The Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi is a carefully conceived response to a severely constrained context, defined by a narrow and deep plot, with a shared party wall on one side and a three meter set back on the others. It faces on a major arterial road with heavy traffic.
The plan evolved using the shared party wall zone for services, stairs, elevator, vertical shafts and circulation with two working wings extending around a central garden courtyard and two atrium gardens, providing shade and ventilation. Diagrammatically, this became a row of five square footprints, with the first, middle, and last squares being open to sky garden atria. The result is a fabric of open exterior, and ‘in-between’ working spaces, within a diverse building program. There are meeting rooms, a library, administrative areas, faculty offices, research areas, open courts, a subterranean café, auditorium and gardens.