Artistic Impression of Ansal Plaza (HUDCO Place); Aerial View

Ansal Plaza (HUDCO Place) situated in New Delhi is always close to my heart as it has touched my life in both personal and professional ways and taught me the core disciplines of Urbanization. I visited this mall after five years; though I am not going to write about the commercial or operations divisions of the location rather would elaborate the design and aesthetic component with some of my calculative observations and experiences.

Initially, I associate (visually) the mall space with “Simplicity of Design” and related the overall visual design with a Round shaped maze game (Please ignore the literal meaning of A Circle;  is a shape or an adjective) illustrated below.

But when i gradually entered inside the mall my eyes received sensational textures in the form of elevated stairs, series of harmonized blocks, and fountains at different levels. Then, I have started relating it with “Complexity of Design” and associated it with watch mechanism (illustration below)

The location which had been designed with design controls like a common landscaped green, peripheral road system and pedestrian walkways which weave into urban plazas and courts, again recalled me of Colosseum as a 3D structure for its urbanization and civilization in Rome.

  Courtsey : Google Maps

Layout of Ansal Plaza (For Quick Resemblance) 

Modern theory of architecture says shapes related to circle are not good in terms of utilization of space therefore, now days we see more of rectangular family shaped buildings coming up in the country, but as Ansal Plaza was the first mall of New Delhi and second mall of India, Unconventional approach was absolutely right as a decision by that time. Moreover, this location is encircled with Lotus temple, Humayun tomb and other historical buildings and doesn’t matter if tomorrow this location would be converted into office spaces as the elegant & sophisticated design will always be appreciated by art and design lovers.