Date of Award
Spring 6-1-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Architecture (MArch)
Department
Architecture
First Advisor
Ryan McCaffrey
Second Advisor
Nicholas Moore
Abstract
New Delhi/ Naiee Dilli is one of the cities in the world which has been destroyed and rebuilt 10 times since 3100BC. Starting with the name of Indraprastha and ending with Lutyens’s Delhi in 1911AD. Currently, Delhi still shows the footprints of all the 10 destroyed cities. The major change happened during the Lutyens’s planning and after the post-independence where India started getting engaged with the new construction technology with industrial materials which were introduced by the colonizers. The architecture of post-colonial Delhi was to change the image of a growing city to a developed city. An era where Indian cities were getting ready for globalization and welcoming outsiders to invest. The structure of these buildings where getting defined as experiments with the new shapes and techniques for future generation architects to inspire and continue the same with the concept of brutalism and old heritage buildings in India. This also started shaping the land usage and other neighboring buildings in society with relation to colonial radial city planning keeping heritage and modernism in the same bracket. Most of the building programs were the government’s office, market spaces, exhibition spaces, hotels, and low-cost housing for the lower middle class of Delhi. But in 21st century India people and government have started forgetting about the importance of these buildings leading to demolition. One of the examples can be New Delhi Railway Station building also known as NDLS or Paharganj side railway station building. The government is again demolishing this structure and pursuing a structure that is out of the context of New Delhi’s architecture. Also, Railway stations in India are one of the oldest buildings across the nation which keeps getting retrofitted with new elements of today’s building to look aesthetically up to date but, from inside the structure, space remains the same as it was during the British era. Across India old railway stations have been following the infrastructure as defined by the Britishers when they started developing railways during their rule across the country (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). In particular, the New Delhi railway station has been a critical point for India’s redevelopment of Indian Railways. It is the second busiest station in India and lies in the capital of India.
My research aim can be framed under the light of studying these structures with their contrasting construction techniques and to know how railway stations can be improved by giving a new civic culture space including amenities and regulations. Reflecting the culture of the region while being an important civic node for efficient transportation of people and cargo around New Delhi and the rest of the country.
Recommended Citation
Gupta, Yash Sahai, "Preserving modern architecture & new railway infrastructure in New Delhi" (2021). Masters Theses. 645.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/645
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Comments
View exhibition online: Yash Sahai Gupta, Preserving Modern Architecture & New Railway Infrastructure in New Delhi