Architect and urban designer Ranjit Savikhi, known for his writings on India’s urban conditions and his building designs for over six decades, died in Delhi on Sunday morning. He was 89 years old.
In 1961, he co-founded the Design Group with the late architect Ajay Chaudhary. The group gained recognition for its innovative designs, one of its most notable projects being Yamuna Apartments, which was commissioned by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Sabikhi focused on balancing urban design and architecture, always putting people at the center of his design schemes.
The design group was known for orderly open spaces and geometric minimalism in many of its buildings, including the now-demolished Shakuntalam Theatre; YMCA Staff Quarters; Syrian Christian Church in Hauz Khas; Agust Kranti Bhawan at Bikaji Kama Place; Janakpuri District Center and DLF Center on Sansad Marg. It was also known for the then Mughal Sheraton (now ITC Mughal), Agra; Oberoi Wildflower Hall, Shimla; Taj Bengal in Kolkata; ITDC Hotel in Varanasi; NDDB – Regional Training Center at Jalandhar; NDDB staff accommodation in Noida, and Indian Embassy in Kuwait.
From 1959 to 1975, Sabikhi taught at the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, where he headed the Department of Urban Design. He is also a visiting critic in the Urban Design Program at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.
Although Sabiki grew up in Mumbai, he settled there in the 1950s and made Delhi his home. In an interview with The Indian Express in May 2020, Sabikhi said, “Urban designers have a very important role to play, if our politicians and civil servants decide to really pay attention to the issues raised by the Covid crisis and give important permission. Both the planning process and the implementation process will have to change. Not only the planning of public spaces, but also the conditions in which the urban poor, who make up more than 55 percent of our urban population, currently live, need to change.”
Always advocating the need for accessible public spaces for people across income groups, Sabikhi elaborated on the need for diverse imaginations for our cities.
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