Architect Bimal Patel, whose firm, HCP Design, Planning and Management, was selected as the Central Public Works Department’s consultant for the redevelopment of the Central Vista in 2019, speaks to The Hindu a month after the first project of the master plan was opened to the public. The revamped and renamed Kartavya Path, earlier known as Rajpath, was opened after 20 months of refurbishment. The Parliament building is supposed to be ready in time for the winter session later this year. November 2022 has been the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry’s deadline for the project, as submitted by the Ministry in replies to Parliament and several public statements by Minister Hardeep Puri.
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Patel, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019, has a slew of projects to his name, many of which have generated debate. Here he addresses some of the criticism that has come his way.
Bimal Patel | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Question: The revamping of the Central Vista Avenue or Kartavya Path is the first of the area’s redevelopment projects to be completed and opened to the public. What is the feedback?
Answer: All in all, we have heard good things about the project. Of course, there are many small spaces where improvements can be made. In all architecture projects you don’t get a chance to de-bug them till they are put to use. We have done a sort of post-occupancy survey. We have identified places where we will need to make minor adjustments and alterations.
Q: Could you give an example of the adjustments being made?
A: There are many places where the signage needs improvement. We seem to have misjudged on that front, so we are adding more literal signs, not so graphic. These graphic signs are not decipherable by many people. In some places we need to add a little bit of paving because there is a huge footfall there and the grass is not surviving.
Construction of the Central Vista buildings in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Q: There were photos posted on social media recently when it rained heavily and the underpasses at Kartavya Path became flooded.
A: Yes, that was unfortunate. There was a cable fault and a pump was not functional, so we got some waterlogging. These small glitches cannot be anticipated. But it won’t get logged [in the future], because it is designed not to.
Q: Would you have done anything differently or added something if you had more time?
A: No, I wouldn’t add anything. This is a very simple design. It focuses on the functional need of people and it has expanded the space available for people to use. It has enhanced the beauty of the place. The beauty was always there. In a sense, we just shined it up and made it more user-friendly.
Aerial view of the project. | Photo Credit: R. V. Moorthy
Q: You’ve said that the central secretariat buildings that will be made part of the Central Vista revamp are meant to be practical workplaces, as opposed to works of art. How do you balance the need for practical spaces and the larger vision, given that the prime minister invoked the symbol of ‘new India’ at the inauguration of Kartavya Path?
A: Even now, when I stand on it [Kartavya Path], after having worked on it for so long with my colleagues, I feel a sense of awe and wonder. It has the great India Gate at one end and North and South Block and Rashtrapati Bhawan at the other, and these fantastic lawns and the trees. The buildings on the two sides were never meant to be seen from Rajpath. The tall trees hide all of it. And the trees are quite spectacular.
The aesthetic geometry of Kartavya Path is actually the axis that stretches from India Gate to the other side. To do anything on the two sides would only draw attention from that axis, which is what makes the place. I have no problem with the buildings not being visible. The fact that the North and South Blocks will become museums already changes the whole iconography of the place. The whole meaning of the place changes without changing the architecture. It will no longer be a colonial or Raj symbol or even a Bharat sarkar symbol. It will become a symbol of culture. The office buildings will be functional, efficient and what a modern country must have. They will have quiet strength. It’s not going be a spectacle.
A visitor pays tribute at the Sabarmati Ashram. | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Q: How do you view the criticism of the Central Vista Avenue or the other projects you are associated with, like the Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment or Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor?
A: When we are doing projects in the public realm using public money, a public discourse about the project is to be expected. In this case, with this [Central Vista] being such an important project, one should expect more. I have been involved in public projects since the mid 90s and I have come to understand that this sort of discourse around projects is bound to take place. If one cannot bear that scrutiny then one should not be involved in public projects. I’m of the view that it is inevitable, necessary and can be put to positive use.
damini.nath@thehindu.co.in
