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MODERN ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA After the British left India in 1947,
Indian architecture dropped into an abyss. Indian architects, who were relegated to the
role of being assistants to the British architects under the British Raj, took their own
time to express their ingenuity. Perhaps, there was an identity crisis, a dilemma whether
to bask in the glory of the past or move forward with times using new ideas, images and
techniques. While in other fields like art, music and culture, the distinct Indian imprint
was more enhanced in the post-Independence period; no such thing was discernible in the
case of architecture. It is no doubt that the Indian architects were unable to
achieve a transformative architecture despite the existence of great potential at the time
of Indian Independence. The
post-Independence period saw the emergence of two schools of thought in architecture --
the Revivalist and the Modernist. The Revivalists, who advocated "continuity
with the past", could not break the shackles of the colonial legacy and left no
significant impact on the neo-Indian architecture. The Modernists too depended heavily on
the European and American models and tried to adopt them in India without taking into
consideration the regional aspirations, diversities and requirements. The
contemporary Indian architecture was also beset with problems like population explosion,
lack of vision among the planners, lack of support from the government and a less than
satisfactory standard of architecture education. The result was that during the
initial years after the Independence, foreign architects continued to play a leading role
in Indian architecture. Jawaharlal Nehru,
the first 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 that borrowed from
Islamic, Hindu, British and modern architecture. Indian architecture
witnessed a revolution when the Punjab government engaged Le Corbusier to design the new
city of Chandigarh. 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. Apart
from the initial layout of the city, Corbusier also designed several 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 while the Secretariat is made up of hundreds of rooms with an airy
exterior. Taking inspiration
from Le Corbusier's creativity, a young Indian architect D V Joshi designed the Institute
of Indology in Ahmedabad. 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 zigzag ramp to walk along. Correa also designed the Gandhi Sanghralaya in Ahmedabad as a
tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. The Asiad Village
in New Delhi, designed by Raj Rewell and built as a colossal However, the fact
remains that the contemporary architecture in India has failed to inspire. Even
after 50 years of Independence our cities are still symbolised by pre-independence
buildings. For instance, Calcutta is symbolised by the Victoria Memorial, New Delhi by the
Rashtrapati Bhawan, Mumbai by the Victoria Terminus and the Gateway of India and Chennai
by the Victoria Memorial Hall. The post-independence buildings such as the New
Secretariat building in Calcutta or the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi has nothing much to
offer in terms of architectural style. In contrast most
major cities in the world have splendid modern buildings to boast off, like Sydney has its
Sydney Opera House, Paris has new Grand Arch and the Georges Pompidos Centre, New York has
its World Trade Centre, Chicago has the Sears Tower and Toronto has the C.N.Tower.
Even cities in other Third World countries have several buildings to feel proud about,
like Kuala Lumpur has its Petronas Tower, Shangai has the TV Tower, Hong Kong has its
Hongkong and Shanghai Corporation building and the Bank of China Building and even Colombo
has its new Parliament building. In November 1998,
the media reported that the foundation stone of World Centre of Vedic Learning, the
world's tallest building would be laid at Karondi village, in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
The building, which will be built by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University, is being
designed according to the Maharishi Sthapatya Veda symbolising the victory of India's
ancient knowledge of Vastu Vidya. The proposed centre for Vedic consciousness, which is
modelled on Sao Paulo Tower of Brazil, would be 677 metres (2222 feet) high and 339 metres
(1111 feet) wide at the square base. Once completed it will be more than 213 metres (700
feet) taller than the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur and will achieve the distinction of
being the world's tallest building. It was also reported that a consortium of
architects and engineers who have designed several of the tallest structures in the world
is undertaking the design of the building. Indeed, India will have something to cheer
about if this building materializes! Madhya Pradesh seems to be the only state in India which has several grand public buildings and international award winning projects. The New Assembly building in Bhopal and the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board office in Jabalpur, The Judicial Academy in Bhopal, the Rajiv Gandhi Jal Grahan Mission in Raipur and the proposed "White House" in Bhopal are some fascinating examples which show that global aesthetics is moving very fast into the smaller Indian cities. Paradoxically, it is the smaller cities and towns like Indore, Raipur, Rajkot, Baroda and Bhopal, with no greatly visible architectural traditions like that of Jaipur, Hyderabad or Lucknow, that are displaying unprecedented alacrity in adapting to 'international styles'. There is a growing brand of young and dynamic architects, which include Charles Correa, Prashant Diwakriti, Ajay Kataria, Anjum Gupta, Vineet Chadha, Nikhil Sompura and others, who do not shy away from experimentation. Most often these architects employ a hybrid style that is a free mix of Roman, English, Gothic, Rajasthani and Mughal styles. This new-age architectural aesthetics has redefined the idea of space. The emphasis now seems to be on having more open spaces, green spaces and natural lighting. It is, however, not possible to term this new trend as a 'representative' architecture of our times as it is highly restricted in geographic terms and also confined to the affluent lot. ||Introduction||Temple Architecture||
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complex with more than 800
residential units, landscaped courts, streets, restaurants and shops, all catering to
sports persons who had assembled for the 1982 Asian Games, is one of the architectural
landmarks of modern India. The lotus-shaped Bahai temple in New Delhi, designed by
Fariburz Sabha in 1980 and completed in December 1986, is an awe-inspiring example of the
ingenuity of the Indian architects.