Archinect - News

A ‘ham-fisted ego trip’: Rowan Moore delves into Modi's divisive Central Vista project

2023-04-06T11:02:00-04:00

It is the centrepiece of the Central Vista Project, an ambitious plan to make over the city’s British-built administrative centre. Critics of the new building say that it is an unnecessary replacement of the existing parliament, that short cuts were taken with its procurement and the obtaining of permissions, and that there was minimal consultation with parliamentarians and the public.

The Prime Minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party has maintained the US$150M project is a “necessity” and expects its inauguration to take place soon after previously redying for a debut by the end of October.

Modi appeared encouraged on a “surprise” hour-long site visit last Thursday. The more modernized four-story facility will offer 40 square meters of office space to each of India’s 545 parliament members in addition to holding a lounge, dining areas, library, 5,000-piece art collection, and constitution hall meant to honor its now 75 years of independence.

Delhi-based architect Swati Janu awarded the 2022 Moira Gemmil Prize for Emerging Architecture

2022-05-03T14:14:00-04:00

The W Awards, formerly known as the Women in Architecture awards, announce this year's Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture winner. The awards program was created to recognize the work and achievements of female and non-binary designers in professional practice under the age of 45.

Last year's prize was awarded to six female architects part of the architecture practice Lacol. This year's Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture goes to architect Swati Janu.

Social Design Collaborative's ModSkool in Delhi, a modular, low-cost school designed to help communities quickly dismantle the structure as a means to protect it from demolitions. The Modskool was awarded the Beazley Design of the Year 2020 in Architecture. Learn more about the project here. Image courtesy of the Architectural Review.

The Delhi-based architect, writer, and community artist is the founder of Social Design Collaborative. Her practice focuses on integrating architectural activism and community engagemen...

India's controversial parliament redesign draws increased criticism as country battles new Covid wave

2021-04-27T13:36:00-04:00

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rebuilding part of New Delhi, but the mammoth undertaking is drawing fire [...] The massive project — which local media have estimated could cost about 200 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) — has grown more controversial as India’s coronavirus cases have exploded. On social media, some questioned the need for spending on new government structures at a time when the nation is dealing with severe fallouts from the pandemic.

As India struggles to contain a new devastating wave of Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, opposition is further growing to Prime Minister Modi's controversial redesign plan of the historic Central Vista in the capital Delhi which will include a new parliament building and several government offices. The criticism centers around the project's lack of public consultation and transparency as well as its enormous price tag at a time when the country is facing economic challenges due to the ongoing pandemic.

The undertaking officially launched in December 2020 but was briefly halted (and subsequently approved) by India's Supreme Court shortly after.

Indian firm HCP Design, Planning and Management Ltd. is in charge of the Central Vista urban master plan and architectural design of the parliament building.

India's controversial new parliament building approved by highest court

2021-01-05T14:40:00-05:00

India’s supreme court has given approval for a new parliament building that critics have called an “expensive vanity project” for the prime minister, Narendra Modi. [...] Since the project was announced, it has faced criticism from civil society groups, environmentalists and politicians about its lack of transparency and public consultation and high cost in a time of economic crisis.

The $3 billion parliament plan, a pet project of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reshape the country's capital, was officially launched last December with the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone but immediately halted again by India's Supreme Court due to legal challenges over environmental and land use violations.

The Delhi central vista project has received sharp criticism, mainly over its lack of transparency and financial burden on India's Covid-stricken economy.

Narendra Modi launches controversial effort to redesign India's parliament complex

2020-12-14T15:23:00-05:00

Despite widespread opposition, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has begun a £2bn overhaul of Delhi's grand complex of government buildings in a bid to sever the nation from its colonial past. At a ceremony held last week, Modi laid the foundation stone for a new building to replace Parliament House, designed by English architects Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker, which upon its completion in 1927 became the seat of power for British-ruled India.

The ambitious plan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the sprawling complex of historic, colonial-era government buildings in Delhi is off to a rocky start: despite ceremonially laying the foundation stone for a new parliament building on December 10, further spending on the project was blocked by India's Supreme Court within the same week.

Since its official reveal in May, Modi's plan to have the heritage-listed central vista redesigned by architect Bimal Patel has been sharply criticized as an "expensive vanity project," including by Indian-born artist Anish Kapoor. In his Guardian Op-Ed, he writes: "Architecture is an effective propagandist tool. [...] This is not the redesign of buildings, it is instead Modi’s way of placing himself at the centre and cementing his legacy as the maker of a new Hindu India."

