DESIGNS FOR NEW DELHI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15646, 27 June 1914, Page 12

DESIGNS FOR NEW DELHI.

; BBITISH IDEALS EXPRESSED. J The drawings of the Indian Secrctartts and Government House, forming tip g.-at . block of capital buildings for tbe N'w , Delhi, were recently on view at the Royal , Academy. They may not satisfy ibe ~n>- > tagoniftg on either side in the long-drawn 1 " battles of the styles," but they repre- _ sent a novel and splendid effort to apply, with duo regard for Indian sentiment, the I spirit and essence- of the great traditions '. of architecture to tbe solution of ttrnc- ' t'*ral problems conditioned upon an Indian ' climate and Indian surroundings and re- . quiremtnt*. To use the language of the | architects themselves, it has been their aim i "to express, within the limit of the ' medium and of the powers of its users, me ideal and tho tact of bnasii ruie in India, of watch the New Delhi mutt ever bo the monument." , lOe inspiration of these designs is roam- , festly Western, as is Mat 01 u.rush rule, . but they combine wit a it distinctive inI aian features witnout doing viulence to [ tne principles of structsirai iitne*s and , artistic unity. Many 01 trie dtiaus which . will Do Eti.l more cuaracieristicany lndan . cannot be displayed at the present ttaje. lor the elaborate ornament and deo/ravtua, in which the Indian craftsman excels, can , scarcely be snown on large-scale a<*.-. , intended mainly to illustrate the general , conception of the buildings. Much will . depend, moreover, upon tne resourcefulness and ability or toe Indian aruncers themse.ves whrra the Government of India proposes to bring together in Delhi to give expression, by their decorative work, to the best traditions of skilled Indiai 1 craftsmanship. J Already the work of levelling and clear- ! ing and laying out new rwds, on which some 2G,OtX> coolies haw been engaged , throughout lbe lest if season, has progressed so fr.r that Irom Raisina one car. obtain an excellent survey of tho whole , layout of the new city, which wi.l rsd:i j ate from its base. To tho west, at least . i of tie. '£&i Road, a considerable part of . tho area which tie new Delhi will cover, i' has never been built over m h stone times. [ i and the ancient monuments lying to the , j east of the Taj Rend are so grouped that > i it will bo easy to enclose them in public i ! parks and gardens, which premise to be .) among the most beautiful features of new . j Delhi. Even now there i$ no dearth of foliage in tho old gardens of Dclii and .!.«._ «k. u:_u I. -_J .L- _.!..

1 along tho old high roads, and thojo who , can remember, sorao 50 years ago, the : ,' waste places outside- tho walla of Lahore, , or the desolate fwetch of duet heaps and ! ijribbjih mounds between the fort at Agra' and the Taj, whoro 'hero arc now green 1 I swards and leafy avenues, will have no difficulty in visualising the transformation ! K-ono which irrigation on the scale navr I : contemplated wu! bring about in new j i ! Delhi. The view from Government- House j ' will range from the Moghul city and the' gleaming domes and minarets of the Great! 'j Mosque, three miles away to tho north, • to the more diet&nt Kntb and tho scarped j walls of Tughlakabnd in tho extreme i sooth. Il« front windows will uco straight down upon the venerable bank-' monts of ludrapat. The squalid vi*lajj*» • , which had grown up in'ido the walls his '' j been cleared away, ant! ultimately the • - waters of the Jumna, which bathe th?; southern ramparts, are to bo in part di-: verted 60 as to surround it. as in olden ■ times, with a broad sheet of water. A • stately arenuo, leading straight from the northern gate of Indrapat to tho " Kind's Court," will form the chief processional ■ . approach to tho now Indian Caoitol. Thtw.. ■ ; the new seat of British Imperial nil? will i be brought into direct connection with the ; ! India of nasi are*;, for the walls of the' 1 . Purana Kilat, built by a Moghul Em--1 peror. cover the file. But have not ob- 1 1 (iterated the name of Indrapmstha. the ' i city founded by the Pardavas af'er »h«ir j epic stated? for tmpremary in the earliest ; i twilight of Indian history. I |\ ' '