A photograph of Rabindra Bhawan shows architecture doing more than housing offices: its projecting shades and screened surfaces give a modern cultural institution a vocabulary drawn from Indian building traditions. Architect Habib Rahman’s public projects helped give physical form to a new nation’s institutions. His documented connection to Jawaharlal Nehru is specific: in a 1959 letter, Nehru said he would view Rahman’s model for a building for the three Akademies and endorsed the name “Rabindra Bhavan.”
From public works in Bengal to government architecture in Delhi
Habib Rahman (1915–1995) worked first in West Bengal and later in central government architecture in Delhi. The Nehru Archive credits him with designing more than 100 large buildings across India, while Scroll reports that he joined the Central Public Works Department in Delhi in 1953. Together, that career arc places his work within the practical task of building public institutions as India reorganised itself after independence.
Delhi’s inherited role as capital made that task especially visible. Rahman’s commissions included cultural, administrative and recreational buildings: not one unified monument, but different kinds of public infrastructure. The projects also show why “New Delhi in Nehru’s vision” is best understood as a historical setting rather than a claim that Nehru personally designed or directed every building.
Rabindra Bhawan: a cultural building with a documented Nehru connection
Three Akademies and the name Rabindra Bhavan
Scroll dates Rahman’s design for Rabindra Bhawan to 1963 and describes it as intended to house the three National Akademies. The connection to Nehru predates that date: a Nehru Archive entry reproduces a letter to Humayun Kabir dated 6 March 1959. Nehru wrote, “I shall certainly see Rahman’s model of the building for the three Academies. I think ‘Rabindra Bhavan’ is an appropriate name…” The letter establishes that Nehru expected to see the model and supported the proposed name; it does not establish that he designed the building or controlled its architectural decisions.
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Modern form and Indian elements
Rahman described his approach in terms of elements that temper sun and shape the building’s surfaces: “Here I used traditional Indian elements such as chajjas (overhanging eaves), jalis (latticed screen) and overhanging roofs.” The combination matters to the building’s meaning. It was a modern institutional project, yet Rahman explicitly drew on familiar architectural devices rather than treating modernity as a rejection of local traditions. He also described the structure as belonging to India: “This building belonged to India,” he said, as quoted by Scroll.
Different commissions, different public roles
| Project | Public role | What the cited account establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Rabindra Bhawan | Cultural | Scroll dates Rahman’s design to 1963 and says it was intended for the three National Akademies. Rahman’s account names chajjas, jalis and overhanging roofs. |
| National Zoological Park | Recreational and civic | Scroll reports that the park opened to the public in 1959 and that its landscape design incorporated historical ruins. |
| University Grants Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General buildings | Administrative | Scroll identifies buildings for both institutions among Rahman’s Delhi works; the cited account does not provide design dates or detailed architectural features for them. |
The contrast is useful: a cultural centre, a public zoo and administrative buildings answer different needs, even as they belong to the same broad project of building public life. Scroll’s 2019 account describes the zoo as covering 300 acres and as home to more than a thousand species of mammals, birds and reptiles. Those are figures reported in that dated article, not verified current totals. The article’s account of the park’s landscape and opening likewise should not be taken as a current description of its facilities or condition.
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What the photographs can—and cannot—show
Scroll identifies its building photographs as Rahman’s own, making them part of the story rather than merely illustrations of finished projects. Seen as architectural records, photographs can draw attention to massing, shade, screens and the relationship between buildings and open space. They do not, by themselves, provide a complete catalogue of Rahman’s work or settle every question about a building’s history, present condition or access.
For broader archival context, the Nehru Heritage Portal says the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library holds documentary films, photographs and oral-history interviews relevant to modern India. That describes the institution’s holdings in general; it does not establish that every image accompanying the Scroll essay is held there.
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Sources: The Nehru Archive’s Habib Rahman profile and 6 March 1959 correspondence; Vijayta Lalwani, Scroll.in, 6 October 2019; Nehru Heritage Portal, Vision & Mission.
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