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The Ministry of External Affairs is largely
located in South Block, a
building that also houses the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of
Defence. Some of the offices of Ministry of External Affairs are also
housed in Akbar Bhavan, Shastri Bhavan, Patiala House and ISIL Building.
South Block, and North Block situated across the road, were built on top of Raisina Hill in 1931. Designed by Herbert Baker, one of Britain’s
most distinguished architects of the early 20th Century, the two impressive Secretariat buildings flank Rashtrapati Bhavan on each side of the Central
Visitor. South Block is an intricate labyrinth of vaulted
staircases and high ceiling passages. Colonnades and flat roofs, dominated by huge domes are striking features of this building.
Herbert Baker, as well as Edwin Lutyens who designed government buildings for New Delhi, had accepted typical Indian architectural features like the ‘Jaali’ and the ‘Chajja’. The jaali, which is an
intricately carved ornamental stone screen, is ideal for Indian climatic
conditions, and the chajja, which is a thin projection of stone, protects the walls and windows from the hot summer sun and the heavy
monsoon rains. The third feature adopted by the designers was the ‘chattri’ or the umbrella-shaped dome that broke the monotony of the
flat, horizontal skylines. All these features can be seen in South Block.
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