https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Habib_Rahman_%28architect%29Habib Rahman (architect) - Revision history2026-08-18T06:29:46ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Habib_Rahman_(architect)&diff=475396&oldid=prevAshok Vijayakumar: updated page2026-01-17T16:02:42Z<p>updated page</p>
<a href="//en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Habib_Rahman_(architect)&diff=475396&oldid=253572">Show changes</a>Ashok Vijayakumarhttps://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Habib_Rahman_(architect)&diff=253572&oldid=prev->Sarbjit Bahga at 12:23, 17 December 20212021-12-17T12:23:43Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{more citations needed|date=April 2020}}{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Habib Rahman<br />
| native_name = हबीब उर रहमान<br />
| birth_date = 1915<br />
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[British Raj]]<br />
| death_date = 1995<br />
| spouse = [[Indrani Rahman]]<br />
| children = [[Ram Rahman]]<br />
[[Sukanya Rahman]]<br />
}}<br />
[[File:Habib Rahman.jpg|thumb|Habib Rahman.]]<br />
'''Habib Rahman''' (1915-1995) was an Indian architect who worked on the [[Delhi Zoological Park]], [[Gandhi Ghat]], and [[Rabindra Bhavan]].<br />
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==Biography==<br />
Habib Rahman obtained his [[Bachelor of Engineering]] in 1939 in Calcutta. He studied at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] and obtained his [[Master of Architecture|Masters in Architecture]] in 1944 (the first Indian to complete this program<ref name="scroll nehrus">Vijayta Lalwani, [https://scroll.in/article/938268/in-photos-architect-habib-rahman-and-the-making-of-new-delhi-in-nehrus-vision In photos: Architect Habib Rahman and the making of New Delhi in Nehru’s vision], ''Scroll.in'', 6 October 2019</ref>). From 1944 to 1946, he worked at the architecture firms of [[Lawrence B. Anderson]], [[William Wurster]] [[Walter Gropius]], and [[Ely Jacques Kahn]] in Boston.<ref name="tribute habib">Ram Rahman, [https://issuu.com/ram-rahman/docs/habib-rahman-architect Tribute to Habib Rahman], ''Tribute'', March–April 1996</ref><br />
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Habib Rahman returned to [[Calcutta]] during the [[1946 Calcutta riots]] and became the Senior Architect of the government of [[West Bengal]] from 1947 to 1953. Starting in 1953, Habib Rahman became the Senior Architect of the [[Central Public Works Department]] in New Delhi (and became Chief Architect in 1970<ref name="scroll nehrus"/>).<ref name="tribute habib"/><br />
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From 1974 to 1977, he was Secretary of the Dehli Urban Arts.<ref name="tribute habib"/> In 1977, his contract was discontinued after he opposed several projects including building a second [[Connaught Place, New Delhi|Connaught Place in New Delhi]].<ref name="scroll nehrus"/><br />
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==Work==<br />
[[File:Rabindra Bhawan, Delhi.jpg|thumb|Rabindra Bhawan (1961), Delhi.]]<br />
During the 1950s and 1960s, the [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] government invited architects, among which Habib Rahman, to develop new public buildings built in the spirit of the independence of India. He designed the Gandhi Ghat in 1949 in [[Barrackpore]], the New Secretariat in [[Kolkata]] (completed in 1954), the Dak Bhawan in 1954,<ref name="scroll nehrus"/> the [[Rabindra Bhavan]] in 1961 (or 1963<ref name="scroll nehrus"/>),<ref name="tribute habib"/> the [[World Health Organization]] in Delhi in 1962 (demolished in July 2019), the Sardar Patel Bhawan in 1973 (opposite to the Dak Bhawan).<ref name="scroll nehrus"/> He also designed the National Zoological Park that opened in 1959 (which included historical ruins, and housed over a thousand animal species).<ref name="scroll nehrus"/><br />
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He also built the memorials of [[Abul Kalam Azad]], [[Zakir Husain (politician)|Zakir Husain]] and [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]].<ref name="scroll nehrus"/><br />
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Habib Rahman's architecture mirrored the modernist ethos of the newly Independent India.<ref name="scroll nehrus"/><br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
*S M Akhtar, ''Habib Rahman, The Architect of Independent India'', 2016 ({{ISBN|978-9383419340}})<br />
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==Awards==<br />
*1955: [[Padma Shri]]<ref name="tribute habib"/><br />
*1974: [[Padma Bhushan]]<ref name="tribute habib"/><br />
*1995: JK Cement Architect of the Year Chairman's Award for Life Achievement<ref name="tribute habib"/><br />
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==Personal life==<br />
In 1945 he married to [[Indrani Rahman]], Miss India 1952 and an [[Odissi]] dancer. The couple had two children, [[Ram Rahman]] and [[Sukanya Rahman]].<ref name="tribute habib"/><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Habib}}<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian architects]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]<br />
[[Category:1915 births]]<br />
[[Category:1995 deaths]]<br />
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{{architect-stub}}</div>->Sarbjit Bahga