HISTORY OF

ARCHITECTURE
“A building becomes architecture when it not only works
effectively but moves the human soul”.
 ABOUT:
• Born in 1915 in Kolkata
• Habib Rahman - One of the first generation architects to
bring in Modernism to India
• Nehru was set to embrace modernism as the vehicle to
represent the agenda of the unfolding future
• Habib Rahman introduced the Bauhaus style in the
Indian context • He won Padmashri award 1955 and
Padma Bhushan award in 1974
ELEMENTS USED
• Flat roofs, smooth facades, cubic shapes favoring right angles
• The colors used are white, grey, black, or beige and other dull
colors
• Open floor plans and functional furniture
• Use of steel frames, flat slab, concrete as construction material. •
the lack of ornamentation.
• Importance of function Radically simplified forms • Rationality
and functionality.
• BAUHAUS STYLE
– EMPHASIZED ON THE USE OF MODERN
TECHNOLOGY, AND MASS PRODUCTION
TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO DESIGN AND
MANUFACTURE HIGH QUALITY AND CHEAP GOODS
WHICH COULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO MANY
• THE USE OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS:
• JALIS
• CHAJJAS
• DOME
• OVERHANGING ROOF
• HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LOUVERS

STYLE OF WORK
GANDHI GHAT ,

KOLKATA

The brief demanded the
reflection of the personality
and philosophy of the
Mahatma Gandhi
• He had no contemporary
example of such a structure to
draw inspiration from, and no
one available to guide him.
• There was a budgetary limit
of five lakh rupees and the • This was the first structure to
deadline stipulated was be built as a memorial to the
January 30, 1949, Gandhiji's first Father of the Nation.
death anniversary.
• However, Gandhiji's respect
and love for all religions
inspired me to conceive a
structure that harmoniously
and aesthetically reflected
and symbolized the three main
religions in India – Hinduism,
Islam and Christianity.
• The result was a tower – a simplified
profile of a temple shikhara,
• Capped with an Islamic dome.
• A horizontal cantilevered slab
projecting from both sides appeared
in silhouette somewhat like a cross.
• Happily the first model was
approved by the cabinet.
• The 40 ft cantilever was too difficult
for the departmental engineers to
design, but a brilliant bridge engineer
came to our rescue.
• Despite various foundation
problems, the structure – called
Gandhi Ghat – was completed well
before the first anniversary and was
opened by Prime Minister on January
15, 1949.
NEW SECRETERIAT BUI

KOLKATA
• The construction of the fourteen-story New
Secretariat Building at Calcutta marked the
beginning of high-raise construction in India.
• Following Independence, new areas of
administrative activity generated an enormous
demand for office space.
• The programme for the New Secretariat called for
maximizing floor space on a one-acre corner plot a
kilometer away from the old Secretariat.
• Introduction of steel framed structure resting on
concrete piles .
• Introduction of horizontal and vertical concrete
louvers as sun breakers.
• Building designed in 3 blocks – to take advantage
of the site .
• 14 stored high – tallest at that time in India
Rahman was the 1st architect to introduce
skyscraper to India .
• To obtain uniform illumination and max. ventilation,
the blocks have been comparatively narrow.
UCG BUILDING,
N
DELHI
• Rahman was inspired from the Bauhaus
ideology and building forms.
• He used R.C.C framed structure the grid was
simple and thus, the linear form
• The columns are either visible as ribs or are free
standing
• Free standing columns are rectangular In shape
with semi circular ends giving the illusion of
slenderness-heavy structure resting on very little
support
• A free-standing open RC staircase has been
placed at the end of the north block.
• To cut down the heat load on air-conditioning,
chhajjas and louvers
The UGC building is much like a box shape in
overall form Being a Modernist building, it was
• The facades were divided into horizontal
designed for a functional purpose
chajjas n vertical louvers - almost like a skin
(classification of spaces being rational)
protecting the building
Rahman broke the building into two blocks, to
fit the site. FORM AND ORIENTATION

• he has protected the building from extreme

• Rather than using the same articulation on
climate of the regions by creating surface of
back façade of the building, he provided two
smaller units consisting vertical and horizontal
continuous overhangs on the windows- this
louvers and hangovers. Closely placed vertical
expression was something new that any
louvers and thin hangovers with cut-outs at
architect had used during that time - this would
every interval space create the perfect play of
protect rooms from direct sunlight and also
mass and voiding the façade of the building.
help cut down the heat load on ac system
FAÇADE TREATMENT
RABINDRA
BHAWAN,