The new parliament building is expected to be ready for India's 75th anniversary of independence in 2022.

Footwear giant Puma accused of defacing 17th century buildings in Delhi for shoe commercial

2017-11-22T13:38:00-05:00

Global sportswear giant Puma was accused today of irreversibly damaging 17th-century architecture in Delhi's historic quarter as part of an advertising stunt to promote a new line of shoes.

For their latest shoe ad dubbed "Suede Gully," Puma spraypainted large, colorful murals over several buildings in Old Delhi, a centuries-old quarter and heritage area. The stunt has conservationists outraged, claiming that the graffiti has caused permanent damage to the carved sandstone, limestone plaster and Lahori bricks.

Rules to protect Delhi's heritage sites do exist, as does one that specifically forbids advertising on historic buildings. However, laws protecting these sites from destruction are rarely enforced and the sportswear brand was granted all of the necessary permissions for their graffiti clad campaign.

“An act of outrage”: Delhi's historic Hall of Nations and Hall of Industries demolished

2017-05-03T16:13:00-04:00

“The Hall of Nations is a very significant building in the evolution of modern architecture in India. It demonstrated the ability of the profession in 1970 to build a large space frame structure with available resources, which in this case was reinforced cement concrete and skilled hand-labour.” “It was an iconic building representing an important step in the development of Indian architecture. It should have been conserved on that account,”

Built to mark the 25th anniversary of India's independence in 1972, Delhi's historic Hall of Nations and Hall of Industries were demolished last week to make way for a new commercial complex. The Delhi High Court's verdict was based on the decision of the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC), which deems that only buildings 60 years or older can be considered for heritage status. Notable opponents of the demolition include the buildings' architect Raj Rewal and urban planner A G K Menon, who have called the teardown “an act of outrage”, the Indian Express reports.

“Delhi’s many iconic buildings with rich architectural and aesthetic value will not qualify as heritage under the ‘60 years or older’ clause [...],” Hindustan Times columnist Shivani Singh wrote in an opinion piece. “The tearing down of the two buildings has set a precedent that makes Delhi’s contemporary heritage vulnerable.”

New Delhi mandates odd-even car rationing to fight world's worst air pollution

2016-01-04T15:45:00-05:00

For the first two weeks of the year, private cars with even-numbered license plates are allowed on the roads only on even-numbered dates, and those with odd-numbered plates on odd dates. The restrictions have noticeably reduced traffic in a city with 9 million cars, more than double that of a decade ago. In 2014, the World Health Organization found New Delhi’s air to be the dirtiest of 1,600 cities it studied. Scientists blame the high levels of pollutants [...] for thousands of deaths a year.

Previously: Delhi’s air pollution is worse than Beijing's. A new app measures the air quality in real time.

The disappearing barsati, or rooftop dwellings, of Delhi

2015-12-21T17:33:00-05:00

Buildings in Delhi’s residential areas were restricted to two storeys, with construction permitted on only a fraction of the space on the third floor, so on top of homes, families built small dwellings for their own use, as accommodation for domestic staff or to rent out cheaply. Exposed to the elements, the single room on the top floor became known evocatively as the barsati – derived from the Hindi word for rain, barsaat.

"These apartments – generally, a small shack with a large terrace – afforded a new generation of urbanites cheap living space near the centre of town... But it’s a typology that, as land values rise and the population grows, is fast disappearing. While there are no official figures, anecdotal evidence suggests that in the 1980s, 75% of small rentable properties in many residential suburbs were barsatis – the same areas today have only a few dozen such properties, but many more apartment blocks."

Delhi’s air pollution is worse than Beijing's. A new app measures the air quality in real time.

2015-02-19T14:11:00-05:00

Residents of the world’s most polluted city—New Delhi, in case you were still wondering—can now find out exactly how toxic the air in their neighbourhood is. [...] “People are clueless about the air they are breathing. If there is fog, they think it might be pollution,” he said. “People will have this information on their fingertips now.” [...] While the government figures out a way to bring pollution under control, this app could help people buy time.

Delhi's Modernist Architecture in Photographs

2012-05-31T15:16:00-04:00

Veteran photographer Madan Mahatta took shots of some of the prominent buildings that defined the landscape of Delhi from the 1950s to the 1980s, as the city was embracing Modernist architecture. An exhibition of his work is on at the Photoink gallery in New Delhi till June 21, 2012.