Habib Rahman (1915 – 1995) was an Indian architect who worked on the Delhi Zoological Park, Gandhi Ghat, and Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi.

Biography

Habib Rahman obtained his

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

in 1939 in Calcutta. He studied at the MIT and obtained his Masters in Architecture in 1944 (the first Indian to complete this programVijayta Lalwani
In photos: Architect Habib Rahman and the making of New Delhi in Nehru’s vision
''Scroll.in'', 6 October 2019). From 1944 to 1946, he worked at the architecture firms of

Lawrence B. Anderson Lawrence Bernhart Anderson (May 7, 1906 – April 6, 1994) was an American architect and educator and an early proponent of the International Style in the US. He was born in Geneva, Minnesota, earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts in 1927 and ...

, William Wurster

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

, and Ely Jacques Kahn in Boston.Ram Rahman
Tribute to Habib Rahman
''Tribute'', March–April 1996 Habib Rahman returned to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

during the 1946 Calcutta riots and became the Senior Architect of the government of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

from 1947 to 1953. Starting in 1953, Habib Rahman became the Senior Architect of the Central Public Works Department in New Delhi (and became Chief Architect in 1970). From 1974 to 1977, he was Secretary of the Delhi Urban Arts. In 1977, his contract was discontinued after he opposed several projects including building a second Connaught Place in New Delhi.

Work

During the 1950s and 1960s, the

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

government invited architects, among which Habib Rahman, to develop new public buildings built in the spirit of the independence of India. He designed the Gandhi Ghat in 1949 in

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital ...

, the New Secretariat in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

(completed in 1954), the Dak Bhawan in 1954, the Rabindra Bhavan in 1961 (or 1963), the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

in Delhi in 1962 (demolished in July 2019), the Sardar Patel Bhawan in 1973 (opposite to the Dak Bhawan). He also designed the National Zoological Park that opened in 1959 (which included historical ruins, and housed over a thousand animal species). He also built the memorials of

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al- Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following In ...

, Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Habib Rahman's architecture mirrored the modernist ethos of the newly Independent India.

Bibliography

*S M Akhtar, ''Habib Rahman, The Architect of Independent India'', 2016 ()

Awards

*1955:

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

*1974:

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

*1995: JK Cement Architect of the Year Chairman's Award for Life Achievement

Personal life

In 1945 he married

Indrani Rahman Indrani Rahman (19 September 1930, Chennai – 5 February 1999, New York) was an Indian classical dancer of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi, which she popularised in the west, and later settled in New York in 1976. In 1952, sh ...

, Miss India 1952 and an

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Ram Rahman and

Sukanya Rahman Sukanya Rahman is a classical Indian dancer, visual artist, and writer. Her book ''Dancing in the family,'' a memoir of three women has received several acclaims. Her painting and collage works are widely exhibited in India and abroad. Her works ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Habib 20th-century Indian architects Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering 1915 births 1995 deaths