A Tropical House: The Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi

The Embassy of Switzerland that was opened in New Delhi in 1963 was designed to be both an architectural expression of Swiss diplomacy in India and a symbol of a special political friendship between an old democracy and a young one. Both the embassy building itself, designed by Hans Hofmann and Walter Rüegg, and the staff quarters designed by Achyut Kanvinde and Shauka Rai, display a deep engagement with local architectural and climatic conditions—a model case of how “global architecture” can work. This lavishly illustrated volume celebrates this Swiss-Indian collaboration on its fiftieth anniversary through plans, photographs, and essays.