Bank statement

Architectural Review, The, April, 1997 by Peter Wislocki

India, despite its numerous attractions to outsiders, does not appear an easy or comfortable place in which to work. Bureaucratic practices abound, accusations of corruption are common, and inefficiency generally the result of far too many people chasing scarce capital and employment opportunities - is endemic. The World Bank, as a post-colonial, international institution fostering economic development, seeks to be one of the forces which are rapidly transforming the subcontinent's business culture and its New Delhi headquarters, recently completed in a leafy district of institutional buildings to the south of the city centre, serves as a model for the vast country's new workspaces.

As with all of Raj Rewal's projects, the World Bank Regional Mission combines formality and informality, symmetry and asymmetry, traditional Indian themes with those of international modernism - all with a measure of theatricality and spatial dynamism. Rewal's architecture reflects his roots, as an Indianborn, British-trained designer, explicitly influenced by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, equally aware of his Mogul inheritance, but, above all, distilling what is essential to good buildings, and rejecting all contemporary fads or fashions, whether Indian or Western.

The building's typology is straightforward, distributing its accommodation around a central courtyard, with a clear progression along an axis from the major entrance, facing a future public piazza, through to private landscaped grounds, backing onto the celebrated Lodhi Gardens next door. Rewal cites the nearby Lodhi monuments as precedents for his formal, essentially symmetrical composition; but whereas the symmetries of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century structures are unrelieved, Rewal's design introduces a variety of incidents. The symmetry of the major entrance foyer is immediately challenged by the circulation. Turning left, visitors and staff pass the principal reception desk, which controls access to a lift, leading to offices on all upper levels. The opposite end of the foyer leads to a stairway, descending directly to the Bank's most public areas, including the restaurant, main conference room and terraced gardens. This stairway is overlooked by open plan office areas, giving visitors a sense of the life of the building as they pass, without compromising either security or clarity of circulation. The foyer and stairs wrap around the courtyard - as do the offices above, giving all users a constant point of orientation. Almost all office areas, indeed, enjoy daylight and external views.

Raj Rewal's design is explicitly hierarchical, following the typological conventions shared by Indian and European classical traditions. A clear series of thresholds mediates between public and private spaces; with more important spaces, such as the top level meeting rooms, placed on axes, and articulated with minimally detailed, but classically inspired, barrel vaults. In its detailing too, the building incrementally breaks down the monumental scale of its total mass, to human proportions, particularly those elements near at hand. Shifts in axes and unexpected asymmetries are seen by Rewal as necessary humanising gestures.

The building's great tectonic presence - the sheer mass of its red and beige sandstone facades - emphasises the stability of the institution, as well as serving to maintain the thermal stability of the building fabric, minimising the need for air conditioning, and giving users the option of natural ventilation. In its colours, textures and hierarchical disposition of openings, from large windows and doorways to the intricate screenwork of balconies and partitions, Rewal's detailing abstracts traditional Indian - and more broadly classical - devices and motifs. Deep openings and glass blockwork both help to diffuse sunlight throughout the interiors. The only overtly figurative elements are the World Bank globe logos, carved repetitively in sandstone balustrades; while the wallclimber lift could be taken for a (perhaps ironic) reference to the corporate world of international investment banking.

The sunken courtyard, entered from the basement restaurant, is the building's most explicitly theatrical space, yet appears uncontrived and inviting to casual habitation. Well shaded by the 16m high trees in the Lodhi Gardens, the grass terraces of this external auditorium provide an ideal spot for a light meal break or informal meeting with colleagues. It is equally easy to imagine the space being used for a formal address by the Bank's management, or even an amateur dramatic performance staged by the staff. The unprescriptive potential of the sunken courtyard epitomises the theatricality of Raj Rewal's architecture, which always celebrates the possibilities of seeing and being seen, without compromising the design's fundamental practicality in serving its corporate clients.