Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Master Planning/ Institutes

In 1969, the Government of India founded Jawaharlal Nehru University to actualize Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of an ideal University. This was to be an institution that, in his words, ‘[stood] for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth.’ The campus of JNU therefore aimed to be characterized by values that were both deeply social and spatial, realized through a form that could recall the earthly spirit of Modern India. This called for a superior design vision of a modern structure impregnated with the values of learning and enlightenment, well suited to a trailblazing and independent nation. CPKA’s design was ultimately the winner of the first National Architectural Competition to be held in post-Independent India – selected as the best from 68 entries submitted by the nation’s top architects at the time.