A Sense of Space

Growing up in Bombay and Delhi in the 1950s, architect and urban designer Ranjit Sabikhi became interested in the question of space in India’s context. As he taught at the Delhi Polytechnic Department of Architecture, which later became the School of Planning and Architecture, he realized that for the majority of the urban population, daily activities were carried out in the open courts, verandahs and terraces adjoining the minimal covered space that was their homes. The relationship of buildings to surrounding space was part of the natural process of growth of India’s towns and cities, and yet did not figure in the official plans. So he started on a journey of exploration into what traditional Indian architecture was all about, and what would be the meaningful solutions for India’s urban crisis. This is a book that is the result of over fifty years of reflections that will inspire the new generation of architects, planners and anyone with an interest in India’s cities to look at urban problems afresh and develop a new approach to urban design.