The India Habitat Centre is a multipurpose building in New Delhi, India. The Indian Habitat Centre is one of India’s most comprehensive convention centres. Mixing work, commercial and social spaces, events & exhibitions are held time to time.
History and design
The India Habitat Centre was started in 1993. The public agency for Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd wanted an office building for its workers and made the unprecedented decision to invite chosen non-profit organisations that shared their concern with habitat to share that work space. The chairman of HUDCO and the architect Joseph Allen Stein decided to radically change the traditional image of an office building as an architectural project and transformed it into an urban design project. The space was designed to permit the members of the Centre to share services both inside and outside the building with multiple courtyards, common meeting rooms, shared parking area, library, restaurants, museum, and hotels, some of which are open to the general public. Constructed on nine acres in an urban area, the building eschewed traditional building materials and techniques.
Events and exhibitions
Numerous events are held in the premises of the India Habitat Center such as the Times LitFest. Various workshops are also conducted such as art, dance and film workshops. Photography exhibitions and talk are a popular feature in the center. Film screenings are also conducted such as those by Kriti Film Club which are open to for public. In 2009, the India Habitat Centre co-hosted the Habitat Summit with Mirabilis Advisory and Urban Habitats Forum, a professional civil society initiative whose primary purpose is to serve as a multi-disciplinary public awareness and educational platform, and to facilitate positive change in India’s cities by engaging all stakeholders of society in shaping India’s built environment. Held in September, the Summit served as a communication vehicle to position key policy issues and to highlight opportunities for positive change by showcasing community-oriented urban renewal projects. IHC started organising and hosting the Delhi Photo Festival held every two years since 2011. The partnership between India Habitat Centre and Nazar Foundation was dissolved in early 2015 and Delhi Photo Festival 2015 was held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. In February 2020, IHC hosted a seven days art exhibition "Sculpt for Delhi III", presented by Delhi Art Society and organised by sculpture artist Neeraj Gupta. The exhibition featured works of 20 sculpture artists from across the India.
Sharing a common concern for habitat, the following organisations have come together to participate in institution-building, evolving a synergy within the India Habitat Centre complex.
