Life and Works of Cyrus Jhabvala: Architect, Artist, Educator
Author: Iftikhar-mulk Chishti
Contributing Author: Snehil Tripathi
Published by: CEPT University Press
August 2025
ISBN: 978-93-83184-94-1
Cyrus Jhabvala was an architect, an educator and an artist who was part of the reconstruction of post-partition Delhi. A forgotten master of modernist architecture, his practice through the firm Anad Aptay and Jhabvala (AAJ) over three decades - the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, built nearly 2000 structures. The book details this through its section titled Pragmatic Practice for National Building, with provocative chapters: Settling the middle class; Engines of a new economy; the Cooperative dream; Places of work and civic arrangement, culture and sacred realms; and Modern melas.
Jhabvala was one of the founders of modern-day architectural pedagogy, with an association of 20 years with the School of Planning and Architecture Delhi (including its earlier avatar as the Delhi Polytechnic). The architectural pedagogy under Cyrus avoided overriding philosophical biases and offered the students a well-rounded liberal education connected to the actual practice of architecture as it was evolving in the post-independence decades in Delhi and the country.
As an artist, whether through pencil, water colour or photography, Cyrus’ work is defined by an acute awareness of history, a desire to record the past and an appreciation for the evolving visual traditions that shape our understanding of place and identity.
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