The building is located on Satya Marg in the diplomatic enclave of
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.[1][2][3]
Design
Akbar Bhawan was designed by architect Shiv Nath Prasad and built by Mahendra Raj.[4][5] It mirrors the
architectural style of
Le Corbusier and is one of India's best known examples of brutalist architecture.[6][7][8] Built with
prestressed concrete, the building has few
decorative motifs keeping in line with the brutalist aesthetic. It has a
raw concrete finish, uses
brise soleils and features an exposed staircase at its far end. The use of a
transfer girder in the transitional floors of the building allowed for the creation of a column free
lobby, a feature that came to be adopted widely in
hotel design. The use of pure geometric forms in the building has been attributed to the influence of
rationalist architecture whereas the exposed nature of the
building material is thought to have been due to financial austerity rather than the brutalist aesthetics.[9][10][11][12][13]
Comprising 13
storeys, a service floor separates the common rooms from the accommodation and amenities such as its restaurant, a garden and a theatre were on the roof and the building's
floor plan closely resembles the Unité d'habitation in Marseille.[14] The interior design for the building was done by
Laila Tyabji and
Dale Keller.[15]
The Akbar's interior design and decor were noted for their blend of western and Indian elements.[16][17] The hotel's
logo was taken from the design in a
lattice screen at
Sikandra, Agra.[18] The windows in the lobby were decorated with
wooden beads from
Channapatna,
Karnataka and its walls featured swords and
scimitars from
Rajasthan. The interior decoration also featured
kalamkari prints in its conference room,
Birbal, and used
Rajput,
Mughal and
Kangra miniature paintings and
Tibetanthangkas in the
suites.[19] The trends set in interior decor at the Akbar became widespread in India's hotel and
hospitality industry in later years.[20] Its coffee shop,
Madhuban, was noted for the
Mithila murals decorating its walls which was a pioneering attempt to commercialize and give the artform a modern identity.[21][22][23]
The structure has however been criticized as being squalid and visually unappealing whereas the use of concrete and glass causes high indoor temperatures during
power outages.[24][25]
History
The Akbar Hotel was built as part of the
Fourth Five Year Plan.[26] The building is owned by the
New Delhi Municipal Council. Construction of the building began in 1966 and was completed by 1969–70.[27][28] It was inaugurated by
Dr. Karan Singh, the then
Union Minister of
Tourism and
Civil Aviation on 27 January 1972.[29][30][31][32][33] Leased and operated by the India Tourism Development Corporation, the hotel remained profitable throughout the 1970s.[34][35][36][37] However, by the early 1980s it began to incur losses and ITDC suffered low occupancy in its hotels following the
construction boom in the run up to the
1982 Asian Games. In the changed business environment and the government's decision to exit the business of running luxury hotels, the ITDC decided to hand over the building to the Ministry of External Affairs to house its offices.[38]
Akbar Bhawan
The hotel was shut down in April 1986, and the building was turned into a government office building and renamed Akbar Bhawan.[39] The Foreign Service Institute under the Ministry of External Affairs used to function from the building.[40][41] The
Government of India planned to redevelop the building into a five-star hotel with
private partnership in the run up to the
2010 Commonwealth Games, but it was never implemented.[42][43] The South Asian University has been housed in the building since 2010 pending relocation to its permanent campus at Maidan Garhi,
Delhi.[44][45] The
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was located in the building before its merger with the Ministry of External Affairs.[46][47][48] Following the death of the
formerExternal Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj, demands were made to rename the Akbar Bhawan after her.[49]
^Basera, Jaya (1 January 2022).
"Architecture in India". Yojana. 66. Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting: 62.
Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^"Link". United India Periodicals. 1980.
Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
^"The Illustrated Weekly of India". Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. 1976.
Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
^Sabha, India Parliament Lok (1986).
Lok Sabha Debates. Lok Sabha Secretariat. p. 159.
Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^Lok Sabha, India Parliament (1975).
Lok Sabha Debates. Lok Sabha Secretariat. p. 195.
Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.