Dissertation report on famous post independence architect- Ar. Habib Rahman

1. FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE & EKISTICS
JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA
NEW DELHI
DISSERTATION REPORT
“INDIAN ARCHITECT”
AR.HABIB RAHMAN
SUBMITTED BY:
MAHENOOR FATIMA
B.ARCH III YEAR (DAY)
20BAR018
AR-310
GUIDED BY:
AR. MOHD. ZIAUDDIN
AR. MOHD. FIROZ ANWAR

2. INTRODUCTION
● Habib rahman was born in 1919, in Kolkata.
● He obtained his BE in 1939 from Bengal university.
● He has completed his degree in architecture from MIT, US in the year
1946, becoming the first Indian to studied architecture in abroad.
● Rahman got opportunity to work under Lawrence Anderson, William
Wurster, Walter Gropius and Ely Kahn in US.
● Habib Rahman returned to India during the 1946 calcutta Riots and
became the senior architect of Bengal PWD.
● In 1953, he became the senior architect in CPWD, New Delhi and
appointed as chief architect in the year 1970.
HIS PROJECTS & AWARDS
● Some of his projects are: Gandhi Ghat, The New Secretariat, Dak tar Bhavan, Rabindra Bhawan,
WHO Building, UGC building, National zoological park, Museums of Abul Kalam Azad,
Fakhruddin Ali and Zakir Hussain.
● Awards-
○ Padma shri ( 1955)
○ Padma Bhushan (1974)
○ JK cement architect of the year chairman’s award for life achievement (1995)

3. AIM
To understand the design ideology of Architect Habib Rahman by identifying his concept of modern
architecture, his adaptation of local influences in his works, especially in New Delhi.
OBJECTIVE
● To study the architecture movement and the philosophy of western world.
● To understand the influence of modern architecture on the vocabulary of Indian architecture.
● To compare and relate Indian philosophy with the global modern architecture.
● To Study how the modernism is reconcile with local climate, context and architectural features.
● To study the architect’s design philosophy through his works.
● To understand how Habib Rahman’s work is different from other modernist architects.
● To explore and understand the future discourse of India.

4. INFLUENCE IN HIS DESIGNS
Habib rahman introduced the Bauhaus style in the Indian Context.
BAUHAUS STYLE
● Absence of ornamentation
● Importance of function
● Radically simplified forms
● Rationality and Functionality
● Flat roofs, Smooth facade, cubic shapes favouring right
angles
● The colors used are white, grey, black or beige which show
the lack of ornamentation
● Open floor plans and functional furniture
● Use of steel frames, flat slab, concrete as construction
material

5. USED INDIAN ELEMENTS WITH BAUHAUS STYLE
❏ Jaalis
❏ Chajjas
❏ Dome
❏ Overhanging roof
❏ Horizontal and vertical Louvers

6. CASE STUDY
1. Rabindra Bhawan
2. UGC Building
3. Gandhi Ghat Memorial
4. New Secretariat
5. R.K.Puram, sector-13

7. RABINDRA BHAWAN
Project Info
● Type of Building use: Recreational
Centre
● Year of completion: 196
● Area of site: 3 acre.
● Location: Feroze shah Marg, New
Delhi
● Chief architect: Habib Rahman
● Client: Lalit kala Academy
● Construction Authority: CPWD

8. SITE
● Orientation of building according to the principal road of entry.
● Shape and positioning of the wings follows the shape of the site.
● ‘Y’ shape of the admin block to generate the pockets in site, which could
house the other blocks and functions of the building.
● Separate entry for each block and vehicular movement according to those
entries.
● Allotment of parking spaces according
to the user.
BUILDING ANALYSIS

9. BUILDING
● Use of pure geometry in overall form of the building.
● Basic layout of the building having service core in the centre and functional
spaces around.
● Grid system for building structure, with module of 12ft in longer span and 25ft
in shorter span.
● Division of the blocks according to the functions of the building and their users.

10. BUILDING DETAILS
● Reinterpreted form of Chajjas in continuous horizontal louvers.
● Composite structure of the building of brick, load bearing walls and
R.C.C. columns and slabs.
● Use of Indian architectural elements such as Jaalis and dome.

11. UNIVERSITY GRANT COMMISSION
Project Info
● Type of Building use: Government office
● Year of completion: 1954
● Area of site: 1.6 acre.
● Location: Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New
Delhi.
● Chief architect: Habib Rahman.
● Client: UGC Authorities
● Construction Authority: CPWD
● Plinth area: 67,000 sq.ft.
● Carpet Area: 44,000 sq.ft

12. ● Orientation of building according to the principal road of
entry.
● Shape and positioning of the wings follows the shape of
the site.
SITE
BUILDING ANALYSIS
BUILDING
● Overall box shape form of the building inspired from
Bauhaus and international style.
● Layout made of two wings connected with central core.
Office spaces on the periphery and transition space in the
middle.

