SIR EDWIN LUTYENS

_______ NEW DELHI _______

SUBMITTED BY SHUBHAANG GOELA(2ND YEAR)
LOOKING FOR GROUND
Government of India employed Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker to plan and architect New Delhi. The Committee since the
beginning, sprawled eastern banks of River Yamuna as the site. However due to abundant wildlife and often flooding; the
committee by 1912, was convinced that the location should be south of Shahjehanabad, near Malcha. Its altitude, water
table, virgin soil were all taken in as advantages for the proposed city. The site selection was done in a strategic way with
expansion scope kept in mind, along with an efficient drainage pattern and rich flora all around.

DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS
Baker had been assigned to work on the two secretariat buildings which were in front of Viceroy's House. The
original plan was to have Viceroy's House on the top of Raisina Hill, with the secretariats lower down. Due to
placement of a ridge in the north, It was later decided to put both buildings on top of the plateau. While Lutyens
wanted Viceroy's House to be higher, he was forced to move it back from the intended position, which resulted in a
dispute with Baker. After completion, Lutyens argued with Baker, because the view of the front of the building was
obscured by the high angle of the road.

CONCEPT BEHIND THE DESIGN

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (29 March 1869 1 January 1944), was a
British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional
architectural styles to the requirements of his era by using traditional
elements, techniques and vernacular materials. He was offered to design
New Delhi in 1911. He was familiar to the European past, he studied the
Indian Past- Hindu, Islamic and Buddhist Architecture. He borrowed
themes from both to create a fusion, similar to Beethoven and
Shakespeare to create a novel work of art. He has fused well enough, the
royalty , grandeur and ornamentation of Asia along with solid and
intellectual European Design. The design of New Delhi was made keeping
in mind its rich historical background because of which it was to be a
linking part, a consortium of all the major cities of the Capital.
PLAN AND LAYOUT
Designing of the city began with the Design of the Central Vista (Kigngsway/Rajpath ROW 250m) which connected
Viceroys House(Rashtrapati Bhawan) and All India War Memorial (now India Gate). The Rashtrapati Bhawan was planned on
top of the Raisana Hill keeping in mind Mughal Architecture, where places of power were built on higher levels (higher
plinth). Also it would give a clear view of River Yamuna. Secretariat buildings were built opposite to each other on the hill
top. India Gate pointed out to Shahjehanad (most recent city of Dilli) and Indraprastha (Ancient city of Dilli).

PLAN OF RAJPATH

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.
Lutyens was keen on keeping straight perpendicular roads, Hardinge however found this monotonous. Lanchester advised winding
streets which would create a sense of curiosity with an edifice from the past or an open space. Hardinge agreed. Lutyens didnt.
Heat and dust in Delhi would definitely travel through Lutyens Avenues. So, Lutyens designed the corridors with curved roads,
heavy trees and dense hedges, besides roads.
The layout of the city was structured on a
geometric grid, with the Rashtrapati Bhawan at
the apex, to ceremonial avenues intersecting at
the central point. With roads protracted at 30o or
60o angles where they crossed each other,
interspersed with rotaries and open spaces. The
axial Vistas terminated in circles and hexagons
with buildings and monuments as end accents
became a norm of the layout. Symmetry and order
was the proclamation. Radial Planning was made
the Primary Design Element.
The layout of Lutyens Delhi was governed by three
major visual corridors, linking the government
complex with Jama Masjid, Indraprastha,
Safdarjungs Tomb

INDIA GATE, FROM RAISNA HILL VIEW OF RAJPATH VIEW OF NORTH BLOCK & RAISNA
Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ) is the Rashtrapati Bhawan avenue was The Kingsway was intersected by
area spread over 26 sq km area followed by Vijay Chowk and the the Queensway (now Janpath)
with bungalows for govt. officials Parliament House. Lutyens perpendicular at its centre. This
and their administrative offices. It Suggested Rajas of India to build road led to the fabulous Pillared
includes more than 1000 houses their palaces along the avenue, Shopping arcade, with residence on
out of which less than 10% are however they were built along upper floors called Connaught
private properties. This area is India Gate in a ring formation. Circus. Its spider like radial roads
ready to be put up in the list of These included Jaipur, Baroda, led to the extended city. It houses
World Heritage Sites. Hyderabad, Patiala and Bikaner. many offices too.
DETAILING OUT NEW DELHI
Despite Lutyens known insensitivity to the numerous tombs, gateways, and old structures which attest Delhis rich
ancestry, his plan gained enormously from the use of historic structures as focal points at the end of major vistas. New
Delhi would have been far less exciting without the texture and character of the relics left behind by great builders.
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. What emerged was one of the worlds outstanding garden-
cities, not only on account of its refined emphasis on elegance and civic grace, but also because in practical terms its
greening reduced temperatures during the hot, dust-laden summer months of northern India. New Delhis unique green
character was augmented still further by placing official residencesor bungalowsin rolling lawns and gardens. Kings
Way (now Rajpath) was designed as a magnificent boulevard. This exultant avenue, broad and gracious in scale and self-
confident in manner, starts at the Great Place below Raisina Hill and ends at the War Memorial, two and a half kilometers
away. Clear watercourses parallel the grassy expanses on either side, with varieties of stately trees adding to its
magnificence. Faade of the Builings enclosed within the vista was Traditional, using vernacular stone and techniques. It
also used architectural elements from the past cities of Delhi.
Various types of housescalled bungalows at the upper end of the scalealso reflect a lively attention to detail because
of Delhis climatic changes. Mostly single-storied, whitewashed in lime, with deep verandas to protect rooms from direct
exposure to the sun, high ceilings, and ventilators to ensure cross ventilation, their designs were functional. Several other
remarkable buildings were designed by architects working with R. T. Russell, the governments chief architect. These
include Connaught Place, the splendid shopping plazaa great, two -storied circle of elegant shops, restaurants, cinemas,
and hotels. The embassies of other countries are situated towards the South of New Delhi. Towards North lies a green belt
(Shankar Road) and to the east lies River Yamuna. Drainage is efficient because of the gradient slope of the Raisna Hill
towards the river.

