Why raze India’s most iconic building?

Update: Pragati Maidan hall was torn down in 2018.

Architect Raj Rewal must be having trouble sleeping these days. His nightmare is about to come true.  The India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) has proposed razing his masterpiece, Pragati Maidan hall. Pragati Madian is an exhibition complex covering 150 acres. It is owned and managed by ITPO.

If there is any doubt that this is India’s modern icon, consider this — the image of the building is printed on India’s postage stamp and it has been used as a backdrop in many movies to symbolize Modern New Delhi. In an interview with the Times of India.  Raj Rewal said that the “Hall of Nations is equivalent to London’s Crystal Palace or the great palace in Paris.” Built in 1972, Rewal designed the building to commemorate the 25th anniversary of India’s independence. The ITPO says the building has outlived its life span, specifically it is too old and does not have air conditioning. So, in the words of Carol Willis,  is this a case of “form follows finance?”  Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago