1. Philosophy 2. Features 3. Material 4. Form 5. His Buildings

1. RAJ REWAL’S PHILOSOPHY
GEETIKA SINGLA

2. “Tradition should not be approached for its underlying order, not
for its superficial effects, it should be rethought in terms that are
right for the possibilities and limitations of the present social
order”
…Raj Rewal

3. • Role Models
• 1. Le Corbusier
• 2. Charles Chorrea
• 3. Louis I. Kahn
• Influential Places:
• 1. Rajasthan
• 2. OldTowns
• 3.Taditinal Haveli House
• 4.Ancient Buildings
• 5. Modern Buildings As Well
• 6.WesternTheories Of Urban Planning & BuildingTechnology

4. • Rewal’s designs have some things in common with those of his
contemporaries Charles Correa, Balkrishna V Doshi and Achyut
Kanvinde - such as broken-up forms, open courtyards and sociable
living or working environments.
• But Rewal’s work has its own range and grammar. Unlike the other
architects, and like Joseph Allen Stein also in New Delhi, Rewal has built
largely in one place and climate — Delhi, and hot, dry north India.

5. PHILOSOPHY
• • Architectural theory - buildings should respond to complex demands
of rapid urbanization,climate & culture.
• • Concept - base of designing housing is traditional architecture of
India and a dual concern for a building’s expressiveness by means of
incorporating historical precedents into urban design.
• Window openings constitute a modern interpretation of carved jalis in
ancient buildings morphology of old towns into a contemporary
equivalent. (Sheikh Sarai Mass Housing Complex)

6. FEATURES
• Clustering of buildings (ASIAN GAMESVILLAGE)
• Courtyards providing public space within the building. (ASIAN GAMES VILLAGE)
• Scatter of terraces permitting yet another set of activities ( SHEIKH SARAI HOUSING)
• STREETS : Narrow, shaded , broken up into small units creating pauses, points of rest
& changing (SHEIKH SARAI)
•GATEWAYS : Allow for a change & contain a contunity, bridges formed by linking 2
neighbouring houses (ASIAN GAMESVILLAGE)

7. MATERIAL
• Sandstone - gives traditional yet modern look
• Concrete- housing
• Brick cladding- residence

8. GRAMMAR OF HIS FORM
Rewal has helped transform a modernism learnt from the West, quietly, into its very opposite. The
continuities with Modernism in his best work balance some relatively radical departures from
Modernist dogma.
This grammar reflects two apparently opposed value systems: the traditional one of the hot and dry
parts of India, with its taste for pattern and ornament, and the Western Modernist one of abstract
expression.This reflects a concern for climatic sensitivity and energy efficiency.

9. GRAMMAR OF HIS FORM
He is pained to see developers investing in glass. “Glass is for colder climates. Its transparency is
nullified in hot weather as you have to cover it with heavy curtains. As you shut the door to nature,
the cost of air conditioning goes up substantially.
Rewal’s grammar uses some of the principles of traditional architecture in Rajasthan -
• upper floors project outwards to shade lower walls,
• jalis cut glare or improve a façade.
• material — sandstone — often, but as cladding for RCC (reinforced cement concrete) and
masonry structures rather than structural work.
• reinterprets traditional stone architecture in modern brick and RCC.

10. ASIAN GAMES VILLAGE
Asian games village is located in New Delhi, India and is a family urban
housing project. He was inspired by Jaipur and Jaiselmer’s urban patterns.
In all, there are some 500 housing units compromising of 200 individuals
and 300 apartments in two to four floors with each unit type having
variations according to areas and function.

14. DELHI METRO CORPORATION HEADQUARTERS
It is located in New Delhi the concept behind it being based on the three
wings for offices, which encloses an atrium filled with light. The building
has a logical and economical structural system.

18. SHEIKH SARAI HOUSING
This low-rise high-density scheme for 550 units is designed on the basis
of a self-financing scheme for the Delhi Development Authority by Raj
Rewal. It segregates pedestrian and vehicular movement and provides for
interlinked squares of varying scales for community activities. All the units
have been provided with courtyards or rooftop terraces with very good
proportions and connections to all the buildings.

22. HALL OF NATIONS
The Permanent Exhibition Complex is designed to form the focus of 130
acres of Exhibition ground designed by Rewal in New Delhi. The design
was evolved to meet the constraints of time, availability of materials and
labor, but above all, to reflect symbolically and technologically, India’s
intermediate technology in the 25th year of its independence. It provides
vast space for exhibits ranging in size from books to bulldozers.

26. STATE TRADING CORPORATION
The building comprises of ‘L-shaped’ office blocks that are in response to
the heights of the adjoining buildings. The highest part of the building is
defined by a cubic volume at the junction of the L-shaped configuration. A
low, three-storey volume partially fills the space created by the L-shaped
adjoining towers. Space houses a commercial emporium designed by Raj
Rewal.