Functional spaces, as in traditional Indian Architecture; opened up to gardens and courtyards(markets). These spaces were
usually spaces of social gathering keeping in mind the Indian Culture.
60 DEG. INTERSECTION CIRCULAR INTERSECTION TYPICAL LUTYENS STREET

Planning of individual plots and a consortium was

done keeping in mind the Courtyard System.
Everything opened up to an open space or courtyard.
The city Became a garden city with broad avenues
lined up with Jamun, Laburnum, Gulmohar, Neem.
Intersections and Hexagons were ornamented by
Ashoka, Bougainville. These acted as dust & wind
breakers.
JAIPUR HOUSE HYDERABAD HOUSE

BIKANERR HOUSE RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN BARODA HOUSE

COMPARISON WITH WASHINGTON D.C.
In 1790 a 100-square-mile (260-square-km) territory, Washington DC was established. The city is located about 90 miles away
from the Atlantic Ocean. It is built on the banks of River Potomac. Washingtons visionary planner was Pierre-Charles LEnfant
French army engineer. LEnfant adapted the citys formal plan to the areas natural topography, carefully selecting important sites
for principal buildings on the basis of the order of their importance, beginning with the U.S. Capitol building, which he placed on
a high ridge. He then symbolically linked it, by way of Pennsylvania Avenue, to the presidential palace , on a slightly lower ridge.
Placing the Capitol at the centre of the street plan, LEnfant drew surveyors lines through the building to the points of the
compass, thereby separating the city into four sections: Northwest (the largest quadrant), Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest.
Three of the four surveyors lines became streets: North Capitol, East Capitol, and South Capitol streets. The fourth dividing line
stretches west from the Capitol along the middle of the Mall to the Potomac River.
Washingtons streets are organized in a scheme of broad diagonal
avenues overlain on a grid of wide north-south- and east-west-
trending streets. Thus, an orderly web of wide tree-lined avenues
creates great vistas and leads both to powerful focal points and open
public spaces. The intersections of two or three diagonal avenues are
punctuated with landscaped circles and squares, while their
intersections with grid streets create triangular and trapezoidal lots
and parks, resulting in interesting streetscapes. Streets running north-
south are numbered, and streets running east-west are lettered.
Where Washingtons plan is concerned, the genius of the planner
Pierre Charles LEnfant was not only admired by Lutyens and Baker, but
also Hardinge, who sent for its plans to see how LEnfants ideas could
help New Delhis planning. An interesting footnote to these
convergences was provided by Lutyens during his visit to Washington
in 1925. He found its plan not as good as Delhi or as fine, but
admitted that the buildings were far better. Possibly because most of
them were in marble, while New Delhis buildings on the hill were in
stone.

PENNYSYLVANIA AVE, WASHINGTON DC THE MALL, WASHINGTON DC CAPITOL COMPLEX, WASHINGTON DC

CONCLUSION
Delhi is a layered, ancient city that has the distinction of being an extraordinary historic Capital that has lived on,
with remarkable energy and overwhelming traditions. New Delhi was the last city of Delhi which was deigned by
British just before independence.
The urbanizing India is trying to discard what is familiar and is reaching out to be modern. Landscape is losing its
importance because of Foreign influence. Materials too have differed largely. Our public spaces have been losing its
color, texture and tactility which spread her enigma beyond its borders. We need to share some traditional design
skills to keep alive the lost beauty. Lutyens Delhi sets apart an example to its counterparts of a very modern yet
traditional design work. New Delhis layout owes a great deal to Rome, Paris, and Washington, D.C. The eternal citys
layoutwith its assertive avenues, vistas, axial approach, and focihad left a lasting impression on Lutyens and Herbert
Baker. The Roman capitols location on a hilltop had also influenced their own siting of the imperial complex on Raisina Hill,
because Baker was convinced that: The old buildings which have perhaps made the most impression on the imagination
of mankind are those which are raised up on an eminence, even as those of the old Greek cities and the capitol at Rome.
Edwin Lutyens has perfectly shaped the city in a radial manner due to which connections and transit is never a
problem. Delhi is said to be one of the finest Garden Cities in the world which has combined positives of country side
and an urban city. It satisfies all laws stated by Ebenezer Howard.

New Delhi, built to celebrate the permanency of British sovereign rule over the length and breadth of the country, was
inaugurated more than 70 years ago in February 1931. But its permanence proved ephemeral. Within 16 years of New
Delhis inauguration, colonial rule ended, and India attained the nationhood for which it had long struggled. Designed for a
population of around 65,000, the city now houses more than 1.5 million. Convinced that its preservation is possible
through alternative and adaptive uses that will not detract from New Delhis green and gracious character, they are
determined to prevent the city from turning into another urban nightmare. W M F, recognizing the threat to this city of
gardens, included New Delhi on its 2002 list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites. Given its capacity to absorb the many
distinctive cultures that came its way, India cannot evade the responsibility of conserving this noble heritage, which
resonates with the creativity, feelings, energies, and faith of those who gave it form.