Delhi, like any good city, has layers and waves of development. So you have the colonnade and city beautiful planning of Connaught Place’s collonade juxtaposed to the lego box buildings of the Indian Insurance company.
There are also pieces of surprising confluence where the sum is greater than the parts, like this collection of concrete buildings from 3 or 4 decades. Fortunately, in my opinion, the best one has pride of place on the corner and serves to unite the lesser buildings around it.
I marveled at the expenditure for the line connecting the two towers: it’s an open spaceframe with no apparent function except to visually unite the disparate elements.
There are lots of newer buildings which range from the banal to the ridiculous. Luis helped me realize that even the awkward ones contribute, if only to enliven the mix.
Out in the suburbs the office parks, IT campuses, and integrated townships are springing up like mad, as they are in every city in India. The developers have learned well from Las Vegas and the decorated shed predominates, albeit in the usual forced geometries for curb appeal. The buildings are great eye candy, no idea if they function well or are worth inhabiting.
Our timing to Delhi was fortuitous. Connaught Place as well as the market where our hotel was located were two of the bomb sites last week.
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