Parliament Library

New Delhi, India

Conceived within the Indian tradition, built in a contemporary idiom', the Parliament Library relates quietly to its context - the heart of Sir Edward Lutyens' urban design of Delhi. Its external facade, clad in red sandstone, is 'austere for aesthetic and functional reasons'. Internally, the defining theme is light, admitted through three courtyards and twelve domes. The domes are of various sizes and are constructed of lightweight fibre cement, bright steel lattice and tensile cables, structural glass and glass bricks. A roof garden provides a gathering space for scholars and parliamentarians in the winter, and a thermal barrier in the summer.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture