JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE AND EKISTICS

RESEARCH PAPER ON

"AR. SHIVNATH PRASAD AND HIS CONTRIBUTION IN INDIAN ARCHITECTURE"

SUBMITTED BY
MOMIN MOHAMMAD ZAKI 1ST YEAR MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE BUILDING SERVICES

INTRODUCTION
Tracing the history of modern Indian architecture, we can say that one group of first generation of Indian Modernists owed an intellectual and formal debt to the Bauhaus, and the other one highly productive between 1960 and 1980, owes much to Le Corbusier, one of among which was Architect Shivnath Prasad. Like many young architects during India's independence, Shivnath Prasad was keen to change the language of architecture to reflect the emerging nation. Along with Le Corbusiers presence, Modernism manifested in India and the works of Prasad found centre stage. His work was climatically sympathetic with a strong Modern aesthetic of bare-faced concrete with deep recesses to handle the Indian environment.

EDUCATION AND LIFE

Shivnath Prasad born in 1922 and after his primary education he went to study at the School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art and afterwards qualified with a Diploma in Town Planning. Shivnath was admitted ARIBA (Associate member of Royal Institute of British Architects) in 1948. In 1950 his address was 12 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh. After his return to India Prasad initially worked in Delhi for the Government and he was assigned as the Architect and Town Planner for the first Master Plan of Delhi1962. Stories abound on the uncompromising stands he took on architectural matters, in striking contrast to the subservient attitude of his colleagues, so due to rigidity of his

own nature he quit the government service. Then a very few projects of his can be observed from 1960 to 1980s. He was sighted occasionally in local architectural Schools where he continues to terrorize the hapless students with his uncompromising commitment to good architecture. Prasads disciplined architecture is almost unique, partly because he left to teach in the United States later and partly because few had the self-confidence to transparently utilise the Masters vocabulary in service of their own architectural programme.

INFLUENCE OF LE CORBUSIER

In an interview Prof KT Ravindran, a professor of Urban design from School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi said The architect of Shri Ram Arts Centre, was a man called Shivanath Prasad, who was a maverick, a hardcore modernist. He taught me when I was in SPA. Charles Correa dubbed him the Eklavya of modernism, because he was a complete Corbusian without ever having met or studied with Corbusier. Ill tell you a story about him. I went to interview him some 15 years ago for some article. By this time, he was old and infirm and a troubled soul. He said, Ive wasted one whole lifetime chasing this Corbusian shadow. Now I dont even look at his work, I dont read a book of his; theres some new work Im doing. And then he showed me his new work, some new capital city complex and it was totally Corbusian: compositional grid-like plan, where lines are balanced, and buildings are located in exactly the right place. Poor man Shivnath Prasad, a Le Corbusier acolyte, seemingly transliterated the works of Le Corbusier in his architecture.

On the contrary some sources say that he has assisted Le Corbusier in Chandigarh before he started to work in Delhi.

Prasads rigid and uncompromising nature is transparently exhibited in the projects he undertook after he left Government service, such as the Akbar Hotel (196569) (now converted into the offices of the Ministry of External Affairs, and renamed Akbar Bhavan) and Shri Ram Centre (1966-690) and Tibet House Museum (1973-1978). These buildings are exemplary for several reasons, but most particularly on account of the reflexive manner in which he utilised Le Corbusiers vocabulary to serve his ends. The production of these buildings demonstrates the intense commitment to architectural principles required of an architect to produce compelling architecture. Prasads intelligent approach to design is also apparent in the neighbourhood plan he made for West End Colony where he absorbed the area that would typically be set aside for the service lanes into the open space network. Each house at West End therefore, has a better relationship with the open spaces than in colonies with separate service lanes and arbitrarily defined open areas for parks.

CONTRIBUTION / PROJECTS

Surviving examples of Prasads work includes Akbar Hotel (1965-69) (now converted into the offices of the Ministry of External Affairs, and renamed Akbar Bhavan), Shri Ram Centre (1966-690) and Tibet House Museum (1973-1978).

