Architexturez-IN wrote:
NEW DELHI: A radical plan proposed by the Delhi Urban Art Commission
to drastically reduce the Lutyens' Bungalow Zone — where influential
politicians and top bureaucrats live — by as much as 75% has come up
against stiff opposition from the urban development ministry, which has
asked DUAC to give "adequate justification" for such sweeping changes in
this "priority area".
Jasbir Sawhney, an architect on the commission, said that the plan
should recognize the function the bungalows serve. “Worldwide, buildings
for centuries have been added onto,” he said. “But it should be possible
to retain the character of both the bungalow and the area.”
To that end the plan includes concept sketches by Mr. Sawhney for how
additional staff quarters and office areas could be constructed on the
rear of a large bungalow plot without altering its appearance from the
street. He also developed a prototype contemporary bungalow, two or
three of which could be built on a plot now occupied by a single
Lutyens-era house.
Gautam Bhatia, a Delhi architect and critic, said the very idea of
restoring the bungalows to their original state was “farcical.” “No one
sits out for tea on the veranda, and there are no big patches of
chrysanthemums that are tended daily,” he said. “The priority now is
accommodating the 10 machine gun guards who are protecting you, and
making sure the air-conditioning works.”
The art commission’s plan has been submitted to the New Delhi Municipal
Council. It must also be approved by agencies of the central government
before taking effect. But since the commission consulted closely with
the prime minister’s office in developing its proposal, Mr. Correa said
he was hopeful it would go through.
Mr. Correa credited the prime minister’s office with trying to stop the
destruction of Lutyens’s Delhi through the hundreds of modifications.
“Before, no one had the guts to touch it in any way and because no one
touches it, everyone tinkers with it in their own way,” Mr. Correa said.
“We just want to stop and correct all the illegal things that were put in.”
cont'd....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/design/30kahn.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=ad739d26a174cda6&ex=1200027600&emc=eta1