Seema Bawa's Column
The Belgian Embassy: A
Masterpiece Revisited.
This multi domed,
arched, brick complex on Shanti Path is not only a landmark that defines the
Delhi landscape but is perhaps also a watershed in Indian architecture. As
such the Belgian Embassy has evoked heated debate amongst the practitioners
of architecture over the period of two decades, since the time of its design
in 1980.
Much of the controversy
is focussed around the fact that Satish Gujral, its designer is not a
professional architect. Going down memory lane, Gujral recalls that his
interest in architecture was derived from his engrossment with the mural as
a medium of public art. With this came the conviction that a mural, a
painting or a sculpture to be successful in a building has to come form a
single vision- “breathe from the single lung,” as he puts it. For this he
had to design the building himself. In order to achieve this “I started to
assist the architects of projects in which I was doing the murals, ”
reminiscences Gujral. His early training in the Lahore art institution also
came in handy where the curriculum had included draughtsmanship, carpentry,
metalwork and the like.
With this came the
conviction that instead of bringing art to the public place as through a
mural, the need was to make the public place a work of art by itself. So
after designing few residences, he submitted his design in a competition to
build the Belgian Embassy in Chankyapuri in New Delhi.
The Embassy unlike most
buildings is not oriented to the center of the plot. Instead the four major
units are in all corners of the semi triangular shaped plot- the Ambassadors
Residence, the Chancery, the Counsel's’ residence and the servant quarters.
“By placing them in this way I created a tension between the buildings,”
explains Gujral. In the middle is a landscaped courtyard, what Dr.R S Sodhi,
an eminent planner and expert on large complex designs, calls the veda
, the baramda, or a cul de sac that epitomizes the north Indian
village.
In fact, the complex
has a rather late Mughal feel to it. Originally the jury that awarded the
project had felt that this Indianness was a drawback and that the Embassy
should reflect the character of Belgium. But the Premier intervened and said
that for him this was a qualification. Commenting on the influence of
globalization on architectural practice, Gujral says “modern architecture is
built for nowhere and speaks of nowhere. But building is like a human being
- it has its own identity and provides an identity to its inhabitants.”
According to Arjun Thapar, an architect who teaches at the School of
Planning and Architecture ”The Embassy is not a pure building rather is
architecture that reflects an artist's thinking and personality.”
“When I sat down to
design it, it was like I paint, without conscious thought that I want it to
be like this or that- emotion finds its style. I introduced a sculptural
element that was natural with my background. Where I used conscious thought
was in the planning,” says Satish Gujral.
Sodhi concurs “the
Belgian Embassy is a sculptural form, specially from the outside. Moving
inside is like moving through sculptured space.” Herein lies the problem. “
Probably after having conceived of the form, Gujral didn’t want to
compromise with it and was therefore not able to plan the openings, windows
and doors, “ he clarifies adding “ we architects feel that form of the
building should emerge form the foundations and function rather then vice
versa.”
Gujral however feels
that “professionals always abuse the non-professionals, and talk about
techniques. It is only in the modern times that the divorce between
architecture, sculpture and painting has taken place.”
“Visiting the Belgian
Embassy is like visiting as museum. It is not like a regular office space.”
Unlike other embassy structures in the Diplomatic Enclave, this is not cold
and intimidating. “It is like an oasis amongst many other ugly and hostile
structures. Open, friendly and non-intimidating,” says Thapar.
Placing it in context
of history of design Thapar feels that it made architectural history, in the
manner it broke norms of office buildings. Sodhi agrees and says that it was
probably the first time that exposed bricks were used for a formal building,
bricks were usually considered and informal medium. The use of exposed
bricks however was not new, considered that Le Corbusier had built almost
the entire Chandigarh with this look. Bricks are also problem material
because they allow for leakage unless until the roofing has been properly
treated, especially in context of the Embassy the wall merges into the roof
shaped like a dome, explains Sodhi.
The designer
remarks that “in the 15 years of its existence its importance has grown
around the world.” The best encomium for the Belgain Embassy is proabably
provided by Gujral himself, “If Michaelanglo’s Sistine Chapel could survive
for so many centuries, why the Belgian Embassy would not.”