13. ● Grid system for building structure, with module of 12ft in longer
span and 25ft for office and 8ft for corridor in shorter span.
● Separate parking for staff, officers and visitors according to
vehicle type
BUILDING DETAILS
● Fragmentation of façade in smaller parts with
vertical louvers and overhangs and floating
effect by void creation at ground floor.
● Structural and non-structural elements made
of concrete.
● Restrictive use of Indian architectural element.

14. GANDHI GHAT MEMORIAL
Project Info
● Type of Building use: Memorial
● Year of completion: 1949
● Location: on the banks of River
Hooghly, Kolkata
● Chief architect: Habib Rahman
● Construction Authority: West Bengal
PWD

15. · The structure had to be elegant and modest, reflecting the pure personality and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.
BUILDING ANALYSIS
Local Context: The memorial was designed on the banks of river Hoogly,
where his ashes were immersed.
Form: The structure is a tower having a profile of temple shikhara which is
caped with Islamic dome. A horizontal cantilevered slab projecting from
both the side appeared in silhouette somewhat like a cross.
Structural system: The structure was to be placed right at the edge of river
Hoogly. It was conceived and designed at 40 ft. high shaft loaded with
heavy cantilevered wings.
· Architectural Philosophy: Gandhi memorial which is interpreted as a symbolic representation of Hinduism, Islam and
Christianity, the leading three religions followed in India, is not a complete interpretation of that structure. Rather the trunk
of the structure composed of shikhara, cupola and cross carries the message to unite and pegged to the soil standing
together with strength. The jutting out Wings gives the assurance and aspiration for the flight in future to build the nation
to conquer the Earth and the shade under the jutting out wings is the comfort zone that country is destined to be for its
citizens.

16. NEW SECRETARIAT, KOLKATA
Project Info
● Type of Building use: Office building
● Year of completion: 1954
● Location: Kolkata, New Delhi
● Chief architect: Habib Rahman
● Construction Authority: West Bengal PWD
● Site: 1 acre

17. BUILDING ANALYSIS
● It is a 14-storey office building, accommodating modern cafeteria, officers’ lunch room, lecture theatre and car
parking.
BUILDING & STRUCTURE
● Taking the greatest advantage of the site and orientation the building has been designed in three blocks to create
a pleasing composition.
● Blocks are interconnected and placed perpendicular to each
other.
● Each block having different no. of storeys creating a different
interplay of heights.
● Steel frame having grids 20ft x 20ft. And floor to floor height is
12ft.
BUILDING DETAIL
● It was first steel frame structure resting on concrete piles. Louvers are made of concrete.

18. R.K PURAM, SECTOR-13, NEW DELHI
Project Info
● Type of Building use: Residential
Housing
● Year of completion: 1969
● Location: Sector-13, R.K.Puram, Inner
ring road, New Delhi.
● Chief architect: Habib Rahman
● Client: Government
● Construction Authority: CPWD

19. BUILDING ANALYSIS
Generally Rahman try to orient the building wings or block parallel
to the plot boundary to place it appropriately on site. But here
rather than following the same principle, he tilted each of the
apartments in relation to the existing road. The idea behind such
orientation was to give the best possible non-obstructive view to
the maximum number of rooms in each block.
● Use of pure geometry in overall form of the building.
● Grid system for building structure, where dimensions of the grid
is according to the functional requirement.
● Arrangement of the function according to the position of the sun
throughout the day.
BUILDING & STRUCTURE
● Use of R.C.C. in the framework of the structure and use of brick
as filler walls.
● Use of Jaalis and Chajjas as the means of weather protector.

20. [1] M. raj, Interviewee, [Interview]. November 1984.
[2] Marg Magazine, vol. 2, p. 4, 1949.
[3] J. Winter, Contemporary architects, London: Macmillan, 1980.
[4] J. T. Lang, A concise history of modern architecture, Orient Blackswan, 2002.
[5] J. Nehru, "The Religion of Reason," The Times of India, 2009.
[6] K. A. B. Kenneth Frampton, An architecture of independence: the making of south Asia, New York: The Architectural League of India, 1998.
[7] J. Nehru, The discovery of India, Kolkata: The Signet Press, 1946.
[8] R. Rahman, "Tribute," architecture + Design, 1996.
[9] R. Rahman, "Habib Rahman: A Bauhaus legacy in India," Bauhaus Imaginista.
References

21. THANK YOU.