Architect-artist Robert Stephens stoked the interest of visitors at the recently-concluded Krishnakriti 2019 with his exhibition ‘Ahmedabad Walls and Hyderabad Biophilia’. Robert will return to Hyderabad to exhibit a ‘Reading Room’ at the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) 2019.

A specially designed ‘reading room’ was also part of his exhibition for Krishnakriti. Robert owns a collection of rare titles on history and urban planning. His reading room is a tactile presentation that encourages visitors to browse through the books and reproductions of archival maps. Commenting on the ‘Please touch’ notes displayed near the books and maps, he told us, “I’m willing to take that risk of books being handled by visitors. The idea is to get more people interested in the history of town planning.” His approach will remain the same at HLF 2019.

For HLF, he will be curating ‘The Patrick Geddes Reading Room’, in collaboration with Krishnakriti Foundation and artisans. More than 30 rare and out-of-print books and pamphlets published between 1878 and 1931 will be on display.

In these pages, we had earlier outlined the work of Scottish polymath Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), who was invited to survey the City Walls of Ahmedabad in 1915 and then to Hyderabad by the Nizam in 1922 and 23. Supplementing the ‘Patrick Geddes Reading Room’ will be the ‘Ahmedabad Walls’ exhibition of contemporary aerial photographs. The visual synoptic overview will be paired with Patrick Geddes’ 1915 ‘Notes on Ahmedabad’.

Robert Stephens   | Photo Credit: Tina Nandi

Fayazuddin’s Hyderabad

Beyond these exhibitions, Robert Stephens is fascinated by what he’s learnt and is still discovering about Hyderabad through the work of the city’s first town planner, Mohammed Fayazuddin. Reproductions of archival maps and excerpts of interviews with Fayazuddin were on display at ‘Hyderabad Biophilia’ section for the Krishnakriti fest. That reading room also presented a limited-edition book on Fayazuddin, edited by Robert Stephens, with text and photographs sourced from Fayazuddin’s eldest son Riazuddin Ahmed. “I do intend to bring out a more professional book in the near future,” says Robert, who notes that Fayazuddin was also inspired by the work of Patrick Geddes.

As part of Hyderabad Biophilia, Robert displayed the 1944 Master Plan of Greater Hyderabad designed by Mohammed Fayazuddin, reproduced with the help of architecture students.

The book encapsulates Fayazuddin’s work, with some asides such as his love for playing the sitar. “It was important for me to discover beyond his work,” says Robert.

Fayazuddin, credited as the architect of Hyderabad, designed landmark structures such as the State Bank of Hyderabad in Abids and Ravindra Bharathi. He was passionate about Indo-Islamic architecture and also studied Moorish architecture of Spain. In the book, his son Riazuddin recalls Fayazuddin naming his house after ‘Alhambra’ palace and fort complex in Spain. This house on road no.11, Banjara Hills (razed in 1980) followed principles of Spanish architecture.

Fayazuddin studied at Architectural Association in London from 1929 to 1924. In 1934, Fayazuddin returned to Hyderabad and joined the Nizam’s government as a town planner. He drew the master and regional plans for many cities in Nizam’s dominion, including greater Hyderabad. Fayazuddin was invited to develop regional master and city plans for Jamshedpur, Udaipur, Bhopal, Bikaner and Bahawalpur. He established the Institute of Town Planners, India, between 1952 and 1960.

Robert observes how visitors to the exhibition, particularly students, were “surprised and showed interest” in Fayazuddin’s work. The surprise stems from the fact that very little is available in public domain: “I know of only five publications on him that are scattered across the globe. So there’s very little information even within academic circles,” adds Robert.

With this renewed interest, it’s also imperative to question the relevance of Mohammad Fayazuddin’s work today. At Hyderabad Biophilia reading room, Robert had quoted several scientists and ecologists on the ideal ‘natural environment’ with three key features — a savannah; vantage points such as cliffs, hillocks and ridges; and water bodies. Hyderabad’s topography has all three elements. The original master plan of Greater Hyderabad by Fayazuddin looked at growth with an ecological balance. “Fayazuddin also outlined a plan for a model, sustainable village and had explained that it’s important to plan at the village level to help reduce migration to urban spaces,” says Robert.

Dig deeper and there could be lessons for contemporary town planning.