Delhiwale: 23 years after Stein

This Sunday is the 23rd death anniversary of post-Independence Delhi’s greatest architect. Here’s his legacy in 23 points:
1. Joseph Stein’s modernistic designs took cues from India’s past, each comprising multiple buildings fused with trees, gardens, and pools.
2. Stein was born in the US, and completed his masters in architecture from the University of Illinois, and postgraduate studies at Cranbrook Academy, near Detroit, under architect Eliel Saarinen and sculptor Carl Milles.
3. Stein’s early career involved working in California. He was briefly in Mexico, where he became friends with the legendary Frida Kahlo.
4. Stein, aged 40, arrived in India in 1952, following a nudge from Vijayalakshmi Pandit. Prime Minister Nehru’s sister must have become aware of his work during her stint as ambassador to the US and Mexico from 1949 to 51.
5. Stein initially settled in West Bengal as a college professor.
6. Stein moved to his future karmabhoomi in 1955, setting up his first Delhi office in Purani Dilli’s Asaf Ali Road.
7. Stein’s earliest architectural firm in Delhi was Stein and Polk. His work partner, Benjamin Polk, was also an expatriate American architect. The firm later mutated into a succession of avatars—Stein, Chatterjee and Polk; Joseph Allen Stein and Associates; Stein, Doshi and Bhalla; Stein, Mani and Chawfla.
8. Stein’s first major Delhi creation, the Triveni Kala Sangam, opened in 1963.
9. Stein’s iconic India International Centre was completed in 1962. Not many know that the land allotted for the IIC was originally where now Kashmere Gate interstate bus terminal stands. Stein persuaded the shift to its eventual much greener location.
10. Stein designed many other buildings around the IIC’s vicinity, because of which this central Delhi region of Lodhi Estate came to be known as Steinabad.
11. Stein’s lesser-known Steinabad landmarks includes the Ford Foundation headquarters.
12. Stein also oversaw the contemporary landscaping of Lodhi Garden, which lies behind the IIC.
13. Stein’s other notable Delhi creations include the Australian ambassador’s residence.
14. Stein’s last major work was the India Habitat Centre. Built in the late 1980s, the office complex also houses Stein Auditorium that has hosted legends like Garcia Marquez and Margaret Atwood.
15. Stein’s definitive biography was published by author-architect Stephen White in 1989, appropriately titled Building in the Garden: Architecture of Joseph Allen Stein in India and California.
16. Stein was awarded Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award, in the category of “science and engineering,” in 1992.
17. Stein was an ardent reader, and adored Shakespeare and Arthur Koestler. In music, he was fond of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar. His close Delhi friends included architect Habib Rahman and his wife, the dancer Indrani.
18. Stein lived in Hindi-speaking Delhi for decades, learning only two Hindi words: accha and bas.
19. Stein resided in three Delhi localities — Chanakyapuri, Sundarnagar and Friends Colony, where he shifted after wife Margaret Suydam’s passing.
20. Stein often did his weekend eating out at the IIC’s poolside dining hall (see photo), always ordering seekh kebab and naan.
21. Stein died in 2021, aged 89, during a visit to the US. He is survived by two sons.
22. Stein’s inheritors gifted a substantial portion of his archive, including 5,000 drawings, to the Cornell University Library in 2022.
23. Joseph Stein Lane is the only Delhi road named after an architect. It’s in Steinabad.
PS: Stein’s son David, a retired city planner who lives in Woodstock, New York State, provided invaluable help with the details of this dispatch.