Baroda House
Baroda House in New Delhi, approved in 1922 and built 1932–33 as the Maharaja of Baroda’s palace, is a butterfly‑plan building with three wings at 120 degrees around a domed entrance, faced in plain terracotta panels with a stark Palladian rhythm of openings and war‑memorial‑like gate lodges, now serving as Northern Railway offices.
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Description
Baroda House has a butterfly plan, with wings at 120 degrees radiating from a domed entrance, so as to relate to the hexagonal plan of Princes’ Place, but it has none of the charm which usually associated with Lutyens’s domestic work. Not having the chujja to cast shadow, interest is only given by the Palladian alternating rhythm of openings on ground and first floors. Faced in unattractive terracotta panels, Baroda House has a stripped and rather brutal character which may well reflect the rather Modernistic architectural tastes of many maharajahs in the 1920s and 1930s. The gate lodges are reminiscent of Lutyens’s war memorial design. The design was approved in 1922 but not built until 1932-1933. Baroda House now serves as offices for the Northern Railway of India. (Amery et al, 1981 Cat no.435)
Bibliography
Amery, C., Richardson, M. and Stamp, G., (1981) Lutyens, the Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944): Hayward Gallery London, 18 November 1981 – 31 January 1982. London: Arts Council of Great Britain.,
