Architects shaping Architecture of Delhi - The Design Group

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.”

A growth of Delhi a modern city through the eyes of Madan Mahatta

(The original article appeared in The HINDU  Vignettes of Old Delhi - The Hindu read the unedited version here....) 

Delhi is a city built and re-built over time, a city with myriad influence spanning centuries and culture. Lutyens Delhi has been much documented and written about. It is however the building of modern Delhi, a change from the British Era to the Indian one, which gave it its own particular character symbolising growth and development.   Modern Delhi, 1950s onwards saw the influence of a number of renowned architects, each leaving his own unmistakeable imprint on its buildings. Several iconic buildings emerged. INTACH has come out with a list of 62 buildings which deserve the modern heritage status and needs to be preserved as modern heritage. It includes office complexes, cooperative group housing societies, cinema hall, shopping complexes all designed post 1950s each is a study in itself with its own charm. What made it all the more interesting for me was our residential abode was in the list as the first cooperative group housing society in Delhi.

A common factor or thread in all the buildings listed by INTACH was that majority of the buildings were shot by one man, the legendary photographer – Madan Mahatta.  Working in an era where there were curbs on importing equipment, doing with the little infrastructure that was in place, the man worked with some of the finest architects involved in the design and building of modern Delhi. Documenting their work and at the same time documenting the growth of the city.  He understood architecture and was able to compose his shots showing off the buildings splendidly. As leading architect, Kuldip Singh, says, “My association with Madan Mahatta started in 1960s, He was highly dedicated who would go to great extent to get the right shades, colour and textures, show the composition to us before shooting. At times if the ambiance was not right, a second visit was arranged. The distortions were corrected through his Linhoff camera.” The architects with whom Madan Mahatta worked reads like a literal whos who – The architects with whom Madan Mahatta worked reads like a literal whos who – Raj Rewal, Kuldip Singh, Charles Correa, Habib Rahman, Design Group - Ranjit Sabiki and Ajoy Choudhury,  J K Choudhry, J A Stein, Achyut Kanvinde…

The sheer volume of work is mind boggling. Madan Mahatta had single handed shot almost over a lakh images of modern Delhi. He worked with over 60 of the top architects in Delhi documenting their work. A peek into Mahatta Archives makes me forget the hot afternoon trudge to Connaught Place to the upstairs office of Mahatta & Co. Mahatta’s closed their retail last year, they continue with their commercial work and studio above their showroom which used to be their darkrooms. What comes through is a mad passion to photograph with uncanny precision the growth of a city. The love for modernity, architecture, keen eye on the composition comes through in each of the photographs. It might have taken hours, days or months to document. The cameras he used from childhood to his professional life , baby brownie by Kodak,Zeiss Super Ikonta, Rolleifex, Nikon (35mm )the F, F2 , F3 , Linhoff (medium format), Hassalblad (Medium format). The photographs are still being documented and digitised. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and it is indeed true here.

Pavan Mahatta who now runs Mahatta with his brother Pankaj and son Arjun says, “there have been several outstanding buildings in Delhi even in the recent past. But the finest of them were done from the 1950s to the 1980s. It is not to say that architects today are not good, but those who created the buildings then had vision, they used a wide spectrum of materials and each design philosophy is different from the other. The sheer vibrancy and the depth of work was very different.” Adds Singh, “It was an exciting phase. This was a period of better patronage from the Government, where they tried to involve private architecture to raise the standards and add a new dimension to building. Once the actual construction of the building started one did have the feeling that one is a participant of an evolving city.”

And did the city evolve? Yes, it certainly did, the pictures are incredible. There is an aerial shot of the Jantar Mantar, Park Hotel area, all lush with a few buildings, the NDMC building yet to be built. There are shots of the American Embassy designed by Edward D Stone, there is a black and yellow ambassador parked right at the entrance. Yes, it must have been possible to drive so near the place. There is a photo of our apartments, Yamuna Apartments by The Design Group being built. The front of the society without any roads is a barren sand area. I am stunned to see the open space, today the road outside takes me a good 10 minutes to cross! There are many such gems. There is a shot of a plane landing at night, when the first night landing commenced at the Palam Airport. The runway lit by plethora of lights with the plane. It must have been some determination to document the changing face of the city so methodically. There are shots of the Safdarjung Tomb beautifully reflected in the water surrounding it. A shot which made me nostalgic – of bunking school for movies and ice-cream, was that of the inside of the famous Nirula’s restaurant next to Chanakya cinema. There is a shot of the “once happening mall of Delhi” the Super Bazaar where everyone shopped before the mall explosion occurred. The Bahai Temple, an architecture marvel, as Pavan says, “my father was involved with it from the time the model was built.”

There are shots of the Centaur, Akbar, Maurya, Oberoi and Ashoka Hotel. Raj Rewal’s Hall of Nations is well documented as are Kuldip Singh’s NDMC building and Palika Kendra. There is Charles Correa’s Jeevan Bharati, Stein’s Habitat Centre, India International Centre, The Design Group’s YMCA Staff Headquarters and Yamuna Apartments... As Pavan says, “my father was partial to Stein’s work.”

There is a beautiful shot of 19th January 1961, of an open cavalcade in which Queen Elizabeth rode with Dr. Rajendra Prasad around Connaught Place. There are crowds lining the streets and the aerial shot shows the tranquillity of the place. He recalls how when Palika Bazaar was being built, they would shoot it every month so the growth of the bazaar and the entire area would be known.  The Odeon cinema, Supreme Court…what is poignant is as Pavan says, “my father had cancer but even in those last days he would insist on being driven out. He used to mentally document the progress of the Metro through its pillars.” I ponder how would he have reacted to the demolishing of Raj Rewal’s architectural beauties at Pragati Maidan?