituality associated with the mandala are

quintessentially Indian. He has created contemporary Indian architecture

that uses innovative technology to express both modernity andregionalism with connections to the physical surroundings and to a

venerable history.


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Rewals choice of materials for his wall claddings emphasises come close to

the atmospheric quality of a historic spatial sequence: all the faades are

covered with red and beige sandstone, left rough outside and polished inside.

Of course this seems like a reference to the buildings neighbour, as

the parliament is also built in this particular stone combination, but the link

with Indian history is more in the forefront of Rewals mind. He contrasts

massive piers with slender columns, articulates the exterior walls with a

decorative structure and grades the building in transitions from circleto square to create deep areas of shadow. And yet concrete and other

modern materials remain visible everywhere, and the honesty of the

structure adds to its enduring presence. But the architect goes further,

stepping up his structural design elements in an unusual way.


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The halls at the junction points inside the structure and the special spaces like

the great reading rooms, the central research and archive areas, but also

the cafeteria, are given dome structures made of prefabricated lightweight

concrete segments fitted together in a hexagonal and octagonal honeycomb

structure. Rewal braces these domes with tubular steel systems that are also

hexagonal and octagonal, acting as a substructure. Here the architect

employs classical Indian elements from Mogul architecture in particular, as

domes were important features of Muslim rulers buildings. These greatmodels are quoted in the hatlike protrusions of these domes, but above all in

the almost full openings in the circular hearing zones which indirectly control

the light. Thus light is admitted to the space below the dome, which is then

reflected by the dome as a kind of light trap, and the dome itself is placed in

the right light. But Rewal emphasises the interpretative character by his

choice of construction method, thus wishing to see the historical

model transported into our day. It is only the steel connections

of contemporary technology that make this multiform material symbiosis

possible


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Overall, therefore, Rewal managed to combined old and

new successfully. Traditional building, courtyard to templeto palace, offered inspiration, as did the Lutyens-Baker styleof New Delhi. Sandstone rubs shoulders with cement,stainless steel and structural glass. Architectural andcultural elements developed over centuries do not merely

contribute to, they actually help make a 21st-centurywhole.

Its form symbolises an implicit and diverse democracy,integrating the spiritual dimension that is rooted so deeplyin the Indian soul and thus showing the

neighbouring government buildings from a different era ina new light: the government quarter has become trulyIndian.


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REFERENCE

http://164.100.47.134/plibrary/common.aspx?no=2030

http://www.rajrewal.in/projects/Public-parl-lib-2.htm

http://thearchiblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/raj-rewal-

indian-parliament-library-new-delhi/

http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/1022/design_1-

1.html

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