Multi-storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram and Curzon Road Hostels (1965-&#039;69)

Habib Rahman; P.W.D, Government of West Bengal

Multi-storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram, 1965

"Peripheral to the symbolic space of new Delhi's leafy heart, the design and planning prerogatives of CPWD-built housing colonies remained more prosaic than political. While the standardised type designs continued to evolve in the functionalist-modernist direction that Rahman's work had initiated, there was no clean, iconoclastic break from the norms and forms of previous developments under Joglekar and Deolalikar. With the exception of Rahman's RK Puram Sector 13 Flats of the mid-1960s, the planning of virtually all these developments continued to be structured on the neo-colonial notion of enclaves." — Scriver and Srivastava

Multi-Storeyed Flats. Ramakrishnapuram, New Delhi, 1965. © Madan Mahatta

Type VI, Multi-Storeyed Flats, Ramakrishnapuram: By 1965 Rahman was senior enough in service to begin representing the CPWD in important inter-departmental committees concerned with wider planning, urban design, and landscaping issues in the capital. He found himself caught up in several controversies, but in the process received an invaluable education in how politicians, bureaucrats and technical specialists thought about 'urban aesthetics'. © Text by Malay Chatterjee, Image by Habib Rahman

Layout Plan, Multi-Storeyed Flats, Ramakrishnapuram: 1. Type V flats, 2. Type VI flats, 3. Shopping centre, 4. Restaurant, 5. Garages, 6. Servants, 7. Electric Station © The estate of Habib Rahman

Diagonal orientation of the blocks with respect to the sector roads: Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman Archive

Plan type VI, Multi-Storeyed Flats. Ramakrishnapuram, New Delhi, 1965: 1. Bed, 2. Living, 3. Dining, 4. Study, 5. Kitchen, 6. Servant, 7. Lavatory, 8. Box, 9. Verandah, 10. Lift, 11. Lobby © The estate of Habib Rahman

Curzon Road Hostels New Delhi, 1969

Six blocks of flats were constructed on the site of the old Constitution House on Curzon Road. They were first occupied by delegates to the UNCTAD conference held in Delhi in 1969. The balcony treatment of each of the blocks is different, giving a varied facade.

Curzon Road Hostels, 1969 "... the keen, cool, yet expressive rationalism of Rahman's modernity was ultimately deployed most conspicuously asa form of 'symbolic' capital. Major interventions in the sylvan reserve of Lutyens's Delhi, such as Rahman's External Affairs Hostels of 1965 and his massive Curzon Road Hostel Complex – built for initial use as the temporary accommodation for international delegates to the UNCTAD conference of 1969 hosted in Delhi – were clearly the outcomes of planning and design in which the political functions of these developments were at least as important as the pragmatic functions they addressed." © Text by Scriver and Srivastava, Image by Habib Rahman

Club and Restaurant, Curzon Road Hostels, 1969 "... it is probable that [this] simply enabled the reaffirmation on modern theoretical lines of the colonial assumption that the social fabric of urban India should be conceived as a loose matrix of segregated subcultural enclaves ..." © Text by Scriver and Srivastava, Image by Habib Rahman

Shopping Complex, Curzon Road Hostels, 1969 [Deolalikar's] "conception of a 'city of Babus' as a constellation of quasi-socialistic sub-words in which similarly graded government officers could live in selfless service to the state was grounded paradoxically in the intimate and indelible relationship between modernity and colonialism ..." © Text by Scriver and Srivastava, Image by Habib Rahman

The facade of Delhi’s Curzon Road hostel, designed by Habib Rahman. The original staircase of the building was designed to allow a flood of light in the space under the stairs, but it has been completely redesigned now © Ram Rahman

Citations from Scriver and Srivastava, India, Chapter 3, 2016; Chatterjee, Habib Rahman and his times, in Architecture + Design, Mar-Apr 1996 and Patwant Singh, Design incorporating INDIAN BUILDER, vol 12; 1968.

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Open spaces, to compensate for typical living habits of Government employees, Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman

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Diagonal orientation of the blocks with respect to the sector roads, Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman

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Workers shifting sand and soil on the construction site, Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman Archive

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The RC Frame structure with brik infill walls,Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman

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Balconies of type V apartment blocks,Multi-Storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram © Habib Rahman

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General view of the Complex, Curzon Road Hostels, 1969 © Habib Rahman

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Multi-Storeyed Flats. Ramakrishnapuram, New Delhi under construction

The necessity for multi-storeyed dwellings arises from rapid urbanisation of Delhi due to population explosion. Continuation of only the usual two-storeyed constructions would result in a linear development extending further away from the town centre which creates problems of transport to and from the place of work. Besides it is often not logical or economical to utilise all the available land for horizontal two-storeyed development.

Rising land values make it necessary to plan high-density housing schemes in areas near the town centre. And in high-density colonies, one can achieve good open spaces for recreation only by resorting to multi-storeyed housing. The Master Plan for Delhi envisages eight-storeyed development for central areas for Delhi, so it is not for somebody’s whim or fancy that multi-storeyed construction is being resorted to. It is felt that it is inevitable, and at the most, it can only be delayed by continuing with two-storeyed development for the present. That would mean demolition work in already developed colonies once urbanisation takes full sway after some years.

