26, PUSA ROAD, 1940s
Location : Karol Bagh
Architect : Mohinder Singh
This Deco style residence is located on PUSA Road in Karol Bagh under the Western Extension Area originally planned under the purview of the Delhi Improvement Trust in the 1930s. It currently houses the C.G.H.S. Dispensary and was probably an evacuee property, that probably belongs to a family who migrated during partition and had no owners or caretakers thereafter. The residence can be seen following a similar kind of an architectural layout, characteristic of Deco style residences, usually seen in Karol Bagh, having two towers with curved edges on either sides of its main curvilinear entrance and continuous eyebrows. Architect Mohinder Singh designed the residence, along with a few other at PUSA Road including his own. An entrance on the side is emphasised with a tower, which probably encloses a staircase, adorned with a vertical jaali and intricate ornamentation. To lay emphasis on the verticality, the eyebrows are broken at the tower but continue thereafter. Seen especially in this example are plasterwork bands to the ventilator jaalis on the rear, which also gives a sense of shade or protection to them.
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Image Copyrights : Deco In Delhi
Symmetrical Facade
Facade having symmetrical division of mass and features along the central axis, usually the entrance of the building
Staircase Towers
A cylindrical/ helical staircase tower situated at the corner edges of the building marking the staircase shafts. The towers with an overhanging flat roofs are ornate with patterned jaalis and additional features such as bandings and flutes
Eyebrows
Continuous overhangs as sunshades, curving as the profile of the building, specially continuing around corners
Window Grills
Often seen casted in cement / metal are window grills with motifs and symbols, such as sun burst, swan or name initials of owners, adding to the ornamentation of the buildings
Chevrons
Repeating triangles or Inverted V’s like pattern, one of the most popular Art Deco motifs
Speedlines
Bandings to accentuate the horizontality of surfaces. A distinct feature in buildings inspired from the Streamline Moderne version of Deco