INTACH, IUDI & ISOLA release dossier pertaining to Central Vista Redevelopment

The Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Institute of Urban Designers India (IUDI) and the Indian Society of Landscape Architects India (ISOLA) have released a joint dossier on the “Development/Redevelopment of Parliament Building Common Central Secretariat and Central Vista at New Delhi”, an issue that has taken the nation by storm, particularly the architecture and design fraternity. Be it the way the project is implemented, the absurd way of selection of the design consultant, the extremely hushed nature of proceedings or the abnormally short project deadlines, the decision by the current NDA government feels agenda-driven, manipulative, and an eyewash at its best. As with many of the developments that we have been seeing in the nation of late, this too is a decision imposed, one devoid of any actual benefit to the country, but a strange symbol of the onslaught of a fascist formation, whose monuments and methods of mass subjugation is under construction as you read this.

While this discourse has been going on for long with the walkthroughs of the six bidding organizations being released to the public a few days back, new development comes in the form of a dossier released jointly by three leading action organizations in the field of architecture, history, and heritage- INTACH Delhi Chapter, IUDI and ISOLA.

The note states: “The Central Vista forms the core of the capital city of New Delhi. It gains its significance not only from its importance as the seat of the Government of India and other essential national institutions but also as an icon of architecture, urban planning, and design. Its expansive scale was designed to invoke a grandeur suited to the capital of a vast country, while its style and layout drew on the traditions of an ancient civilization. … There are only a handful of significant urban, public expanses of such magnificent heritage value in the world that can stitch across the story of iconicity with egalitarianism as the Central Vista in Delhi.“

Arguing that the Central Vista is recognized as a “Heritage Precinct”, the dossier states: “From the perspective of history and conservation, the Central Vista has been recognized as a heritage precinct. It becomes imperative that all development within and around this space takes into cognizance its overarching worth and therefore any interventions that take place here must take special care to respect its essential heritage character and strive to retain the values it stands for.“

 The document then goes on to lay down some General Guidelines by stating, “As no Guidelines for ‘Development or Re-development around the Central Vista’ have ever been ratified, IUDI (Institute of Urban Designers – India), INTACH Delhi Chapter and ISOLA (Indian Society of Landscape Architects) have deliberated on the same and the following document has been collated to guide any development or redevelopment that is to take place along the Central Vista.“

The Guidelines have been divided into three heads- Urban Design, Built Heritage & Landscape. We are presenting a concise list for the same.

Urban Design of the Central Vista:

1. The principle of collective assembly of built-form and landscape needs to be recognized, preserved and enhanced. Any future planning/design move/s should, in no way violate such an urban gesture at the macro level and no structures, buildings, markers, towers or infrastructural elements should obstruct or destroy the existing visual quality of this composition along its entire expanse from the Ridge and Raisina Hill to the River Yamuna.
2. The essential urban structure and character of Lutyens’ Delhi needs to be protected/preserved especially along the primary corridors of movement parallel to the Central Vista precinct (along Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad roads).
3. Proposed constructions should not overpower the grandeur of the Rashtrapati Bhawan and North-South Block ensemble. Any proposed building or cluster of buildings are to be planned according to these guidelines and as per building bye-laws especially with regard to building setbacks, built envelopes, height restrictions, and architectural vocabulary.
4. High-Security areas like the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Secretariat offices as well as public functions like museums and open, green public spaces are to be zoned accordingly. The publicness of the Central Vista with unfettered freedom of access to all citizens (including vendors) and visitors to the entire area of the central vista needs to be ensured/restored without any form of fencing, gates or barrier through the total length and breadth of the central open space. Adequate visitor amenities are to be incorporated inclusive of public parking, police booths, drinking water facilities, toilets which are to be appropriately and conveniently located.
5. Alterations or replacement of this built form within individual plots should ensure continuity of the built edge overlooking the Central Vista as well as adjoining transportation corridors. This continuity of form should be ensured, at both the ground plane and skyline as visible from Rajpath and adjoining roads.
6. The overall morphology of the streets and plots of this precinct should be retained. Under no circumstances should plots be amalgamated and dividing roads in between them, obliterated to create larger parcels either for built or open use.
7. Built forms around the C-Hexagon are uniquely disposed within individual plots. This disposition should be maintained for any change that is imagined in this special formation within the precinct. It is important that the string of buildings along the C-Hexagon though separate from each other, form a collective sequence of unified experience along the hexagon and encounters each form as they unfold.
8. New functions proposed for this precinct should use detailed analysis of adaptive re-use and retrofitting possibilities with respect to individual building types and arrive at the most appropriate usage that could be incorporated in each of these buildings.
9. No plots in this precinct are to be bounded by high, opaque or semi-opaque surfaces that inhibit visual permeability between the public domain outside the plots and the development within. Plot edges that align with the Central Vista are to retain their soft qualities with low boundary walls and vegetative cover with active frontages as determined by respective functional content within the plots.

