LUYTENS DELHI

SIR EDWIN LANDSEER LUTYENS

BORN ON : 29TH MARCH , 1869 IN LONDON

DIED IN : 1ST JANUARY ,1944 IN LONDON

 HE WAS AN ENGLISH ARCHITECT NOTED FOR HIS

VERSATILITY AND RANGE OF INVENTION ALONG
TRADITIONAL LINES.
 HE IS KNOWN ESPECIALLY FOR HIS PLANNING OF
NEW DELHI AND HIS DESIGN OF THE VICEROY’S
HOUSE THERE.
LUTYENS FIRST SHOWED HIS PERSONAL QUALITIES
AS A DESIGNER.
ABOUT 1910 LUTYENS’ INTEREST SHIFTED TO
LARGER, CIVIL PROJECTS, AND IN 1912 HE WAS
SELECTED TO ADVISE ON THE PLANNING OF THE
NEW INDIAN CAPITAL AT DELHI.
LUTYENS’ STYLE CHANGED WHEN HE MET THE
LANDSCAPE GARDENER GERTUDE JEKYEL, WHO
TAUGHT HIM THE “SIMPLICITY OF INTENTION AND
DIRECTNESS OF PURPOSE”.
GROWTH OF LUYTENS DELHI :
THE INITIAL DESIGN OF NEW DELHI:
LUTYENS HAD INITIALLY
DESIGNED DELHI WITH ALL
THE STREETS
CROSSING AT RIGHT
ANGLES, MUCH LIKE IN NEW
YORK.

 LORD HARDINGE TOLD HIM OF

THE DUST STORMS THAT SWEEP
HE LANDSCAPE IN THESE PARTS,
INSISTING ON ROUNDABOUTS,
HEDGES AND TREES TO BREAK
THEIR FORCE, GIVING HIM THE
PLANS OF ROME, PARIS AND
WASHINGTON TO STUDY AND
APPLY TO DELHI.
 PATTERN OF SETTLEMENT :
PATTERN OF LUTYENS NEW DELHI IS PURELY GEOMETRICAL.
STRRETS ARE RADIATE CENTRAL VISTA AND CONVERGE INTO HEXAGONAL
NODES.
 FROM ROUNDS ROADS ARE SPREADING AND THEN CONNECTING TO
ANOTHER ROUND.
A GARDEN-CITY PATTERN, BASED ON A SERIES
OF HEXAGONS SEPARATED BY BROAD
AVENUES WITH DOUBLE LINES OF TREES
LUTYENS’ DELHI WAS PLANNED ON THE MOST SPACIOUS
GARDEN CITY LINES WITH THE GREAT AVENUES DECORATED
WITH CLASSICAL BUILDINGS WITH LUSH LANDSCAPE.
THE LAYOUT OF LUTYENS DELHI WAS GOVERNED BY
THREE MAJOR VISUAL CORRIDORS, LINKING THE
GOVERNMENT COMPLEX WITH :
• JAMA MASJID
• INDRAPRASTHA
• SAFDARJUNGS TOMB
THE PLAN REFLECTS LUTYENS’ “TRANSCENDENT FERVOUR FOR GEOMETRIC
SYMMETRY,” WHICH IS EXPRESSED THROUGH AMAZING SEQUENCES OF
TRIANGLES AND HEXAGONS, THROUGH SIGHTLINES AND AXES.
LUTYENS’ PLAN IS ALSO REMARKABLE FOR THE GENEROUS GREEN SPACES,
LAWNS, WATERCOURSES, FLOWER AND FRUIT-BEARING TREES, AND THEIR
INTEGRATION WITH THE PARKS DEVELOPED AROUND MONUMENTS

THE ATTEMPT WAS TO INCLUDE ALL

NATURAL AND HISTORICAL
WONDERS IN THE NEW CITY.

LUTYEN’S DELHI WAS THE LAST

GREAT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TO
BE COMPLETED BY THE BRITISH IN
INDIA. IT IS ONE OF THE SUPREME
ACHIEVEMENTS OF BRITISH
ARCHITECTURE IN ANY PERIOD OF
HISTORY, AND STILL RANKS AS ONE
OF THE MOST ELEGANT URBAN
LANDSCAPES ANYWHERE IN THE
WORLD.
  ROAD NETWORKS

• BESIDES THE MAJOR PATHWAY,

THERE WERE EXTREMELY WIDE
AVENUES. THE ORIGINAL DESIGN
OF THE ROAD NETWORK WAS
CAPABLE OF ACCOMMODATING
6000 VEHICLES, HOWEVER THESE
AVENUES, HAD THE POTENTIAL
OF INCREASING THEIR
CARRIAGEWAY-THE REASON WHY
THE ROAD LAYOUT HAS
SURVIVED TILL TODAY.

