DISCUSSES ABOUT 3 OF HIS MAJOR WORKS

1. GAUTAM BHATIA
AND HIS WORKS

2. GAUTAM BHATIA, BORN IN THE YEAR 1952 IS A
DELHI-BASED ARCHITECT.
HE GRADUATED IN FINE ARTS IN 1973 AND
WENT ON TO DO POST-GRADUATION WORK IN
ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA.
HE IS A MODERNIST WHO HAS CONDUCTED
RESEARCH IN INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE,
ESPECIALLY LOW-COST HOUSING AT MIT AND
HARVARD.
HE HAS REMAINED A LONE PROTAGONIST.
HE WAS INSPIRED BY THE WORKS OF FRANK
LLOYD WRIGHT, MIES VAN DER ROHE, LE
CORBUSIER, LOUIS KAHN, AND LAURIE BAKER.
IMAGE:1
SOURCE:
http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/india-
on-a-miniature-scale/article365159.ece

3. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARCHITECTURE AUTHORS OF INDIA WHO HAS
WRITTEN SEVERAL BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON ARCHITECTURE LIKE PUNJABI BAROQUE,
COMIC CENTURY: AN UNRELIABLE HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY, LAURIE BAKER, LIFE,
WORK, WRITINGS, SILENT SPACES AND OTHER STORIES OF ARCHITECTURE, ETC.
ACCORDING TO HIM, REAL ARCHITECTURE TO HIM COULD ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY SELF-
RELIANCE AND BY ENCOURAGING LOCAL CRAFTSMANSHIP.
HE BELIEVED THAT THE BUILDING EXISTS FIRST AS A FOETUS IN AN ARCHITECT’S
PREGNANT MIND, ASSUMES CLARITY OF FORM AFTER DUE NOURISHMENT, AND BEGINS
TO EMERGE ON THE DRAWING BOARD AND THE SITE AS A RESULT OF THE INFLUENCES
THAT HAVE AFFECTED IT.

4. THE BROTHERS DLF
THE IDEA OF THE HOUSE AS A VILLAGE AND THE
VILLAGE AS A HOME AND NO WALLS.
THE HOUSE IS A MONTAGE, A PASTICHE
MEANING A REAL MESS.
PLAN MADE A DIRECT REFERENCE TO GREAT
AMERICAN HOMES.
PILLARED PORCHES FROM AN AMERICAN
HOMES, WINDOW MOULDINGS FROM AN ITALIAN
CHURCH , MANSARD ROOFS FROM A FRENCH
CHATEAU.
ACCORDING TO HIM PUNJABI’S ARE THE
ROOTLESS PEOPLE SO THEIR ARCHITECTURE IS
PERHAPS INFLUENCED BY THIS ROOTLESSNESS
WHICH IS A HYBRID OF MANY INFLUENCES AND
CONTRADICTIONS PUT TOGETHER IN A CURIOUS
VARIETY OF SHAPES.
IMAGE:2
SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by
Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

5. MONTICELLO COMPLETE WITH FRONT PORTIOS AND ENTABLATURE, THE BRICKWORK
FAÇADE, THE CLASSICAL MOULDINGS OF THE FRAMES, THE HEAVY MULLIONS OF THE
WINDOWS EVEN THE FIREPLACE IN THE BEDROOM.
A FINE MARBLE REPLICA OF AN ARCHAIC NEO-AMERICAN SEMI-PALLADIAN GRAECO-ROMAN
ENTABLATURE, SUPPORTED ON A RUSTICATED COLONNADE OF DORIC BASES AND
CORINTHIAN CAPITALS WITH WINDOW JAMBS AND MULLIONS OF AN UNKNOWN AND
UNTRACEBLE ANCESTRY.
IMAGE:3
SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by
Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994
IMAGE:4
SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of
Architecture, by Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia.
Penguin Books, 1994

6. INDIRA GANDHI CHILDRENS RETREAT
THE PURPOSE OF THE RETREAT WAS TO ACTIVATE IN CHILDREN THE VALUES OF NATURE BY LIVING
TOGETHER, THROUGH INFORMAL LEARNING AND RECREATION - AN EXPERIENCE OF OUTDOOR LIFE.
THE PLACE WAS THEREFORE SEEN FIRST AS A NATURAL SANCTUARY, A SET STRUCTURED BY THE
ELEMENTS OF THE LANDSCAPE, AND ONLY SECONDARILY BY ITS ARCHITECTURE. AN INTERESTING USE
OF LOCAL STONE AND BRICK BLENDED WITH THE EXISTING LANDSCAPE.
IMAGE:5
SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake

7. FUNCTIONS INCORPORATED IN PLAN
A RECEPTION AREA, AN OFFICE, A DINING HALL WITH ALCOVES FOR READING, PLAY AND
MUSIC. THE INFORMATION AND DISPLAY AREAS ARE PLACES OF FORMAL COLLECTIVE
ACTIVITY. FIVE CLUSTERS OF BRICK BUILDINGS ALONG THE SLOPES, COMPRISE THE
CHILDREN'S DORMITORIES, CONNECTED ACROSS THE HILLOCKS BY WALKWAYS AND
OVERLOOKING THE LAKE. EACH CAN ACCOMMODATE 25 TO 30 CHILDREN.
IMAGE:6
SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-
bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake
IMAGE:7
SOURCE: http://ebuild.in/professionals/gautam-
bhatia/projects/indira-gandhi-childrens-retreat-damdama-lake

8. ARVIND DAS HOUSE IN DELHI
IMAGE:8
SOURCE: Punjabi Baroque and Other Memories of Architecture, by
Gautam Bhatia, Kundanika Kapadia. Penguin Books, 1994

9. THE BUILDING SITS IN A WIDE ROCKY EXPANSE OF A RWAL ESTATE SUBDIVISION.
DESIGN CHOSE FOR THE BUILDING IS OPPOSITE TO THE VIEW OF THAT OF A
MOUNTAIN HOUSE. THE ARCHITECTURE IS TURNED INWARDSDUE TO UNDEVELOPED
LAND SURROUNDING.
THE COURTYARD OPEN TO SKY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS HOUSE,
WHICH WAS THE MAIN RECURRING THEME IN THE TRADITIONAL HOUSE.
THE COURTYARD WAS USED FOR THE ISLOATING QUALITY TO WITHDRAW FROM THE
EXPECTED SCAR OF THE SURROUNDINGS.
THE COURT ACTS AS A COCOON, A PROTECTING SHELL , REMOVED FROM THE GLARE,
THE POTENTIAL NOISE OF ANY FUTURE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT.
PLAN FOLLOWS A LINEAR PROCESSION WHERE MOVEMENT FLOWS FROM OUTSIDE TO
THE INSIDE. THE MOVEMENT AND PLANNING FLOWS LIKE A FLUID THAT REACHES AND
CREEPS INTO ALL THE CREVICES OF A SURFACE.
HIGH VOLUMES OF THE LIVING ROOM ENCOURAGE THE SOCIABILITY REQUIRED AND
THE ANGULAR ALIGNMENT OF A STUDY CREATE THE ISOLATION NECESSARY FOR
SOLITARY WORK. THE DEEP VERANDAH GAINS ITS IMPORTANCE BY DETACHMENT, BY
ITS IDENTITY AS INDEPENDENT ROOM.