Global support for saving Hall of Nations, Nehru Pavilion

NEW DELHI: International support has gained momentum over India Trade Promotion Organisation's (ITPO) proposal to raze Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Union of International Architects and Architects Regional Council, Asia, have all written to the ministry of commerce this week to save the two buildings, claiming they were iconic structures and represented 20th century architecture.

“.. The Hall of Nations and the Nehru Pavilion in Pragati Maidan, both built to celebrate 25 years of Indian independence, express a new step in development of modernity in terms of aesthetics, constructive innovation and social engagement.One one hand, the Nehru Pavilion is probably the first at tempt of a contemporary interpretation of a multi-secular traditional architecture in India, one the other hand, the Hall of Nations is known in Europe as in the United States, as the first large scale spatial structure in concrete in the world,“ reads the letter from the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

It added, “Those two buildings opened a new identity of an Indian architecture. At the age of globalisation, as the debate on contemporary architecture leads scholars and curators to study the cultural knowledge of the sub continent architecture, these two buildings remain masterpieces today .“

Similarly , a letter from Museum of Modern Art in New York written earlier this year to the ministry , says “Built in time of great optimism for the future, both Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion are seminal in forging a new, modern identity for Indian society and architecture.

They are architectural masterpieces and important witnesses of a chapter in Indian history .“

The Union of International arhitects wrote to Prime Minister Narender Modi earlier this year and said: “The iconic complex of Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion is a national asset and `heritage in making' which should be preserved, protected and maintained.“