• IN GENERAL THE ROAD NETWORK

CONSISTED OF DIAGONALS AND
RADIALS, AT 30 DEGREE/ 60
DEGREE ANGLES TO THE MAIN
AXIS, FORMING TRIANGLES AND
HEXAGONS.
LUTYENS DELHI – ZONING :

GOVERNMENT
COMPLX

BUNGLOW
ZONE
COMMERCIAL
DISTRICT
GOVERNMENT COMPLEX :
• LUTYENS LAID OUT THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE AREA OF THE
CITY.
• AT THE HEART OF THE CITY WAS THE IMPRESSIVE RASHTRAPATI
BHAWAN, LOCATED ON THE TOP OF RAISINA HILL. THE RAJPATH
CONNECTS INDIA GATE TO RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN, WHILE JANPATH,
WHICH CROSSES IT AT A RIGHT ANGLE, CONNECTS SOUTH END WITH
CONNAUGHT PLACE.
• THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING, WHICH HOUSES VARIOUS MINISTRIES
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA INCLUDING PRIME MINISTER'S
OFFICE ARE BESIDE THE RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN AND WERE
DESIGNED BY HERBERT BAKER. ALSO DESIGNED BY BAKER WAS THE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, LOCATED ON THE SANSAD MARG, RUNNING
PARALLEL WITH THE RAJPATH.
LUTYEN’S BUNGLOW ZONE :
•LUTYENS BUNGLOW ZONE IS BESIDE THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE
ZONE . AND IT IS G+1 TYPOLOGY.
•NO BUILDING HEIGHT DOMINATE THE TREE HEIGHT .
•THE BUNGLOW COMPONENTS IS ONLY 7 % OF GROUND AREA
COMMERICAL ZONE:
•COMMERICAL DISTRICT INCLUDES CANNUAGHT PLACE THAT INNER AND
OUTER CIRCLE, AND ADJOINING AREA LIKE KASTURBA GANDHI MARG
,BARAKHAMBA ROAD AND ALL ADJOINING AREA .
 The RASHTRAPTI BHAVAN:
LUTYEN'S GRANDIOSE GOVERNMENT HOUSE (RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN) -
LOCATED ON RAISINA HILL, AND ONE OF NEW DELHI'S MAJOR
THOROUGHFARES, RAJPATH, CONNECTS IT TO THE PURANA QILA

LORD HARDINGE CHOSE THE RAISINA HILL FOR

LOCATING THE VICEROY’S PALACE BECAUSE:
• IT WAS A WELL DRAINED.
• CONSTITUTED OF SLOPES AND PLAINS
BETWEEN THE RIDGE AND THE RIVER.
• ITS EASTERN AND SOUTHERN MARGINS
WERE STUDDED WITH MONUMENTS OF
VANISHED EMPIRES. A BROAD CRESCENT
FROM SHAHJAHANABAD AND KOTLA
FIROZ SHAH, SOUTH TO TUGHLAQABAD
AND THE QUTUB WITH TOMBS OF
SAFDARJUNG AND LODHIS AS WELL AS
JANTAR MANTAR IN THE FOREGROUND
COULD BE VIEWED FROM THE SITE.

Image 2
The SECRETARIAT :
THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING WAS
DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT HERBERT
BAKER IN INDO-SARACENIC REVIVAL
ARCHITECTURE.
MUCH OF THE BUILDING IS IN
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURAL STYLE,
YET IT
INCORPORATED MUGHAL AND RAJAS
THANI ARCHITECTURE STYLE AND
MOTIFS IN ITS ARCHITECTURE.
THESE ARE VISIBLE IN THE USE
OF JALI.
ANOTHER FEATURE OF THE BUILDING
• THE STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE
IS A DOME-LIKE STRUCTURE KNOWN
USED IN SECRETARIAT BUILDING IS
AS THE CHATRI
UNIQUE TO RAISINA HILL. IN FRONT
OF THE MAIN GATES ON BUILDINGS
ARE THE FOUR "DOMINION
COLUMNS", GIVEN BY CANADA,
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND
SOUTH AFRICA.
 THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE :
THE PARLIAMENT HOUS WAS DESIGNED
BY EDWIN LUTYENS AND HERBERT
BAKER.

IT WAS BUILT WITH INDIGENOUS

MATERIALS AND BY INDIAN LABOUR AND
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDING
BEARS A CLOSE IMPRINT OF THE INDIAN
TRADITION.

