Description

Various kinds of accommodation had to be planned for this new institute on the outskirts of New Delhi. The senior staff accommodation described here illustrates Raj Rewal’s idea of communal living. As with his embassy staff building (British Housing), he groups the semi-detached buildings, all the same size, around a central courtyard. But here the whole complex is dominated by axial symmetry, with two dwellings one above the other in each case. The four-storey buildings are placed close together, making the central courtyard into a significant space: core, assembly area, the actual centre of the entire complex, within strict geometry.

This thoroughly spiritual quality, particular to Indian architecture, is transferred to living together in this case. Access is from the middle, and in such a way that two units are linked by common staircases. Both dwellings, each on two storeys, are given direct access to the combined living/dining area, which faces the courtyard and a side garden or terrace area.

Kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms are placed outside, interestingly, making the buildings look hermetic and monolithic, with quite small apertures. Rewal gives the massive volumes sculptural force by cascade-like, cubic differentiation. Courtyards, terraces and balconies screened by sandstone grids shape the buildings’ external image. The quite unusual disposition of spaces in this group of apartment blocks with a strong sense of identity is determined by the occupants’ desire to communicate on the one hand and being screened from glaring light and heat on the other.

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Originally published in: Klaus-Peter Gast, Living Plans: New Concepts for Advanced Housing, Birkhäuser, 2005.