Information about the life and work philosophy of Architect Habib Rahman along with 2 brief case studies of his work

1. AR. HABIB RAHMAN
A presentation by – Ayondeep, Hari, Zohair

2. ❑THE ARCHITECTURAL BACKDROP

3. “A building becomes architecture when
it not only works effectively but moves
human soul”
▪ Born in 1915 in Kolkata
▪ Completed his schooling and took admission in Bengal Engineering College, Kolkata
▪ Had always been interested in Architecture but Architecture as a profession was virtually
unknown in India at the time
▪ Failed to crack the Railway Services exam but managed to get a scholarship to MIT,
Massachusetts, US
▪ Switched to Architecture Course in MIT
▪ Studied under influential faculties like Lawrence Andersen, William Wurster, Walter
Gropius
▪ Completed Bachelors and Masters in Architecture by 1944 and became the first Indian to
study architecture in US
▪ Stayed back in US for another 2 years and worked in the offices of famous architects like
Lawrence Anderson and Walter Gropius
❑ EARLY LIFE

4. ▪ During his stay in America, Rahman worked mostly with architects who were either
strong followers of modern movement in architecture or deeply connected with
Bauhaus or International style
▪ This left a strong impression on him and a similar architectural style can be seen in his
buildings
▪ He was trained for seeing the smallest possible detail of a building.
▪ Working with Walter Gropius influenced him the greatest and he was convinced by the
Bauhaus style that was founded by him
▪ Another major influence on Habib Rahman was the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
▪ Both had similar kind of events in their life as Rahman was a government architect and
Niemeyer had done many government projects due to his political connections as well
❑ INITIAL INFLUENCES
Walter
Gropius
Oscar
Niemeyer

5. ❑ IDEOLOGIES AND PHILOSOPHY
▪ Architecture was his passion and he was involved with it in every aspect
▪ More than the physical architectural style, he admired the spirit of the Bauhaus style that it
emphasized on the use of modern technology
▪ In his earlier works, one can clearly identify the Bauhaus language prominently but later
he developed his own architectural language that could merge with Indian context without
imitating the traditional architectural elements.
▪ He was very sceptical about the revivalist approach of architecture and didn’t appreciate
the use of Indian traditional elements on buildings to Indianize the outlook of the building.
▪ He felt that simple imitation of old patterns was meaningless without a true
reinterpretation for our times
▪ Habib’s larger buildings are notable for being sturdy, simple and sensitive
▪ His smaller structures such as the later memorials have a striking and poetic simplicity,
delicacy grace
“Habib’s works were
characterized by a rare
sense of appropriateness
and directness. His work like
his life should be a beacon
and a challenge. Indeed it
can be seen that Habib was
a Gandhian kind of an
architect, seeking beauty
through appropriateness
and simplicity’’
- Joseph Stein

6. ▪ The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is a statutory organization set up by the Union Government
in 1956, charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education.
PROJECT BRIEF
Location: Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi
Chief architect: Habib Rahman
Client: UGC authorities
Constructing authority: CPWD
Area of site: 1.6 acres
Year of completion: 1954
Plinth Area: 67,000 sq.ft.
Carpet Area: 44,000 sq.ft.
❑ UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION, INDIA
Basic Layout
An isometric view of the basic model showing
the use of pure geometry in the form inspired
from Bauhaus style
Diagram of functional and
transitional spaces

7. • Rahman designed a building consisting two wings parallel to the two side of the pentagon.
• Those two wings meet each other at the junction that is occupied by service core.
• During the design period he was still much inspired by the Bauhaus ideology and buildings
forms. Inspired from that, the UGC building has much like a box shape in overall form.
• The use of the vertical concrete louvers also shows the direct application of architect's
influence from the work of Oscar Niemeyer. The north wing of building has floating effect
• Being true to his modernist roots, Rahman has used the R.C.C. frame structure for his
building.
• The structure is designed on a module of different grids of 12 X 25 ft, and 12 X 8ft for
corridor
❑ UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION, INDIA
Vertical louvres inspired by
Oscar Niemeyer
Grid pattern

8. ❑ UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION, INDIA
ARCHITECTURAL VOCABULARY
• Architect's affection towards International style
and Bauhaus is quite evident in the building of
UGC.
• The building represents some of the best qualities
of the Bauhaus style: simple and pure form, use of
modern material and technology and clarity of
functional divisions.
• For the facade treatment he has used Niemeyer's
approach of protecting building from extreme
climate of the regions by creating surface of
smaller units consisting vertical and horizontal
louvers and hangovers. Balconies of UGC similar to balconies of
Bauhaus by Laszlo Moholynagy, 1926
Louvres inspired from
Niemeyer’s design philosophy
Free standing staircase of RCC
inspired from Bauhaus style
Concrete jaali- one of the few elements
which follows Indian architectural style

9. ❑ RABINDRA BHAVAN, NEW DELHI
▪ The Rabindra Bhawan was established by government of India to
function as working and administrative body of various art and culture
institutions of India.
▪ Location: feroze shah Marg; New Delhi
▪ Chief architect: Habib Rahman
▪ Client: Lalit kala academy
▪ Construction authority:CPWD
▪ Area of site :3 acres
▪ Year of completion :1961
▪ Initiative : the project was initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru who wanted
a building that would mark the birth centenary of Rabindranath Tagore
who is poet and novelist.

10. ❑ RABINDRA BHAVAN, NEW DELHI
Design layout:
• Habib Rahman has designed
the building in based on the
functional basis .
• He divided the design into 3
different structures .
1. Y-shaped structure-office in
each wing
2. Auditorium
3. Pentagon shaped office
Ideology:
▪ Habib Rahman being a follower of
Bauhaus style design.
▪ The first design attempt was based on the
Bauhaus which got rejected
▪ The second design attempt is based on
traditional Indian style
▪ The architect was asked to use the simple
elegant structure using Indian architectural
elements.
▪ To implement the spirit of Tagore and
simplicity of Gandhi was the concept for
the design.

11. ❑ RABINDRA BHAVAN, NEW DELHI
▪ Moved from his Bauhaus roots Rahman has used composite
R.C.C frame structure along side load bearing walls in the
administrative block.
Architectural elements:
▪ The use of Indian style was the foremost design consideration.
▪ He designed the structure using chajjas, dome, jaali walls,
arched walkways
▪ The dome was used in the Y-shaped structure at the
intersection of wings.
▪ The arched walkways are used as connections between the
buildings.
▪ The façade is exposed brick work on load bearing walls in
administration space
▪ The exhibition gallery consist of random rubble masonry.

12. ❑ INFERENCE
▪ Influenced by Walter Gropius’ works which mainly focused on functionality of the
building.
▪ Specific units/blocks had specific functions, which then became a part of one
building.
▪ He further divided major functions of the building into wings systems
▪ Forms of the buildings are derived from pure geometry just
like any Bauhaus building
▪ They didn’t respond to the immediate context of the site
▪ However the plan and orientation of the building are
strongly derived from shape of the site

13. ❑ INFERENCE
▪ Using standard grid module in the structure and articulating elements in the
façade he made it possible for construction of the building to complete
within the limited time frame and funds
▪ Due to limitation of availability of modern material such as
steel and glass, fulfilment of his ideas could not be done in
Indian context.
▪ Hence he used conventional materials like concrete and
bricks in his buildings.
▪ Influence of Oscar Niemeyer can be seen in articulation of
facades of his earlier buildings where Rahman used louvers
and overhangs as sun breakers.
▪ But later he used Indian interpretation of those elements in
from of chajjas and jaalis