A limited competition for a new buiding for Indian Parliament's library was organised in 1989, and the winner announce in 1991 was architect Raj Rewal. Then speaker of the Lok Sabha, Shivraj V. Patil ensure that the architect will be permitted to realise the ideas he thought most appropriate. Over the next decades the architect worked with successive goverments and the Central Public Works Department, which was chosen for longstanding experience with projects of this scale and complexity.

!
!: The 'focal centre' dome in stainless steel structural lattice, to "reduce the heat loads of the building while providing views of the sky even when (visitors) are well below the surrounding ground level"
(Singh, Rahoul B., ‘Context and Innovation’)
(Singh, Rahoul B., ‘Context and Innovation’): The external facade has red sandstone cladding and ... is reminiscent of the "geometrical patterns that abound in the Indian landscape" 
(Peter Devy, Architectural Review)
(Peter Devy, Architectural Review): "Rewal has pulled off a remarkable feat; he has not only related its building to its immediate context, ... but to deeper strains of Indian culture and history. 
(AGK Menon, Frontline)
(AGK Menon, Frontline): Rewal explains that his aim in this project was to seek a low-key architectural expression signifying "sagacity, even spiritual elegance" rather than to "attempt to compete with the power of the Parliament" 

The domes are of various sizes and are constructed of lightweight fibre cement, bright steel lattice and tensile cables, structural glass and glass bricks. A roof garden provides a gathering space for scholars and parliamentarians in the winter, and a thermal barrier in the summer.

This document is embedded in ...

Aga Khan Award for Architecture, shortlisted nominations and winning projects 1980-2016. South Asia/SAARC, 2016.