THE LAYOUT OF FOUNTAINS BOTH INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE THE BUILDING, THE USE OF
INDIAN SYMBOLS, THE "CHHAJJAS” AND
THE VARIED FORMS OF "JALI" IN MARBLE
ARE REMINDERS OF THE STORY OF THE
CRAFTSMANSHIP DISPLAYED IN ANCIENT
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS.
THICK BAND

JALIS
COMMON FEATURES :
THICK BAND

JALIS

BUDDHIST DOME
THICK BAND

JALIS

BUDDHIST
DOME
THICK
BAND
JALI
S
THE PRINCELY STATES :

• STARTING FROM INDIA GATE, AT THE

LOWEST AND EASTERN END OF RAJPATH,
NEARBY LAND WAS ALLOCATED TO
NUMEROUS PRINCELY STATES, EACH OF
WHICH BUILT SMALL PALACES, SUCH AS
THE BIKANER HOUSE (NOW THE
RAJASTHAN TOURISM OFFICE) AND JAIPUR
HOUSE (NOW THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF
MODERN ART).

•IT MIGHT BE SAID THAT THIS PLACEMENT

MIRRORED THE BRITISH SENTIMENTS
TOWARD THE PRINCES, WHO LOST MUCH
OF THEIR FORMER POWER AND STATUS
DURING THE BRITISH RAJ. HERE, TOO,
ARE THE STATE BHAVANS (HOUSES),
WHERE YOU CAN TASTE THE CUISINE OF
EACH STATE.
THE HYDRABAD HOUSE:

THE LARGEST OF ALL PALACES IN NEW DELHI — A BUILDING THAT SUITED

THE STATUS OF THE NIZAM OF HYDERABAD. DESIGNED BY EDWIN
LUTYENS. THE MAJESTIC MANSION HAD 36 ROOMS.
LUTYENS DESIGNED HYDERABAD HOUSE IN THE SHAPE OF A BUTTERFLY —
A PLAN THAT HE HAD FIRST USED FOR PAPILLON HALL IN LEICESTERSHIRE
IN 1903.
THE MAIN ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE OF HYDERABAD HOUSE IS A DOME
WITH AN ENTRANCE HALL BENEATH WHICH SYMMETRICAL WINGS
RADIATE AT AN ANGLE OF FIFTY-FIVE DEGREES. ITS ROUND ARCHES
FLANKED BY RECTANGULAR OPENINGS TO THE HEIGHT OF THE IMPOST
WAS INSPIRED BY THE PANTHEON IN ROME, A CITY WHERE LUTYENS
STAYED IN 1909. FOR THE FIRST FLOOR WINDOWS OF THE GRAND PLACE,
LUTYENS CHOSE A COMBINATION OF RECTANGULAR AND ROUND ARCHES
THAT WERE INSPIRED BY THE UFFIZI TO THE ARNO IN FLORENCE.
THE MAJESTIC BUILDING THAT BOASTS OF COURTYARDS, ARCHWAYS,
OBELISKS, LARGE FLOWER CONTAINERS, GRAND STAIRWAYS, MARBLE
FIREPLACES, FOUNTAINS, HAD A PRE-DOMINANTLY EUROPEAN
CHARACTER WITH SOME MUGHAL MOTIFS.
THE BARODA HOUSE:

SITUATED NEXT TO HYDERABAD HOUSE, IS ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT

BUILDING DESIGNED BY EDWIN LUTYENS. HE DESIGNED THE BARODA
HOUSE ON A TRAIN FROM BOMBAY IN 1921, AND IT TOOK 15 YEARS TO
BUILD IT. THE GAEKWAD OF BARODA , WHO WAS EDUCATED IN
ENGLAND, WANTED HIS PALACE IN NEW DELHI TO BE ANGLO-SAXON IN
STYLE.
THE GRAND BARODA HOUSE WAS KNOWN FOR ITS TERRACES, GRAND
CORRIDORS, COOLING ARCADES, BEAUTIFUL GARDENS AND WELL-
VENTILATED SALONS AND RICHLY DONE UP LIVING ROOMS. GAEKWAD
LED A VERY WESTERNISED LIFESTYLE.
DRAWBACKS :

• IN THIS WHOLE PROCESS ALMOST NO ATTENTION WAS PAID TO THE

PROBLEMS OF OLD DELHI. DUE TO THE CREATION OF NEW DELHI, OLD
+FROM 1916-1926 RESULTING IN THE SPILLING OVER OF THE POPULATION
FROM INSIDE THE WALLED CITY TO THE PAHARGANJ AREA, WHOSE
RESTRUCTURING WAS LATER ABANDONED BY LUTYENS DUE TO
RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS.
•
• ALSO, NO PROVISION OF HOUSING WAS PREMEDITATED FOR THE LARGE
NO. OF SKILLED AND UNSKILLED WORKERS WHICH IMMIGRATED IN FOR
THE CONSTRUCTION WORK OF NEW DELHI.
•
• THIS NEGLIGENCE OF THE PLANNERS TOWARDS OLD DELHI RESULTED IN
ITS TRANSFORMATION TO A LARGE SLUM AREA THROUGH
DETERIORATION AND DILAPIDATION.