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Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONwas used as a multipurpose stadium, the function it continues to serve even today. After Independence, and justbefore Delhi hosted the 1951 Asian Games, the Irwin Amphitheatre was renamed the National Stadium.The city includes some of the best examples of the city planners' use of an excellent mixture of Colonialand Indian architecture blended to create an ethereal and regal look. Rashtrapathi Bhavan is Lutyens' mostinspired example of Imperial architecture and it was made to be the residence of the Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India during the British Rule and is now the residence of the President of India.The two vast Secretariat buildings are each three stories high and nearly a quarter of a mile long. Theirdominating hilltop position – a “sahib site” removed from ordinary traffic – was meant to impress Indians andindeed to inspire a sense of reverence in all who approached. Such a piazza sacra, Herbert Baker felt, reflectedthe spirit of Indian tradition as found at “all the palaces & big tombs & mosques,” which were raised upon anatural plateau or manmade plinth. North and South Block were originally used as offices by the administration ofthe British Empire and today they are still used as offices by the Government of India.Lutyens apart from building the Viceroys Lodge and Rajpath designed several other buildings in the area includingseveral palaces for the Princes of the Indian States. The need for residences in Delhi arose because the mostimportant traditional rulers (maharajas) of Indian states were inducted in 1919 into a Chamber of Princes and,therefore, had to come to Delhi to attend the Chambers meetings of the British Parliament. One condition wastagged on to the lease of these lots: the designs of the palaces would have to pass muster with the government,to ensure that the appearance remained in accordance with the rest of Lutyens’s Delhi. Lutyens' plan wasadapted from the 'butterfly' scheme he had already employed as far back as 1902, and he took care not to rivalthe splendor of the Viceroy's residence.Hyderabad House, which is located to the northwest of India Gate, it was built in 1926, and was earlier known asthe Palace of the Nizam of Hyderabad it was as the name suggests the former princely residence of Osman AliKhan, Nizam VII, Nizam of Hyderabad, who was perhaps at the time one of the richest men in India. An interestingfeature about the design was that the Nizam requested Lutyens to make a zenana or women's quarters to househis harem, which he brought with him to Delhi.After India’s independence, with the accession of the princely states to the Union of India, these palaces becamethe property of the Indian government. Most still remain part of the government – functioning as offices forgovernment departments, Hyderabad house was gifted to Indian Government by the then Nizam of Hyderabad. Itis currently used by the Government of India for banquets and meetings for visiting foreign dignitaries. It has alsobeen a venue for joint press conferences and major government events or (as in the case of Jaipur House, which istoday the National Gallery of Modern Art) as a centre for culture. Bikaner House was designed by Lutyens in 1939for the Maharaja of Bikaner, is now the office of Rajasthan Tourism.The parliament building does not occupy as prominent a position as the other buildings of Lutyens and Bakerbecause the legislature was originally supposed to be located in a semicircular extension on the north face of theViceroy's palace, since the body of representatives that acted as a council was then small enough to have itsmeetings in modest halls. However, with the Morley‐Minto reforms of 1919, Indian representation in theViceroy’s council suddenly rose. With it arose the need to construct a building large enough to accommodate thehundreds of members who would meet under one roof. What resulted was the Council House, today known asSansad Bhavan or Parliament House. The Parliament house has three semi circular structures which weredesigned for the Chamber of Princes, the Council of State and the Legislative Assembly. The Central Hall whichused to house the joint library for the three chambers is today used for joint sessions of the two houses.In 1989, an additional building was added next to Parliament House, to act as an extension of the ParliamentLibrary. This is the New Parliament Library building, or the Sansadiya Gyanpeeth.In the 1900s, Reverend T.R. Dixon felt the need to create a permanent structure where British Officers living inDelhi could meet their daily spiritual needs. Sir Edwin Lutyens proposed Site Number 110 as the venue forconstructing this church which was approved by the Church Committee. Many designs were presented by various31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 36
Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONarchitects and the winning design of Henry Alexander Medd was selected and approved by Lutyens and theCommittee on 11th November 1925. The foundation stone was laid at the central point of the Church on 23rdFebruary 1927 by Viceroy Lord Irwin. It was officially opened to public on 18th January 1931.Plans to have a central business district as an interface between the two cities the Old and New Delhi were made,as the construction of the new capital of Imperial India started taking shape. Connaught Place is a prime businessand commercial centre of Delhi located at the centre of New Delhi. Parliament Street (Sansad Marg) was laid outalong the imaginary line connecting Jama Masjid and Parliament House (Sansad Bhawan) and where ParliamentStreet enters Connaught Place there is an open space where no shopping blocks are built. This space was meantto serve as a symbolic 'gateway' to British New Delhi. Mooted by W.H. Nicholls, the chief architect to theGovernment of India, who planned a central plaza based on the European Renaissance and Classical style it wasRobert Tor Russell, chief architect to the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of India who eventuallydesigned the plaza. Connaught Place's Georgian architecture was originally named after, the Duke of Connaughtwho visited Delhi in 1921. The British tradition of the round or oval shapes for plazas goes back via John Nash’sPark Crescent in London to John Wood’s Circus in Bath, built in 1754. The plan for Connaught Circus in New Delhiby Robert Tor Russel closely followed the models of the Circus in Bath and Park Crescent in London. It wasplanned to have commercial establishments on the ground floor with residential apartments on the first floor.The construction of Connaught Place finally work began in 1929 and was completed by 1934. The empty block ofthe Inner circle was filled up in the late 1970s with the construction of an underground market, a first in Delhi,Palika Bazaar at the junction point, stretching up to the Outer circle, it also came with an adjoining undergroundparking.Overlooking Central Park are the newer structures that have risen around the complex, mainly in the 1980s andafter. There is, for instance, the red sandstone‐and‐glass edifice of the Jeevan Bharati Building (the LIC building)designed by Charles Correa in 1986. On Janpath is the Jawahar Vyapar Bhavan, an architecturally interestingbuilding with cantilevers and octagonal windows built into its design. The Jawahar Vyapar Bhavan is home to thestate‐run Cottage Industries Emporium. Gradually other skyscrapers have mushroomed on the periphery of CP. Itis also the site of the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station which is the largest of all the Metro Stations and as it is the mainconnecting point for the Delhi Metro, it is one of the busiest and most crowded stations in the city.Eastern and Western Courts were designed by Robert Tor Russell. He is remembered for numerous buildings inNew Delhi in the two decades thereafter, continuing the well‐established stucco neo‐classical manner establishedby Lutyens and Baker for houses and minor buildings in the new capital.Gole Market was developed in 1918 as a subsidiary market to decongest Connaught Place. It was designed by G.Bloomfield, to be a neighborhood market and had Victorian lamp posts and other street furniture in the samestyle which unfortunately is no longer to be seen. Over the years insensitive additions and alterations havediluted the classical composition of this colonial market. The New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) hasundertaken a project of restoring and reinstating this heritage site.The Flagstaff House, the Commander‐in‐chief’s House ( and now the Nehru Memorial Museum or TeenMurti) closes another main vista, directly to the south from Rashtrapati Bhavan. Situated at a majornodal point, it was designed by Robert Tor Russell and completed in 1930. It is an elegant buildingfinished in stone and stucco in an austere classical style, carefully placed to reflect the military prowessof the Raj. In 1948 it was made the official residence of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.Since his death in May 1964, it has been preserved as a memorial and research library.The avenue plantation in New Delhi was planned by William Robert Mustoe along with the principal architect SirEdwin Lutyens. The genius of the landscape designer, William Robert Mustoe lies in immense knowledge aboutIndia’s varying climate and soil. Except for Rajpath, the principal thoroughfare of the New City, the tree speciesfor which were chosen by Lutyens before Mustoe’s arrival, Lutyens and Mustoe jointly chose the trees for all ofthe other roads in the new city. In addition to choosing the appropriate species, careful thought was given to thespacing of the new trees along the principal avenues, and it is these strong principles of planting design used in31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 37
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