This building is an old residence with an Indo- Deco fusion style at Ballimaran of Chandni Chowk, a neighbourhood which has forever been famous for its markets and trade. It was once known as the Unchi Building, the house itself a landmark in the vicinity of low rise shops and open spaces with residences being in the inner lanes. The Second World war was pacing in the 1940s, but business continued on the streets of Chandni Chowk. A merchant from Calcutta, Ismail, got this residence constructed, as a new extension into Asia's largest market after Delhi was established as the Capital, looking to expand his footprint. Probably inspired from the examples at Calcutta and the sea ports, it was one of the first Modern buildings in the vicinity, dubbed with an Art Deco facade that made the building stand out from others. A corner plot, with curving edges, its most unique feature is a circular tower on the terrace with a projecting overhanging flat  roof, with immensely intricate geometric jaali work. The details make the residence a difficult to miss building while scrolling through Ballimaran.

Other stylistic elements that can be observed are geometrically decorated balcony railings, a particular overlapping circular pattern and a vertical jaali with terrazzo inlay detail at the rear entrance. However, one remains unaware of the Architect or Engineers at the residence, but understanding that Gali Rajon ki, the neighbourhood of all Raj Mistris is nearby, made the intricacy achieved believable with local craftsmen. This was also the first residence with a flush toilet - a hard to achieve engineered feature in the older quarters. Given the impact of the WWII, specially in Calcutta, Ismail was unable to shift to Delhi to reside in this house, which he gave on rent and eventually sold off to Mohammad Shafiq, who’s family is the current custodian of the residence.

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Image Copyrights : Rishi Kochhar x Deco In Delhi
Acknowledgements : Ikhlas Shafiq