U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India

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U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India

Site overview

The Chancery of U.S. Embassy New Delhi, built in the 1950s during the heyday of American foreign building, was the first major embassy building project approved during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961). It was a time when American foreign policy aimed to support free people resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. The chancery was designed by master architect Edward Durell Stone, who captured history and fantasy in a memorable symbol of the United States’ commitment to India after its independence. The Embassy is a hallmark example of modernist philosophy by Stone, one of the earliest exponents of the International Style. It is a well-proportioned box formally standing on a podium – a simple isolated object in open space. Internal organization is radial. Smaller enclosed uniform offices ring around a shimmering pool punctuated by floating green islands. The use of water and the open-air central pool recall Mogul gardens of earthly paradise. The exterior glass curtain wall is protected by a vivid and climatically responsive sunscreen. There is an honest use of natural materials pragmatically fitted together without extravagance. The chancery expresses the characteristic American preference for efficiency and straightforwardness. Frank Lloyd Wright said it is the only embassy to do credit to the United States and opined it should be called the “Taj Maria” to give credit to Stone’s wife and muse. In India the Chancery continues to enjoy the consideration afforded historical landmarks, as appreciation for the preservation of modernist architecture grows worldwide.

U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India

Site overview

The Chancery of U.S. Embassy New Delhi, built in the 1950s during the heyday of American foreign building, was the first major embassy building project approved during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961). It was a time when American foreign policy aimed to support free people resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. The chancery was designed by master architect Edward Durell Stone, who captured history and fantasy in a memorable symbol of the United States’ commitment to India after its independence. The Embassy is a hallmark example of modernist philosophy by Stone, one of the earliest exponents of the International Style. It is a well-proportioned box formally standing on a podium – a simple isolated object in open space. Internal organization is radial. Smaller enclosed uniform offices ring around a shimmering pool punctuated by floating green islands. The use of water and the open-air central pool recall Mogul gardens of earthly paradise. The exterior glass curtain wall is protected by a vivid and climatically responsive sunscreen. There is an honest use of natural materials pragmatically fitted together without extravagance. The chancery expresses the characteristic American preference for efficiency and straightforwardness. Frank Lloyd Wright said it is the only embassy to do credit to the United States and opined it should be called the “Taj Maria” to give credit to Stone’s wife and muse. In India the Chancery continues to enjoy the consideration afforded historical landmarks, as appreciation for the preservation of modernist architecture grows worldwide.

Primary classification

Administration (ADM)

Secondary classification

Residential (RES)

Designations

U.S. Secretary of State's Register of Culturally Significant Property, designated in 2000

Author(s)

Ashley Albahary | | 3/2010

How to Visit

Open by appointment for official U.S. citizen services

Location

Shantipath
Chanakyapuri
New Delhi, , 110021

Country

IN
More visitation information

Designer(s)

Other designers

Edward Durell Stone
Commission

1956

Completion

1959

Commission / Completion details

Construction began in 1956, and the embassy was completed in 1959.

Original Brief

The U.S. Department of State commissioned Edward Durell Stone to design the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi in the early 1950s. Planning of the embassy complex began in the early 1950s with the allocation of a 28-acre site in the Chanakyapuri area of New Delhi. The complex includes the Chancery, the Roosevelt House, office space and living accommodations. Construction began on September 1, 1956, when the Chief Justice of the United States, Earl Warren, laid the corner stone and expressed the hope that the structure would become “a temple of peace.” The building was formally opened on January 5, 1959 in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s)

In the early 1980s, a concrete wall was constructed around the embassy complex in response to heightened security threats against American embassies abroad.

Current Use

U.S. Embassy

Current Condition

Although still functioning as the U.S. Embassy, the complex has been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. According to an article in the AIA Journal in 1989, “One gets the impression that those responsible for American missions abroad have lost interest in what was once considered an important architectural achievement and is still one of America’s best designed embassies.” The water garden pool needs cleaning, and the plants and shrubs are not manicured as they once were. The originally golden columns have become dull and tarnished, and the edges of the roof show badly repaired bitumen patches.

General Description

The American Embassy in New Delhi stands as an example of Indian-American collaboration in design and craftsmanship and is symbolic of the long friendship between India and the United States. In designing the Embassy complex, architect Edward Durell Stone combined elements of South Asian architecture with modern Western concepts.

Construction Period

The U.S. Embassy was built by hand and is the result of a combination of Eastern and Western techniques. The builders moved to the site with their families where they built straw matting houses. at one time, as many as 1800 Indians lived there, and during the four years of construction, dozens of children were born on the site.

Original Physical Context

Occupying a prominent 28-acre site, the embassy was the first building of architectural distinction on Shantipath, the broad avenue that forms the central axis of New Delhi’s diplomatic quarter, and remains an important landmark today.

Technical

Much work was done by hand. the grillwork was cast in foot-square molds of concrete and marble aggregate, then finished and polished by hand. U.S. manufacturing techniques were applied locally for other items, such as teak woodwork, aluminum window sash, hardware, lighting fixtures and concrete piping. The result is a merger of the aesthetic styles and construction techniques of the cultures of the two countries.

Social

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, relations between India and the United States were at an all-time high, with leaders on both ends (Nehru in India and Kennedy in the U.S.) who had an idealistic vision for the future that included cooperation and mutual interchange. Stone’s embassy complex sought to express the friendly relationship between the two countries, and ultimately stood as a symbol of the growing ties between the world’s largest democracies. At the embassy’s opening ceremony on January 5, 1959, Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker said, “To me, this building is symbolic of what can be achieved through the cooperation of our two countries. From beginning to end, it has been a joint venture.”

Cultural & Aesthetic

The embassy blends elements of both Indian and Western architecture. The design for the chancery building was inspired by traditional Indian architecture. It was organized around a central courtyard and, like many major Mogul monuments, was designed as a pavilion on a raised podium using design strategies to protect the building from the harsh sun. Overhanging canopies were separated from the second-floor ceiling by an 18\" gap that served as a breezeway to reduce air conditioning loads, and pierced screens were used to dissipate penetration of sunlight and reduce glare. At the dedication of the American Embassy on January 5, 1959, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared himself “enchanted by the building and impressed by its combination of Indian motifs and modern techniques.”

Historical

The American Embassy in New Delhi was the first project to be guided by a directive issued by the newly formed objective board, chosen by the Director of Foreign Building Operations to select architects for government buildings purely on the basis of performance. An excerpt from this directive said, “To the sensitive and imaginative designer it will be an invitation to give serious study to local conditions of climate and site, to understand and sympathize with local customs and people…yet he will not fear using new techniques or new materials should these constitute real advances in architectural thinking.” According to Edward Durell Stone in 1959, this principle of “empowering objective professionals to choose architects for government projects successfully removed architecture from politics for the first time.”

General Assessment

[NEED ASSESSMENT]

References

Embassy of the United States New Delhi. http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov. March 2010.Gwertzman, Bernard. “Diplomats on a War Footing to Guard Against Terrorism.” New York Times 3 Dec. 1984.Lewis, Michael J. “The World: About Face. Glass Walls to Bunkers: The New Look of U.S. Embassies.” New York Times 27 July 2003.Sabikhi, Ranjit . “Evaluation of a 50’s Landmark.” AIA Journal Jan. 1989.Stone, Edward Durell. The Evolution of an Architect. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. | https://overseasbuildings.state.gov/sites/default/files/pdfs/new_delhi.pdf