India Habitat Centre

The India Habitat Centre is a multipurpose building in the city of New Delhi, India. It was the brain child of the HuDCO Chairman, Santosh Sharma.

Indian Habitat Center
Bharat Paryavas Kendra
General information
LocationLodhi Road, New Delhi, India
CountryIndia
Coordinates28.5897°N 77.2249°E / 28.5897; 77.2249
Design and construction
Architect(s)Joseph Allen Stein
Other information
ParkingAvailable

The India Habitat Centre is one of India's most comprehensive convention centers that is aimed at bringing individuals and institutions working in diverse habitat and environment related areas together.

Divided into five blocks which are connected with aerial walkaways, IHC can conduct up to 20 concurrent sessions from socio-cultural events and exhibitions to business and economic events.[1][2] It has a Visual Art Gallery, Library and Resource Center, Learning Center, Amphitheater, Conference & Banquet Halls and Restaurants.[3]

History and design

The India Habitat Centre was started in 1993. The public agency for Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) wanted an office building for its workers and made the unprecedented decision to invite chosen nonprofit organizations that shared their concern with habitat to share that work space.

The chairman of HUDCO Santosh Sharma and the architect Joseph Allen Stein decided to radically change the traditional image of an office building as an architectural project and transformed it into an urban design project. The space was designed to permit the members of the centre to share services both inside and outside the building with multiple courtyards, common meeting rooms, shared parking area, library, restaurants, museum, and hotels, some of which are open to the general public. Constructed on nine acres in an urban area, the building eschewed traditional building materials and techniques.[4]

Events and exhibitions
A group choreography at 2016 Nirbhaya Samaroh held on 9 April at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Heritage Talk at India Habitat Centre with Dr. Pushpesh Pant on History of Delhi through its foods organized by Youth for Heritage Foundation
Day 2 of Times Litfest Delhi 2017, held at the India Habitat Centre, in New Delhi, 26 November 2017.

Numerous events are held in the premises of the India Habitat Center.[5] Various workshops are also conducted such as art, dance and film workshops. Photography exhibitions and talk are a popular feature in the center. Film screenings are also conducted such as those by Kriti Film Club which are open to for public.[6][7]

In 2009, the India Habitat Centre co-hosted the inaugural Habitat Summit with Mirabilis Advisory and Urban Habitats Forum, a professional civil society initiative which aims "to serve as a multi-disciplinary public awareness and educational platform". Held in September, the event showcased community-oriented urban renewal projects.[8]

In February 2020, IHC hosted a seven-day art exhibition Sculpt for Delhi III, presented by Delhi Art Society and organised by sculpture artist Neeraj Gupta. The exhibition featured works of 20 sculptors from across India.[9][10][11]

Recurrent events

IHC hosted and organised the Delhi Photo Festival held every two years from 2011[12][13] to 2015. The partnership between India Habitat Centre (IHC) and Nazar Foundation (parent body of Delhi Photo Festival) was dissolved in early 2015 and Delhi Photo Festival 2015 was held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

The two-day fifth edition of Times LitFest is a major literary festival, organised by The Times of India and Rajnigandha, was held at the centre in 2019.[14][5][15] As of 2021 the festival's director is Vinita Dawra Nangia.[16]

The Old World Theatre Festival, Delhi's oldest theatre festival, is held annually by the arts organisation Old World Culture[17] at IHC. The 18th edition was held in 2019.[18][19]

List of organisations

Sharing a common concern for habitat, the following organisations have come together to participate in institution-building, evolving a synergy within the India Habitat Centre complex.

  • Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
  • All India Brick & Tile Manufacturers Federation
  • All India Housing Development Association
  • Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council
  • Central Building Research Institute
  • Centre for Development Studies & Activities (CDSA)
  • Centre for Science & Environment
  • Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned & Other Developing Countries
  • Confederation of Indian Industry
  • Consultancy Development Centre
  • Council for Advancement of People's Action & Rural Technology
  • Council of Architecture
  • Delhi Art Society[11]
  • Delhi Urban Art Commission
  • Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama
  • Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
  • Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.
  • Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research
  • Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.
  • Institute of Social Studies Trust
  • International Labour Organisation
  • MacArthur Foundation
  • MCD Slum & JJ Department
  • National Foundation for India
  • National Capital Region - Planning Board
  • National Housing Bank
  • National Institute of Design
  • National Institute of Urban Affairs
  • Population Council
  • Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned & Other Developing Countries
  • Society for Development Studies
  • The Energy and Resources Institute[20]
  • University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India
  • Vikram Sarabhai Foundation
  • Speco Engineering Pvt Ltd

See also

References
  1. coveringindia.com. "India Habitat Center". CoveringIndia. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. "Indian Habitat Center, New Delhi". Archinomy. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  3. Centre, India Habitat. "IHC | India Habitat Centre - Home". www.indiahabitat.org. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. "Joseph Allen Stein | India Habitat Center | Archnet". archnet.org. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  5. "Times Litfest Delhi 2017: Day 2". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  6. Centre, India Habitat. "India Habitat Centre - Calendar of Events". indiahabitat.org. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  7. Centre, India Habitat. "India Habitat Centre - Habitat Film Club". www.indiahabitat.org. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  8. "Inaugural Habitat Summit". habitatsummit.org. 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  9. "Delhi Art Society presents Sculpt for Delhi III". ArchitectandinteriorsIndia.
  10. "Out in the Open". The Indian Express. 14 February 2020.
  11. "India Habitat Centre - Visual Arts Gallery". www.indiahabitat.org.
  12. "The New Intimate". Vol. 8, no. 39. Tehelka. 1 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  13. Khurana, Tushar. "Making the Frame". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  14. "Get Your Dose of Literature With Some of India's Best Authors At Times LitFest 2019!". LLB.
  15. "Times LitFest Delhi: You're booked for a date with books at Times Litfest Delhi". The Times of India. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  16. "About the festival - Times LitFest Delhi 2019 - Delhi Literature Festival 2019". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  17. "About us". Old World Culture. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  18. "Delhi s oldest theatre festival Old World Theatre Festival returns for its 18th edition". Everything Experiential. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  19. "17th edition of Old World Theatre festival to focus on next generation of Indian theatre". Business Standard News. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  20. "Nagpur: CSIR-Neeri will complete 62 years today | Nagpur News - Times of India". The Times of India.
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