THE PLANNING AND DESIGN OF LUTYENS DELHI

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Mayank ShekhawatVedika Agrawal

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The capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911

Reasons for the shifting of the capital:

• Controversial partitioning of Bengal In 1905 - right to vote between Bengali Hindus n Muslims.

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

• Delhi’s historic importance (Important seat of the Mughal empire) (For Hindus – maharbharata-era city of Indraprastah)

• Perceived political need to rearticulate british power.

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1911 – Foundation stone for New Delhi at Delhi Darbar

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 the 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.

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Lutyens had initially designed Delhi with all the streetscrossing at right angles, much like in New York.However, Lord Hardinge told him of the dust storms that sweep the landscape in these parts, insisting on roundabouts, hedges and trees to break their force, giving him the plans of Rome, Paris and Washington to study and apply to Delhi.Image Source: http://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/wmf_article/pg_38-

43_new_delhi.pdf

The initial design of New Delhi

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

• Jama Masjid• Indraprastha• Safdarjungs Tomb

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Intentions of the Layout:Lutyens’ Delhi was planned on the most spacious garden city lines with the great avenues decorated with classical buildings with lush landscape.

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Features1. The plan reflects Lutyens’ “transcendent fervour for geometric symmetry,” which is expressed through amazing sequences of triangles and hexagons, through sightlines and axes.

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

3. The attempt was to include all natural and historical wonders in

the new city.

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The Road Network

• 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.

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Lutyens’ Delhi - Zoning

GOVERNMENT COMPLX

BUNGLOW ZONE

COMMERCIAL DISTRICT

GOVERNMENT COMPLEX

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1. Lutyens laid out the central administrative area of the city.2. At the heart of the city was the impressive Rashtrapati Bhawan, located on the top

of Raisina Hill. The Rajpath connects India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhawan, while Janpath, which crosses it at a right angle, connects South end with Connaught Place.

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

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

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The Government Complex/ Administrative area

Lutyen's 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 for locating the viceroy’s palace because:

The Rashtrapati Bhawan

• It was a well drained.• Constituted of slopes and plains

between the ridge and the river.• Its eastern and southern margins

were studded with monuments of vanished empires. A broad crescent from Shahjahanabad 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.

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The Secretariat

• 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 and motifs in its architecture.

• These are visible in the use of Jali.• Another feature of the building is a dome-like

structure known as the Chatri.

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• 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.

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The Parliament House

• The Parliament Hous 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 "Chhajjas” and the varied forms of "Jali" in marble are reminders of the story of the craftsmanship displayed in ancient monuments and memorials.

JALIS

JALIS

JALIS

COMMON FEATURES

BUDDHIST DOME

BUDDHIST DOME

http://monuments-in-india.blogspot.in/2009/12/rashtrapati-bhavan.html

http://www.hindustantimes.com/The-Budget-s-journey-through-Parliament/Article1-1056413.aspx

http://www.indiansecretsrevealed.com/secratariat-building-trip/

THICK BAND

THICK BAND

THICK BAND

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• 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 sentiments toward the princes, who lost much of their former power and status during the British Raj. Here, too, are

the state Bhavans (houses), where you can taste the cuisine of each state.

THE PRINCELY STATES

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 had 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 stayed in 1909. For the first floor windows of the grand place, Lutyens chose a combination of rectangular and round arches that were inspired by the Uffizi to the Arno 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.

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THE HYDRABAD HOUSE

Situated next to Hyderabad House, is another magnificent building designed by Edwin Lutyens. He designed the Baroda House on a train from Bombay in 1921, and it took 15 years to build it. The Gaekwad of Baroda , who was educated in England, wanted his palace in New Delhi to be Anglo-Saxon in style.The grand Baroda House was known for its terraces, grand corridors, cooling arcades, beautiful gardens and well-ventilated salons and richly done up living rooms. Gaekwad led a very westernised lifestyle.

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THE BARODA HOUSE

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Patiala House was formerly the palatial residence of the Maharaja of Patiala (in Punjab). part of central vista, this building, built in the 1930s, has a central dome with a butterfly layout, similar to other buildings o the Lutyens zone. Today it houses the district Courts complex for New Delhi District. 'A double Vtoreyed building, the central portion is emphasized with a domed pavilion on the terrace and projection porchover the upper storey, there is a projecting chajja running the entire length of the old building. It has seen interesting occupants ever since the Maharaja vacated it.

THE PATIALAHOUSE

Jaipur House (National Gallery of Modern Art) is located diametrically opposite Hyderabad House. Like other princes’ residences, the building was also designed in the shape of a butterfly with a central 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 central court.

Two similar wings radiate towards the back facing the 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.

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THE JAIPURHOUSE

• In this whole process almost no attention was paid to the problems of Old Delhi. Due to the creation of New Delhi, Old Delhi 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 in 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.

Drawbacks

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ReferencesBooks:

David Gordon (2006) Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities, : Routledge.

Robert Byron (1997) New Delhi, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.

Lucy Peck (n.d.) Delhi: a thousand years of building.

Websites:

ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI - Delhi-city in conflict. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://delhi-architecture.weebly.com/delhi-city-in-conflict.html. [Accessed 12 October 2013]. Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi » Design of Delhi: Edwin Lutyens. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sites.asiasociety.org/princesandpainters/design-of-delhi-edwin-lutyens/. [Accessed 11 October 2013]. Changing Image of Lutyens Delhi | Archinomy. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/1158/changing-image-of-lutyens-delhi. [Accessed 12 October 2013]. New Delhi. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://archnet.org/library/places/one-place.jsp?place_id=2722&order_by=title&showdescription=1. [Accessed 15 October 2013]. The Lutyens Trust. 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.lutyenstrust.org.uk/articles/exhibitionnd.htm. [Accessed 13 October 2013].