Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi designed to be characterized by spatial and social values
- Vol.36(10), October
- New Delhi Burda Media India Private Limited 2019
- 72-78p.
The campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University aimed to be characterized by deep spatial and social values, realized through a form that recalls the pride, self-efficiency and earthly spirit of Modern India. This called for a superior design vision; of a modern structure impregnated with the values of learning and enlightenment, well-suited to the image of a trailblazing and independent India. In 1969, when the Indian Government founded JNU, it was to actualise Nehru’s vision of an ideal University, an institution that, in his words– “stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth.”
Located in the southern part of New Delhi and spread over an area of 1,000 acres, the campus occupies some of the northern-most reaches of the Aravalli Hills. The ridge, home to more than 200 species of birds and animals, has very rich and interesting patterns of biodiversity. This demanded a singular planning and design of the university campus that responded to the unique landscape of the rocky terrain on the one hand, and was nature- inclusive on the other.