The tour was led by its creator, Arjun Shivaji Jain, who had been shaping the space since 2016. On the first Sunday of September, visitors came for what was the first and final fully guided architecture tour of the space.
The tour was led by its creator, Arjun Shivaji Jain, who had been shaping the space since 2016. He studied nuclear physics before moving towards art, and began working on the space in July 2016, when the family’s transformer factory was still functioning. Eucalyptus trees planted in the 1960s stood tall in the front, while Gothic arches, brick jalis, terracotta roofs and exposed brick walls revealed a space that had evolved over years rather than from a finished architectural plan.
“I began working on the architecture of this place in 2016, which was five years before we thought of building it up into a cultural space,” he said. After his father’s death during the pandemic, Arjun said he wanted “good people” around him. “The idea of art exhibitions or concerts over here in this place for me was to bring everyone on the same level, no hierarchy,” he said.
The nameplate read ‘John Ruskin Manufactory’. It offered little explanation but lot of intrigue to people who stepped into the Red House in Okhla. Red House was not meant to remain an architectural experiment On the first Sunday of September, visitors came for what was the first and final fully guided architecture tour of the space. He took visitors through the building, pointing out the evolution of its jalis, the Madhumalti planted by his father and details that had emerged through years of experimentation. But the space is now closing, with the property set to be sold and Red House likely to be demolished by the end of October. ‘The space was sheer experimentation, there was no blueprint’ Arjun had no formal training in architecture. “It’s not like I had a plan or a blueprint or anything. Red House was not meant to remain an architectural experiment. Artists and musicians became part of that circle, and the space gradually evolved into a cultural hub.
