Raj Rewal - Report

ABSTRACT
A report on the works and style of Architecture

of Ar. Raj Rewal.
Akshay Sharma2018BARC081
BORN IN 1934 AND COMPLETED HIS EDUCATION FROM DELHI AND HIGHER EDUCATION FROM LONDON.
WORKED WITHIN THE OFFICES OF MICHAEL ECOCHARD IN PARIS (1961-62) AND THEN CAME BACK TO
BEGIN HIS OWN PRACTICE AS RAJ REWAL ASSOCIATES, HIS FIRM IS KNOWN FOR ITS HOUSING, URBAN
DESIGN AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Rajasthan
Old towns
Traditional haveli house
Western theories of urban planning
“Tradition should not be approached for its underlying order, not for its superficial effects, it
should be rethought in terms that are right for the possibilities and present social order”
Raj Rewal
As influenced by the traditional and however not denying the present

technological advances in the field of architecture, he created excellent
blend of both and thus acquired attention.
Thus, his influences from Rajasthan shows clearly, how he interpret the
jali work, which was an intriguing feature of that place and how he
interprets as openings towards the society.
He has common ideologies as of B V Doshi’s contemporary works such
as – Broken up Forms, open courtyards, and a social living
environment.
He has majorly built and work on one place and buildings responding to
one type of climate and culture i.e. Delhi, hot & dry North India.
ASIAN GAMES VILLAGE, DELHI SEIKH SARAI VILLAGE, DELHI
He works majorly on one theory, how a building design should be met

with the rapid growing diversities of architecture and doesn’t exclude
the most crucial elements such as climate and culture.
He works on how India’s traditional architecture, historical references

can be translated in the design of housing in urban platform.
• Clustering of masses is seen in his work.

• Courtyards that provides public spaces
within the building premises.
• Dividing single terrace into number of
scattered terraces.
• Also, a major use of Sandstone, cladding
with brick, and concrete.
• STREETS: interpreting the idea of a street
from the major Indian cities, they are narrow
to have shade in the hot climate of his region
of work, created various intersections for
creating accidental chats within the
neighbourhood.
• GATEWAYS: they provide a change in the monotonous scenery of
interchanging streets; they are also formed by interconnecting bridges
between two neighbours.
It was a challenging task even for a Mozart like Raj Rewal, the major challenge was the
context as it was all designed by Lutyens
and Baker, while his basis was for
designing it was enlightenment.
Because the main purpose of a library,

no matter what small or big, is to
enlighten.
He was also inspired by the India’s Rasa

theory, his first priority was to achieve
the functional aspect, that is for what was the building was being constructed and then to
manage doing that so interestingly and amazingly so that the users enjoys it; and a sense
of enjoyment at the end is all the Rasa theory talks about.
Was to create a bank of knowledge, to assist the members of the Indian legislature. It was
built as a huge library that could hold the richest repositories from all over India. It’s the
second largest library of India.
It was built according to the ideologies of Raj Rewal as it has to be modern as modern as
possible and also should not loose the hold of the traditional values of India.
In order to give library its own identity but not emphasising it from the context of the
Parliament building, and thus Rewal uses historical relationship.
Between the library and the Parliament house he develops same kind of relation as of the
Guru and the King, he defines library as Guru who acknowledges the power of king, without
standing against him and without giving in, and thus it retains its own identity without
submitting as a sage.
He acquired regionally available sandstone as used in the parliament, and handcrafted

stone jalis that he uses throughout the building.
In the interior of the library there are passages that faces the courtyard that symbolises
the values provided by our Indian constitution i.e. the value of freedom, freedom of speech,
and equality.
The dome is shaped like a petal that
symbolises enlightenment and the light form
the sun entering the library from this dome
creates a sense of; how knowledge, books
are enlightened by the almighty.
The central dome, spanning 82 feet (25

meters), is entirely of glass that was
specially developed for this building.
As using conventional glass is impractical

due to the intense heat and glare of New
Delhi.
There are two floors above ground and two below in order to maintain a level with the
Parliament (and also so that the guru doesn’t outpower king) only the domes are above
that.
The plan of the building founded its inspiration from the precolonial Indian architecture like
All the three courtyards of the library are