Built Heritage along the Central Vista:

1. New Delhi was conceived as a means of bringing earlier Delhis and historic monuments into its ambit. Along the Central Vista is a direct visual link from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Purana Qila. This important view corridor should be retained at all costs with no structure disturbing the visual connectivity
2. Interventions to the Heritage Buildings are to be governed by Annexure-II of the Unified Building Byelaws 2016. In adding space within the notified heritage compounds, Annexure-II, Item 1.12: (page 418) ‘Grading of the Listed Buildings/Listed Precincts’ of the Unified Building Byelaws 2016 that indicates the Scope of Change, Procedure, and Permissible Development in and around the Heritage Buildings for each category of building has to be adhered to.
3. The Government of India had submitted a dossier to UNESCO in 2013, to nominate the Mughal walled city of Shahjahanabad and New Delhi to the list of World Heritage Cities. The Government of Delhi has requested the Government of India to revive the nomination process. The proposed development, by adhering to these basic guidelines, will not only be compatible with this nomination but will reinforce the claims of India to have its capital on the list.

Landscape of the Central Vista

1. All elements of the hard and soft landscape (delineated as the area between the boundary walls of the building complexes on either side of the axis)- water channels, trees, street furniture like chain bollards, light posts, gate posts, etc. of the original scheme, though small are a very important part of the larger ensemble/experience along the Central Axis need to be preserved.
2. These concepts of Planting for ‘Unity’, ‘Shade’, ‘Symmetry’, ‘Hierarchy’, ‘Integrated design’ and ‘Background’ are to be retained. As the trees are nearing 100 years in age, some trees are dying, replacements should be of the same species.

Having worked extensively on the General Guidelines, the document proceeds to provide a four-point recommendation on General Procedures for the redevelopment activity.

1. A physical audit of Heritage Structures and landscape elements is required to establish the state of conservation and determine their strategies of intervention. This is to be followed by a detailed Heritage Impact Assessment Report when the proposal to construct new buildings is approved.
2. Any further development envisaged in the Central Vista precinct should be subject to detailed pre-design studies of carrying capacity and impact assessment with respect to the environment, energy, physical infrastructure, transportation, etc. Such studies should form the basis for determining the limits of additional floor space, uses and population that the proposed development could incorporate and corresponding strategies are to be evolved. No designs are to be approved nor should any part of the project/s be executed without full compliance of study findings. Delhi is clearly not geared to take in more people or for this area to be densified.
3. Detailed Urban Design and Landscape Guidelines for overall development as well as individual plots and spaces are to be formulated prior to the preparation of DPR and all design approvals are to be processed in strict accordance to the same.
4. Given the environmental crisis that the city faces today, guidelines and norms to achieve a net-zero, green development program have to be put in place and strictly enforced. A strategic Action Plan to mitigate adverse environmental conditions and urban operations during the time of construction is to be drawn up and approved prior to the commencement of execution.

Given the current state of affairs, such documents officially issued in collaboration by national bodies of intellect are a welcome move which also displays the urgency and seriousness of the issue. Whether such documents will change anything is, however, unclear. The concerned agencies have submitted this dossier to the concerned ministry as well as HCP Design, Planning And Management Pvt. Ltd. for their due consideration.

With the country slowly rising up to the hurried decision by the government, the only positive story of the saga would be the slow but steady wave of awareness that is building up. However, to expect that the government will take into account any public opinion would be a gross misapprehension. A project this large that is being backed by the ambition of a government to establish itself as an infallible body of power will always move according to the fancies of the elite. To expect any change would be hoping against hope!

Download the Dossier here

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