“At Habitat Centre, New Delhi, Stein proposed an urbanscape for the North Indian Metropolis. This complex of institutional offices with recreational & conference facilities is perhaps the first and only attempt at finding a prototype for contemporary needs. It attempts to harness the economies of scale of large urban development to produce a sheltered public space of leisure and congregation among plants and water, where the changing light of seasons plays on patterned floors and a rich texture of brick stone and glazed tile, recalling the city’s architectural traditions. The enclosed workspaces too are oriented primarily towards the shaded courts with wide strip windows. In contrast narrow vertical slits on the outer face of the buildings turn away from the harsh out-of-doors surrounded by vehicular movement. Although the facilities are sponsored by the upper crust of society and built for the benefit of the public space and is conceived as an open pedestrian continuum that would connect and integrate the neighbourhood. The materials of construction especially the external finishes of the complex are indigenously produced and utilise local resources. Even though Stein has often mourned the gradual deterioration and loss of the finer skills of craftsmanship in the building industry over the years, he has sought solutions that do not displace the local crafts by simply resorting to wholesale import. Instead, he uses a simple but skillful deployment of stone terracotta, brick, and glazed tile. The shaded and planted courts create a microclimate that makes the out-of-doors habitable during the hot summer season. This modified microclimate coupled with a cavity wall construction and controlled use of glass makes for an effective strategy in reducing air-conditioning loads,” (Khan, 2016).
The Indian Habitat Center works in harmony with the environment to lessen the burden of weather on visitors. Techniques like shaded courtyards that reflect light at peak sunlight hours, gardens with local plants, and locally sourced materials benefit both visitors and the IHC by embracing the strengths and challenges of the environment.
My proposed sustainability and waste management solutions for ODNR should follow suit. Every environment is unique, therefore I will need to understand what makes the environment I am working with unique. While the solutions proposed by Stein for the IHC may not be the exact solutions I end up finding, thinking about shade application and the impact of climate control on human behavior in the parks could be interesting. For example, perhaps climate control installations in certain areas could be used to incentivize sustainable behavior like picking up trash or sorting recycling.
In future site Visits, I plan to pay closer attention to what parks lack or have in excess so I can understand what aspects or resources I can use to nudge people toward sustainable behavior.
References
Blessedarch. (2024, August 12). The Indian Habitat Center in Delhi. Have you
ever seen it? Btw this building also houses the offices of the Council of
Architecture of India. [Video attached] [Post]. Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-kfcn1vjO0/?hl=en
Iype, J. (2020, April 10). Lush greens at the brick clad India Habitat Centre
[Photograph]. stirworld. https://www.stirworld.com/
inspire-people-ode-to-steinabad-joseph-allen-steins-affair-with-light-landscape-a
nd-architecture
Khan, G. A. (n.d.). Stein’s Contribution to Contemporary Indian Architecture. In
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Engineering Research
(IJETER). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2018.0088 (Reprinted from
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Engineering Research
(IJETER), 2016,, 4[5])
