View defining projects by ace structural engineer Mahendra Raj at KNMA, Delhi

Did you know that architects like Charles Correa (Municipal Stadium, Ahmedabad), Raj Rewal (Hall of Nation), BV Doshi (Tagore Memorial Hall) and Kuldeep Singh (NCDC Building) had a common connection? All of these renowned architects partnered with Mahendra Raj, a structural engineer nonpareil to ensure that these buildings morphed from design to reality through his ingenuity and skill. And if you visit Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in Delhi until December 26, you can see why Mahendra Raj is easily one of the best structural engineers of our times.

Architecture and Engineering

The exhibition showcases seven architectural projects of the 95-year-old veteran and throws light on the often ignored collaborative alliance between the architects and the structural engineer. The projects that are part of the show include the Hall of Nation, the Akbar Hotel and NCDC Office building in New Delhi, the Hindon River Mills in Ghaziabad, the Municipal Stadium and Tagore Memorial Theatre in Ahmedabad, and the Indoor Sports Stadium in Srinagar. The exhibition is curated by Roobina Karode and conceptualised by Rohit Raj Mehndiratta (Mahendra Raj's son) and Vandini Mehta.

A Modern India

Karode说,“Mahendra Raj fi传奇gure as he has worked with all the architects with whom Nehru shared his vision for a modern India. As a structural engineer, he was a pivotal figure and that is why I was drawn to his practice that included several large public spaces. Looking at the corpus of his work, we decided in a collaborative way to map out the projects by city so we have Ahmedabad, Delhi and Srinagar and two other projects. The material is ink and graphite drawings, technical drawings, engineering drawings and his calculation sheets.”

This exhibition is an ode to his extraordinary oeuvre as an artist, who combined creative passion, imagination, mathematical precision and technical dexterity to empower buildings with structural rigour to stand the test of time.

Across Timelines

Mehndiratta admits that working on the book ‘The Structure, Works of Mahendra Raj', 2016, (edited by Vandini Mehta, Rohit Raj Mehndiratta and Ariel Huber), helped them choose the best projects. "A part of his working style was to give alternate solutions to a concept and we had almost 10 options for, like the Tagore Memorial Hall project. We have 3D models of the structures on display for better understanding," he says.

Mehta adds, "We want people to understand his working methods that combine an intuitive mathematical sensibility with aesthetically strong imaginative capability." Incidentally, several museums have approached the family for his drawings and the Pompidou Centre in Paris has acquired some of his work as well. The exhibition chronicles his work across many decades in specific timelines. "This exhibition helps break the myth that engineering is not just a problem-solver. Rather, these buildings have a joint visualisation of the architect and the engineer, the latter contributing close to 70 per cent of the same," adds Mehndiratta.

The exhibition is spread across 4,000-square-feet, and only seven works are showcased to reflect the intrinsic depth of his work, says Mehta.

‘Structuring Form - The Innovative Rigour of Mahendra Raj' runs till December 26, 2019 at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Delhi

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