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Contemporary
Architecture
 Architecture
In India After Independence
After the British left India in 1947, Indian architecture dropped
into an abyss. Indian architects during the British period had
been relegated to being assistants, and they were not involved in
the actual design of monuments.
New Delhi Architecture
In his initial survey of New Delhi, Corbusier saw for the first
time the dismal state of Indian modern architecture. Consisting of
pale and bare facades, these buildings had been built by the
Public Works Department, whose architects were probably more
concerned with hanging on to their jobs than creating. The Supreme
Court in New Delhi was itself a desolate interpretation of the
buildings of the Raj. Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister, had
called for an open architectural competition for the design of the
Ashoka Hotel in 1956, which was won by B E Doctor, an architect
from Bombay. Using technology to create large pillar less spaces,
Doctor created a facade which borrowed from Islamic, Hindu,
British and modern architecture. But the criterion was not to
repeat nor to borrow, but to create a definitive new style
altogether.
Chandigarh Architecture
Three years after independence, Charles Edourad Jeanneret aka Le
Corbusier, was hired by the Punjab government to design the new
city of Chandigarh. The initial plans for the proposed city had
been made by Mathew Nowicki who had died in an air crash.
Given the role of a master architect, Corbusier took on his
responsibilities with a spirit that encouraged Indian architects
to work under him. The city of Chandigarh, designed completely by
him, was the epitome of where modern architecture could go. Built
in three stages, Corbusier divided the city into three sections.
The `head’ consisted of political, bureaucratic and judicial
buildings, the administrative parts of the city. The `body’
housed the university and residential complexes in the heart of
the city. The `feet’ consisted of industrial sectors and the
railway station.
Designing of Structural Buildings
Apart from the initial layout of the city, Corbusier also designed
buildings in Chandigarh. The High Court building has a sloping
roof, supported by concrete walls which allow air to pass through
them. The Assembly is a squarish structure topped with a huge
industrial chimney, not unlike a Buddhist stupa. The Secretariat
is made up of hundreds of rooms with an airy exterior. In making
the Secretariat, Corbusier borrowed heavily from his earlier
buildings in Marseilles. The Open Hand Monument, a huge open palm
pointing to the sky, in Chandigarh is Corbusier’s tribute to
creativity.
Architecture of Ahmedabad
Elsewhere in Ahmedabad, a young architect was designing the
Institute of Indology. D V Joshi, Corbusier’s protégé, was
exploring possibilities with concrete. He had begun work on
Premabhai Hall, another extravagant structure like the Institute
of Indology although falling way short of Corbusier’s elasticity
with space. Charles Mark Correa, Doshi’s contemporary, designed
the Hindustan Lever pavilion for the India International Trade
Fair in 1961. The pavilion was an exposed concrete structure
resembling a crumpled packing case made of concrete with a zig-zag
ramp to walk along. Correa designed the Gandhi Sanghralaya in
Ahmedabad as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. The structure is in the
traditional ashram design with a pool in the centre and airy
roofed halls within the building itself.
Delhi Flourished as Prime Architectural Site of Modern
India.
Unlike Chandigarh, which was started on a clean sheet of paper,
building Delhi posed a problem. There were already thousands of
monuments, and the city was burdened under layers of constructions
built over centuries. The first plan was to build affordable
houses by the thousands, and the ultimate to make it into an urban
Americanized city. Nagars, Vihars, Purams and Niketans blossomed
up, and with them jhuggis (slums). Delhi boasts of the largest
housing project in India, but there are still thousands of people
living on the fringe of economy who cannot afford a house.
With the Trade Fairs came a new concept in design. Building halls
and their subsidiaries without help from the Public Works
Department became a task in itself. In fact, this was the turning
point in Indian modern architecture. Raw concrete, which could be
cast at the site itself, proved to be the most suitable material
for building, along with iron and steel. This had been seen
earlier during building Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, and massive new
buildings in stark concrete seemed to herald a brave new world. In
Delhi, brand new high rises sprang up where once the 70 meter
Qutub Minar had been the tallest construction, surveying all and
sundry from the 12th century. The area around Connaught
Place, originally in Lutyen’s plan, underwent a sea change.
Large bungalows gave way to tall multi storeyed buildings, a
feature now becoming common to almost all major cities in India.
The Asiad Village was built as a colossal complex with more than
800 residential units, landscaped courts, streets, restaurants and
shops, all catering to sportspersons who assembled here for the
Asian Games.
The design of the Bahai temple in New Delhi is inspired by the
lotus, the symbol of purity. Surrounded by nine large pools of
water, the nine sided temple is made of petals of white concrete
which are covered with white marble panels. 70 meters in diameter
and over 34 meters high, the temple was designed by Fariburz Sabha
in 1980 and completed in December 1986.
Indian architects had come to terms with the rapidly expanding
need for consolidation of space, and width was compromised for
height. High rise constructions in the West formed the basic
model, but Indian buildings still lacked the slickness of a modern
Western edifice. Big cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and
Bombay bore the brunt quick construction in little time and space,
overshadowing construction legacies laid down by rulers of yore.
However, more than a thousand kilometers away in the south, a
different kind of architecture was unfolding. Modestly constructed
and priced houses were flourishing in suburbs, and even mud
constructions were coming up. Architects working with this medium
followed the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy’s conventional
norms, building temporary houses as well as permanent buildings.
Simultaneously space and volume was being experimented with in
concrete. The Oberoi hotel in Bhubaneswar is a classic example of
the intermingling of the concept of a Hindu temple and a Buddhist
monastery.
Modern Indian Architecture
Modern Indian architecture borders on the absurd, eliminating
previous designs and experimenting with new ideas. Harsh lines
instead of soft curves dominate, and the basic design is flat and
square instead of round. Going by tradition and after tracing
Indian architecture through 2000 years, modern Indian edifices
seem a little jaded, if not forced. Gone are the subtle details of
Muslim, Hindu and Jain architecture which leap forth on second
glance. Gone are those little carvings which create awe. Gone are
those colossal domes and the intricate patterns on walls and
pillars. Straight lines or stark concrete, high rises or sprawling
hotels, Indian architecture has come a long, long way from
Mohenjodaro and Harappan era.
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