Akbar Hotel designed by Shivnath Prasad was heavily drawn on the layout of Unite de Habitation at Marseilles (1952) & secretariat building Chandigarh (1953 ).

Its a thirteen storey concrete slab building.Design of this building is drawn heavily on the layout of Corbusiers Unite de Habitation Marseilles and also it resembles to secretariat building of chandigarh. This building can be referred as the typical example of brutalism architecture of Le Corbusier with very linear, fortress like and blockish form.

Heavy massing and sculptural use of concrete can be spotted. A service floor in the hotel building echoes that of a shopping floor for Unite de Habit which divides the bedroom area above from the common rooms below. A two storey curvilinear block juts out at the base which houses restaurants and lounges and other recreational spaces. Like the Unite de habitation, the roof has "communal facilities"- in this case, a restaurant, garden and small open air theatre. As far as resemblance of this building with some of the Le Corbusier's projects are concerned we can say that this project was designed under the first phase of Le Corbusier's influence, where architect just tried to copy form and various elements from the works of master Architect. From his own work Prasad might have soon realized that he was essentially copying his design patterns rather than the design process that led to them. In his own later work he responded to this self-awareness. The Shri Ram Centre, which Prasad designed almost at the same time as Akbar Hotel was for a private trust that promotes

dance, drama and theatre. It can be regarded as an example of work resulting from the second phase of Le Corbusiers influence.

This building expresses, through architectural form, the variety of functions the building is to house. For instance, the theatre is in a cylindrical form and the rehearsal spaces are in the form of a rectangular mass. The building is unique in its architecture: its base is shaped like a cylinder on top of which sits a horizontal rectangle. The ground floor and first floor are within the cylindrical half of the building. Its auditorium on the first floor - The Shankar Lal Murli Dhar Auditorium - is designed for theatre music performances. The auditorium, which boasts of a proscenium stage, has a seating capacity of about 556 people at two levels. The main hall seats around 403 and the balcony seats around 153 people. There are two cylindrical blocks (canteen and some offices) placed on the left side rising upto a lower ht than auditorium. The celebrated concrete box is oddly appropriate for the site, a triangular slice of land abutting the Mandi House Chowk. As if presenting a oversized concrete-wrapped gift box to the circle, and the thousands of cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycles and pedestrians which navigate its busy stream every day. Green rooms are in a separate block placed to the backside of the main building connected to stage via staircase.

It can be regarded as an example of second phase of Le Corbusier's influence, rather than copying design patterns of masters work Prasad might have followed the design process which resulted to the obtained form. In a true rationalist manner Prasad explored the use of pure geometric forms cylinder and cuboid to create a piece of sculpture. In the Tibet House Museum building Shivnath Prasad developed his own vocabulary for presentation of Corbusier's Modern style by designing a simple elevated cube with two sides as dead walls and front and rear side as openings inviting daylight to serve the purpose of a museum.

These openings were protected by balcony projections and vertical fins. A curvilinear block to the left housing an office at an intermediate level used like in his previous projects. A similar block on the backside of the building but purely rectangular in shape serves as an assymetrical counter form to the curvy block. The lower structure of ground and first floor houses reception space and a lounge, a private office in the curvilinear block at an intermediated level while servants room and office on respective lower and upper level of backside rectangular block. While elevated cube houses three floors, first for conference halls and galleries, second for museum and third for library.

In Tibet House Museum Shivnath Prasad developed his own vocabulary of Modern style by designing a simple elevated cube but he was not out of the Corbusier's shadow. There was a concept of different forms differing in expressing different functions.

References
1. http://ontheroad.danielmarkiewicz.com/2012/03/04/58delhisri-ram-arts-centre/ 2. Interview of Prof.KT Ravindran (SPA) in Hindustan times by trisha gupta 3. "Concrete master works" online from the blog of Rrishi Raote / New Delhi / June 06, 2009 4. "A concise history of modern architecture in India" by John T Lang 5. "Modern architecture of Delhi" by Ravi Khanna 6. Photo Album Records from library at Tibet House Museum 7. http://www.tibethouse.in/content/museum