Considering the aspect of ownership, MS development may not be feasible now in privately-owned localities unless a corporate ownership is established. When government is developing housing for its employees, however, it is in a position to plan a comprehensive project as the question of individual ownership of houses does not arise. And, thus, it is proper that full advantage should be taken of this for creating good environment with ample open spaces.

Opposition to MS Flats: Those who live in two-storeyed residential colonies are so used to the advantages of a private garden in the case of ground floor tenants, and a terrace in the case of the first-floor occupants, that they dislike the idea of multi-storeyed housing. Even though it is true that each tenant cannot be given a private garden in multi-storeyed developments it is possible to give large open spaces to all in place of small patches of lawns and private gardens. Also each tenant can be given a sizable sleeping balcony.

Another reason for general apathy towards multi-storeyed development is that services like water supply, electricity, drainage transport, etc, are not well developed as yet in Delhi. Urbanisation presupposes efficient services and these will have to be geared to keep up with the development envisaged in the Master Plan, for a city in the real sense of the world can not function without them.

Type VI Flats: The Type VI blocks are ‘Y’ shaped in plan so as to allow maximum radial bifurcation of each wing and at the same time to enable all wings to be served by common lifts, staircase, etc. The central core contains an entrance hall, lifts, staircase, metre room (on ground floor) and garbage chute and servants lavatory on all floors. In each wing, one flat is planned as a self-contained unit. The entrance lobby opens on to both the study room and the living room. On the opposite side is the dining room which abuts on to the living room and receives service from the kitchen through a service latch window or through the balcony.The servants’ room near the kitchen has access from outside the flat. The three bedrooms have been so arranged as to be accessible independently from the living and dining rooms and are near to the sleeping balconies that cantilever out alternately in two directions so as to give sky-exposure to the cantilevered portion. Some measure of privacy has been provided by judicious design of railing and a high parapet with jali below.

Additional servants’ room required for each flat is provided in a separate block. The bedrooms have been provided with a built-in wardrobe and dressing table. The kitchen has ample built-in shelves, a cabinet with working counters, etc.

Type V Flats: Type V blocks are ‘T’ shaped in plan with each of the three wings being served by common lifts and staircase. A compact plan has been evolved for each flat. The entrance lobby has a study room on one side and leads into the living and dining rooms can be used as one hall for social gatherings etc. The two bedrooms are accessible from the living-dining-room and open into the sleeping balconies which arc similar in arrangement to those in Type VI flats. The kitchen adjacent to the

dining room is accessible from the behind entrance lobby. The servant’s rooms, lavatories and the lift room are served with a separate service staircase.

Layout: At ground floor level one wing is on stilts providing a sheltered entrance and driveway going under the building. It also provides a covered children’s play area which opens on to larger free spaces. The Inquiry Office is by the side of the main entrance and the blocks are so arranged as to allow generous space for open parking. Garages are ground floor structures near each block. While deciding the orientation of the blocks an attempt was made to give the best orientation to the maximum number of rooms in each block. With large open spaces between blocks a feeling of openness with good air and light and considerable privacy for each flat is established. The structure consists of RC structure frames with 9” external panel walls and 4½” internal partition walls. External walls have exposed brick work to add texture and interest in unison with the pattern of protecting chajjas. The expansion joints have been carefully located near the central core to avoid fouling of any of the bays within the flats.

There are two lifts provided in each block. Water supply is through an underground service reservoir which feeds the storage tanks in covered mumty at terrace level. A garbage chute has been provided in the central core of each block with an openable hopper cover at each floor level and space for collection and removal at ground floor level. Electric meters for all flats are located in a common meter room on the ground floor.

In the layout plan 6 blocks of Type V quarters and 10 blocks of Type VI quarters have been planned to give 138 Type V and 230 Type VI flats. However, three of the blocks cannot be constructed at present due to land dispute. As a result, there are 138 Type V flats and 161 Type VI flats. The density of the colony when completed will be 75 persons per acre.

Amenities: A shopping centre has been designed for this colony and will be constructed shortly. The layout plan also provides for such facilities as a club, creche, nursery and primary school and these will also be designed in due course. Besides these large open spaces which are not possible in a two-storeyed development of the same density are available as children’s play areas and recreation spaces.

The cost per flat of Type V works out to Rs. 46,600 and that for Type VI, Rs 60,000. The total cost of the project (Neighbourhood XIII, RK Puram) is expected to be Rs 2.5 crores.

(Patwant Singh, DESIGN incorporating Indian Builder, vol 12; 1968)

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Multi-storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram and Curzon Road Hostels (1965-'69)

Multi-storeyed Flats at Ramakrishnapuram, 1965

Curzon Road Hostels New Delhi, 1969

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Rabindra Bhavan

Maulana Azad Memorial

New Secretariat Building

'Do not kill man to protect God' - the Babari Masjid Design Proposal