Generally, most of us do not have access to one of the masterpieces of Architecture, British Council building in New Delhi, India. However, I got an opportunity of visiting this building and could enjoy this beautiful Landscaped garden called Charbagh within this Contemporary Architecture.
British Council, New Delhi stands in the heart of the city, near Connaught Place and is a design collaboration of three Grandmasters — Architect Charles Correa, Mahendra Raj (father of modern building engineering) and Artist Howard Hodgkin and was constructed in the year 1992. Later Morphogenesis Architects did a makeover of this building and helped it to be part of the LEED Certification.
This building is the first British Council worldwide to be awarded a USGBC LEED Platinum rating under the Commercial Interiors category by US Green Building Council.
This building houses number of diverse functions, including a Library, an Auditorium, an Art gallery, Classrooms and the Headquarters of their offices in India. The design of the British Council is such that the elements (like the library, auditorium, etc.) are arranged in a series of layers, giving it the historic interface that have existed in the Indian Architecture. The entrance exhibits a large Indian tree mural by Howard Hodgkin on the exterior.
The nodal point of the building being the Central Courtyard, named as the Charbagh, derived from the Islamic Charbagh concept.
Charbagh (which means four gardens) is a Persian style garden layout, which was introduced in Indian Architecture by the Mughals. It was also referred to as the Garden of Paradise.
The garden is centred around the epic/ mythic image and is inlaid in marble and granite stones, used to represent the Age of reason, including the mythic values of Science and progress.
At the center of the Charbagh, a water body has been designed around which are the stone benches, so that during evenings and hot weather the occupants of the building can enjoy the cool breeze when wind blows.
On all four sides of the Charbagh on the periphery, there are trellis built over the walkways with some shaded trees and planters at the corners to give shadow and shade while people are walking underneath the trellis. These trellises also define the connection between the four entries/ corners.
Charbagh is an overall mesmerizing experience of the British Council, New Delhi.
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