New Delhi
• Rabindra Bhavan was built to mark the birth centenary of
Tagore, who in addition to being a poet and novelist, was an
artist, playwright and composer . The building is thus the home of
three National Academies: Lalit Kala (Plastic Arts), Sangeet
Natak (Dance, Drama and Music) and Sahitya (Literature).
• “Rabindra Bhawan, which was nominated for the Aga Khan
award in 1980, was the first building where I could free myself
from the influence of Walter Gropius. This building belongs to
India. Here I used traditional Indian elements such as chajjas ,
jalis and overhanging roof. It was the first functional building to
give me aesthetical satisfaction. Maybe it was Rabindranath’s
artistic genius that inspired me to give unemotionally moving
quality to the building. I feel proud to have been able to design
memorials to both the Mahatma and Gurudev.” Rahman Habib
1965.
 • THE BUILDING IS DIVIDED INTO THREE
MAJOR BLOCKS- ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING,
EXHIBITION GALLERY AND THEATRE.
• THE ADMINISTRATIVE BLOCK, WHICH IS THE
BIGGEST OF ALL, OCCUPIES PROMINENT
ELEMEN AMOUNT OF SPACE ON THE SITE.
•THEY - SHAPE IS CHOSEN VERY
TS: THOUGHTFULLY TO COVER THE MAXIMUM
AREA ON THE SITE REINTERPRETED FORM OF
CHAJJAS IN CONTINUOUS HORIZONTAL
LOUVERS.
• COMPOSITE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING
OF BRICK
 Shape and
positioning of the
wings follows the
shape of the site
Use of pure
geometry in overall
form of the
building. Rahman
created an
interconnected
structure free from
Gropius’s box
shapes and the
Bauhaus factory
aesthetics.
• THE ADMINISTRATIVE BLOCK, WHICH IS THE BIGGEST OF ALL, OCCUPIES PROMINENT
AMOUNT OF SPACE ON THE SITE .THE ARCHITECT’S VISION WAS TO MAKE A BOLD
STATEMENT AND HOLD ITSELF ON THE HUGE SITE- HENCE THE MONUMENTAL SCALE
OF THE BLOCK
• THEY - SHAPE IS CHOSEN VERY THOUGHTFULLY TO COVER THE MAXIMUM AREA ON
THE SITE. NOT ONLY THAT, THE SHAPE OF THE BLOCK CREATES DIFFERENT SIZES OF
POCKETS WHERE OTHER TWO BLOCKS ARE PLACED
• UNLIKE OTHER MODERNISTS, WHO TRIED TO DESIGN THEIR BUILDING LIKE A PIECE OF
ART AND CREATED LARGE OPEN SPACES TO VIEW THE BUILDING, RAHMAN BROKE
HIS BUILDING INTO DIFFERENT BLOCKS TO CREATE GALI -LIKE GREETS – WHICH HE
BORROWED FROM INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.
• BASIC LAYOUT OF THE BUILDING HAVING SERVICE CORE IN THE CENTRE AND
FUNCTIONAL SPACES AROUND
PLANS
FACADE:
• REINTERPRETED FORM OF CHAJJAS IN CONTINUOUS HORIZONTAL LOUVERS • THE
LOUVERED ROWS ARE PLACED ON CANTILEVERED BRACKETS
• RCC SUN SHADES IN TWO CONTINUOUS ROWS OVER ALL THE WINDOWS HAVE BEEN
PROVIDED, THE LOWER ROW IN EACH CASE BEING PLACED ON CANTILEVERED
BRACKETS SO THAT IT IS AWAY FROM THE WALL AND IS NO OBSTRUCTION TO BREEZE.
THE ADMINISTRATION BLOCK VIEW OF THE ACADEMY BUILDING, SHOWING THE USE OF
STONE, JALIS
ACADEMY BUILDING ,THE
EXHIBITION BLOCK.

LAWNS FREE-STANDING SPIRAL

STAIRCASE IN THE EXHIBITION.

GALLERY USE OF RANDOM

RUBBLE MASONRY ON THE WALL
THANK YOU