the symbols of different feature of the
Indian Constitution-
1. Has amphitheatre – freedom of

expression
2. Has a pool of water – equality
3. Has a tree as focal point – social

injustice
August 15, 1947 marks the date of
India’s independence and on the 25th
anniversary prime minister Indira
Gandhi reveals the Hall of Nations:
Pragati Maidan by an Indian architect
Raj Rewal in 1972.
It was a proud moment for India as it

was the world’s 1st, having the largest
span, space-frame structure.
It was a permanent exhibition complex, which was designed as the focal point of 130 acres
of the ground, built in concrete cast in situ and evolved within the time constraints, material
constraints, and also labour constraints and its main motive was to build a symbolic
representation of India’s technological advancement after 25 years of independence.
“They used a tessellating triangular structure to form a capped pyramid”
Although under scorching heat of Delhi, concrete was used due to unavailability of steel in
India and hence needs to be imported. In order to maintain a comfortable temperature
inside the hall Rewal again travels back in time and used the concept of traditional ‘Jali’ and
created a pattern and utilized the depth of the structural system and created a sun breaker
to obstruct the sun rays while in turn enabling natural ventilation.
There are four halls interconnected with the help of ramps and among them the largest one
is called as Hall of Nations which has a clear span of 78 meters and a height varying from
three metres to 21 metres, thereby providing a vast capacity for items to be exhibited, from
books to bulldozers.
The demolition was carried after the

Delhi High Court dismissed a plea by
the building's architect to preserve it
on April 20.
“The court's verdict was based on

the decision of the Heritage
Conservation Committee (HCC),
set up for protecting heritage
structures, which has held that only 60-year-old or older buildings would be
considered for heritage status.” – India today, As the Hall of Nation being only 45years
doesn’t get the protection of heritage building. This decision of High court created a shock
and a revolt among the architecture community.
it was built to house the athletes for the games. There were about 500 low rise housing
units spread over 35 acres. Aimed to create an urban atmosphere in a high-density housing
society with multiple open spaces and
interconnected shaded pedestrians.
The basic ideation is clearly from the

urban atmosphere of the cities like
Jaipur and Jaisalmer. Rewal has
discovered three major principle to
create a traditional ambience with a
contemporary response -
• low rise houses

• Dense development to
recreate an Indian ‘Mohalla’ or
community.
• Clustered formations which are most suitable in the Indian climatic context.
• Clustering
• Courtyards
• Scattered terraces
• Streets
Concept is predicated on sequenced open spaces connected by narrow, shaded pedestrian

streets and comprising each residential and commercial activities.
Conspicuous inspiration from the traditional street scale pattern of Indian cities, where
narrow paths become spaces of interaction between folks and therefore the open sq. offers
a sense of neighbourhood.
The cube like solids and voids are intriguing characteristic of the Indian context.
• www.architectureweek.com
• www.indiatoday.in
• www.parliamentlibraryindia.nic.in
• www.rajrewal.in
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.archnet.org
• www.rethinkingfuture.com
• www.business-standard.com
• www.architexturez.net
All images from-
• www.rajrewal.in

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ABSTRACT

A report on the works and style of Architecture

As influenced by the traditional and however not denying the present

ASIAN GAMES VILLAGE, DELHI SEIKH SARAI VILLAGE, DELHI

He works majorly on one theory, how a building design should be met

He works on how India’s traditional architecture, historical references

• Clustering of masses is seen in his work.

Because the main purpose of a library,

He was also inspired by the India’s Rasa

He acquired regionally available sandstone as used in the parliament, and handcrafted

The central dome, spanning 82 feet (25

As using conventional glass is impractical

All the three courtyards of the library are

1. Has amphitheatre – freedom of

2. Has a pool of water – equality

3. Has a tree as focal point – social

It was a proud moment for India as it

“They used a tessellating triangular structure to form a capped pyramid”

The demolition was carried after the

“The court's verdict was based on

The basic ideation is clearly from the

• low rise houses

Concept is predicated on sequenced open spaces connected by narrow, shaded pedestrian

All images from-

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