This article appeared of mine appeared in The Hindu,
Architects who were ahead of their times - The Hindu
Read the unedited version here...
Modernists
ahead of their times
“For
Ajoy and me the open spaces between buildings and open spaces around buildings
was as important as the built up area,” says Ranjit Sabikhi, partner of The Design Group (1961-1991). The
other partner Ajoy Choudhury passed away in 2017. This philosophy of urban design which
balanced open spaces so integral to India, with the built up area through buildings
which bordered around geometric minimalism created their unique design style.
The partnership which spanned three decades saw several beautiful buildings – in
Delhi these were Shakuntalam Theatre, YMCA Staff Quarters, Yamuna Apartments, The Syrian Christian Church at Hauz Khas, August
Kranti Bhavan at Bhikaji Cama Place, Janakpuri District Centre, DLF Centre at
Sansad Marg… while those outside Delhi included the Mughal Sheraton (now ITC
Mughal) - Agra, Taj Bengal at Kolkata, ITDC Hotel at Varanasi, NDDB – Regional
Training Centre at Jalandhar, NDDB staff housing at Noida, Indian Embassy
Kuwait, Hostel for School of Paper Technology at Saharanpur and many more. Of
these YMCA Staff Quarters and Yamuna Apartments make it to the list of 62
modern heritage buildings brought out by INTACH. However, the YMCA Staff
Quarters was demolished a few years back. It was for the Hotel Mughal Sheraton
that was done in association with Arcop which won them the first Aga Khan Award.
Ashish Choudhury son of late Ajoy Choudhury says, “The Design Group had
designed numerous private residences and an even larger number of projects,
many of which were built.”
Sabikhi
says, “Ajoy and I met at School of Planning & Architecture, Delhi, which
was then called Delhi Polytechnic. We were all 1952 batchmates along with Raj
Rewal, Ram Sharma… Kuldeep Singh and Morad Choudhury were a batch senior. I studied
there for two years and then went on to Liverpool to do B.Arch. I worked in
England for a few years before moving back to Delhi. Ajoy finished his studies
and worked in Milan, Italy before moving back.” It is uncanny how each of these
architects then went on to leave an indelible mark on the architectural
landscape of Delhi. Choudhury adds, “my father did not set out to be an
architect. He had done his Physics Hons at Delhi University and wanted to do a
Masters in English Literature, but was convinced to take up architecture. Dejected with the slow pace of
instruction after his first year of studies,
he wanted to give up architecture. A meeting with Achyut Kanvinde, convinced
him to take up an apprenticeship under him while pursuing his B.Arch.”
The
Design Group began around 1961, Shiban Ganju was a part of the group initially
and then went abroad. Morad Choudhury was a part for a few years and then joined
Achyut Kanvinde.
Tracing
their work Sabikhi says, “our first project was the YMCA Staff Quarters. We had
a clear idea about what we wanted. It was built on a minimal budget. The choice
of material was very limited in those days, it was brick and plaster. Because
the cost was so low we could not do traditional things like verandahs and
balconies.” The next project through the
same satisfied clients was the bigger YMCA Institute of Engineering at Faridabad,
set on 20 acres of land. The Institute curriculum based on the German system included
training at the workshop and theoretical classes. The design was done to
include this pedagogy. It included the
academic centre, the staff quarters, hostel, the auditorium. The central
structure was conceived as a pinwheel to allow for expansion later on. The
academic centre, the staff quarters and hostels were built as separate units
but connected through a system of covered corridors and verandahs. Sabikhi
adds, “the design element of interlinking façade which was begun then was perfected
at Yamuna Apartments.” The interlinking façade created a visual deception of
open space thus could hide density. It also created a vast imagery of
unstructured open space.
What
stands out as common thread in their design is the clean clear lines with a
stark minimalism, more Western in its concept than the Indian ornate architecture.
