From street level and outside the Parliament House complex, not much of the Parliament Library building is visible to passersby. This is deliberate, because nothing should overshadow the legislature. To see the library building, one has to enter the complex.
Challenges and context
The several challenges Raj Rewal faced in this project — integrating the building with its surroundings, meeting all the practical requirements of the library, accommodating future growth and diversification, and also capturing the democratic essence of contemporary India — he met by designing something essentially quiet and inward-looking. In linking Parliament and Library, power and knowledge, Rewal drew from the relationship between king and guru.
He drew from the context: Lutyens’ New Delhi. So the building has a formal and symmetrical layout and structure.
He drew from traditional architecture: Fatehpur Sikri and the Raunakpur temples gave this building their meandering aspect, courtyards, and the pattern of a mandala with a central core. Courtyards also help the building stay cool, and the diffuse layout helped preserve many of the trees on the site.
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