In a country where politicians, irrespective of their standing or ideology, always look for an opportunity to give new names to areas, roads, parks and building to please their political masters, it is surely asking for the moon to honors a great architect and have a road named after him. Lodhi Road is one such landmark, which should be renamed as Stein Road, for the sheer mind-blowing work this American-born architect with heart of an Indian rendered here.
Unlike the greats like Lutyens, Herbert Baker, Le Corbusier and others, Joseph Allen Stein decided to adopt India and designed some of the finest buildings during his close to half-century stay in India. He created landmarks buildings like the India International Centre (IIC), the American International School, the Unicef building, the India Habitat Centre (IHC), the Ford Foundation, UNESCO, WWF, Peace Memorial, Triveni Kala Sangam and a host of other buildings in various parts of the capital.
Considering his outstanding body of work in Lodhi Road area alone, it can safely be renamed as Stein Road. In fact, a small stretch, in and around Lodi Garden, contains seven major buildings that were designed by Stein. Rajeev Shukla, a journalist turned politician, candidly admits that before moving to his present home in Lodhi Estate a couple of years ago, he did not know much about the genius of Stein. He strongly feels that the concerned authorities must see to it that some road in Lodhi Road area is named after him so that people should know about him.
Stein was a master of building materials and in almost all his buildings left the construction materials exposed, says J K Jain, who worked with him for many years, adding that there is a lot to learn from what Stein has left behind. "He went into the minutest details. He never imposed his ideas on his juniors and other colleagues. He was a pioneer of architecture who amalgamated Indian urbanization with landscapes and natural forms."
Even before his demise in 2001, he used to inspect IIC and Triveni Kala Sangam for faults.
Stein believed in using building materials in their original form. He never covered stone with plaster. When stones were not available for the India Habitat Centre, he went to the kilns to order Lakhori bricks and Mughal bricks. Stein integrated landscapes into his structures for IIC — he took inspiration from the Lodhi Gardens next door and gave the building an inner and an outer courtyard. Stein was a contemporary architect who was interested in local culture, conditions and climate.
Stein arrived in India in1952 to head the architecture and planning department at the Bengal Engineering College in Kolkata. He made his presence felt in a big way after he designed Triveni Kala Sangam arts complex and the IIC.
Noted artist, Ram Rahman, says in one of his essays on Stein, "He and my father, Habib Rahman [equally noted architect], became friends during their Calcutta days. Both of them moved to Delhi in the 1950s. Here, Stein set up his private practice and my father joined the central public works department. Here, both would spend every weekend exploring every ruin and village. This was a living discovery of the great Sultanate architecture of Delhi, in the days when all the sites were still near little villages surrounded by blazing yellow and mustard fields in winter. Both developed a fascination for the traditions of Delhi building and its effect on Stein could not be clearer than in the India International Centre (IIC)."
The surfaces and materials Stein used for IIC were local stone, cast concrete jalis, blue and green ceramic tiles as highlights — an updating of the Sultanate architecture of Delhi — which Stein had learned to love and admire through his weekly exploration.
"I feel that Stein was among the first architects in India to introduce jalis in buildings in a big way. He used jalis in IIC and Triveni. And take the example of roof of the auditorium of IIC. It is absolutely unique. It is composed of pre-cast-shaped elements. Y-shaped pieces carry the outer layer, provides space for the distribution of lighting and air-condition," says Sunil Jindal, CEO of SVP developers and a keen observer of architecture.
Stein was in full flow when he was designing IIC and Triveni. Here he was given complete freedom to practice his philosophy of integrating built-form with landscape as a total environmental concept.
India Habitat Centre was Stein's last and perhaps the best work. Every part of the building speaks a different language. One can enjoy different moods at different places. The environment in the courtyard gives a feel of freshness. Stein planned the building in such a manner as to have a clean look. And IHC stands out in energy efficiency.
The interesting blue sunshade provided between the two buildings in the court helps to maintain the environment and gives a cool effect. The trees also help to maintain the environment and give a natural effect. Trees are planted at every part of the court. Fountains make the environment cooler and give an effect of lightness. Stein planned the building in such a way as to ensure that a maximum part of the floor enjoys sunlight.
He also planned to give sunlight in basement through very interesting ways. Luckily this gigantic building has one hall in the name of that legend.
Courtesy: times property dtd:-15/05/ 2010
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