The monotony of the starkness of minimalism broken by using simple design
elements adding a fair bit of drama to the buildings. What gives the design its
distinct uniqueness is the ability to include Indian cultural nuances and aspects which gave
the modern contemporary architecture an Indian context. Such that the design
was not alien to India but represented the modern or forward looking one. So
far sighted that several of the designs could withstand the changes of time
adapt itself well to it. Sabikhi says, “Since we were also teaching at SPA we
undertook numerous field trips to Jaisalmer, Agra to understand and study
traditional Indian architecture.” At ITC Mughal, three bridges connect the
lobby to the rooms through a cluster of garden courts drawing from Mughal
architecture yet modernistic. The Janakpuri District Centre though used
colonial architectural elements. Sabikhi says, “our design was used to a large
extent but then later, the land was parcelled and sold to developers who did
not use our standard design control for the facades.”
Choudhury
says, “My father shared with me that his favourite urban typology was
'low-rise, high-density'. It so happened that The Design Group did several
projects that explored this typology."
Choudhury
adds, " my father told me that design was, at one level, an exercise in
problem solving and a response to the site and program. But there was always a
strong underlying search for a design theme in their work." In
Yamuna Apartments, the topography of the land was incorporated into the design.
Levelling the land would have cost heavily and budget was tight. Thus the
design balanced the heights so well that a block with three floors is
beautifully comfortably connected to another one with two floors through a club
house. And through hanging balconies on another side. The fact that students
would have to walk long distances within the campus in the heat or cold
resulted in the corridors connecting all areas including auditorium being
covered at the YMCA Institute. Sabikhi says, “At Yamuna Apartments, which came
up at the same time with Tara Apartments, I am happy that the framework which
we planned was strong enough to absorb changes of the modern way of life. The
design has been able to absorb the changes.”
The
choice of material though limited, has seen The Design Group use natural
material for finish so that maintenance at a later stage is not a problem.
Exposed brick has been used, grit finish to red sandstone. Red sandstone has
been used on the exteriors of The Indian Embassy Kuwait.
As
Sabikhi says, “the difference between what we were doing then and what people
do today is that we were not concerned with making money. For us, it was a
dedication, a way of doing things. In designing space or concepts, to be able
to convince our clients, of how we want to build.” Choudhury says, "my
father once said that he did not know, when he started out, that one day
Architecture would become a friend."
So
did they ever think that the buildings will be a part of modern heritage?
Sabikhi laughs saying no. Wonder what Ajoy Choudhury would have said? But
seeing the spectrum of their work, given a chance, they would have still built
on absorbing all modern technologies still being the modernists.…
Box1
Yamuna
Apartments
The
Design Group
Structural
Consultant T S Narayanaswamy
Contractors
– Constructed departmentally under the control of the Cooperative Society in
true cooperative spirit
Landscape
– Ravinder Bhan
Approximate
Cost – Rs. 1.3 crores – 1975 -1980
Approximate
built up – 23,711 m2.
Yamuna
Apartments, the first cooperative group housing society in Delhi can be said to
be ahead of its time as it was conceived and planned more like a mini township,
self contained apartments with plenty of open spaces and pedestrian streets.
The design has four radial streets which converge at the central point – a
modern day take off on the traditional courtyard concept. The central point is
an open meeting space while the top is joined to form a community centre. The
staircases to each flat is separate giving it a private entrance yet connected
to the mainstream. As Sabikhi says, “when I look back I realise they were
practical realistic people who did not want anything fancy. We managed to put
in a few basements.” The traffic was
planned on the periphery and the inside area between the blocks was left for
pedestrian traffic and for children to play. It still remains the same. Again a
take off from a village concept with streets facing each other and closed to
vehicular traffic.
Box
2
Janakpuri
District Centre for DDA, 1984
The
Design Group
Structural
Consultant S V Damle
Landscape
– Satish Khanna
Area
of Site –34.13 acres, 13.8 ha
Total
built up area – 2,74,100 m2
Taking
its cue from Connaught Place, the only commercial cum shopping hub for citizens
of Delhi with a snob value attached, the Janakpuri District Centre was designed
to be a self-contained commercial and shopping complex with recreational
facilities, restaurants and underground parking space. The Colonial architecture
with which Connaught Place is so identifiable became a reference point. Sabikhi
says, “the double-height colonnade defines and ties together all shopping
spaces. This then visually extends and relates to the landscaped courts and
gardens of the District Centre.”
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