A place of astonishing contrasts, India is home to some of the world’s most ancient architectures as well as some of its most modern. It was the focus of some of the most important works created by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, among other lesser-known masters, and it is regarded by many as one of the key sites of mid-twentieth century architectural design. As Peter Scriver and Amit Srivastava show in this book, however, India’s history of modern architecture began long before the nation’s independence as a modern state in 1947.
Going back to the nineteenth century, Scriver and Srivastava look at the beginnings of modernism in colonial India and the ways that public works and patronage fostered new design practices that directly challenged the social order and values invested in the building traditions of the past. They then trace how India’s architecture embodies the dramatic shifts in Indian society and culture during the last century. Making sense of a broad range of sources, from private papers and photographic collections to the extensive records of the Indian Public Works Department, they provide the most rounded account of modern architecture in India that has yet been available.
Going back to the nineteenth century, Scriver and Srivastava look at the beginnings of modernism in colonial India and the ways that public works and patronage fostered new design practices that directly challenged the social order and values invested in the building traditions of the past. They then trace how India’s architecture embodies the dramatic shifts in Indian society and culture during the last century. Making sense of a broad range of sources, from private papers and photographic collections to the extensive records of the Indian Public Works Department, they provide the most rounded account of modern architecture in India that has yet been available.
304 pages | 200 halftones | 6 3/4 x 8 1/2 | © 2015
Modern Architectures in History
Architecture: Middle Eastern, African, and Asian Architecture
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Rationalization: The Call to Order, 1855-1900
2. Complicity and Contradiction in the Colonial Twilight, 1901-1947
3. Nation Building: Architecture in the Service of the Postcolonial State, 1947-1960s
4. Regionalism, Institution Building and the Modern Indian Elite, 1950s-1970s
5. Development and Dissent: The Critical Turn, 1960s-1990s
6. Identity and Difference: The Cultural Turn, 1980s-1990s
7. Towards the ‘Non-modern’: Architecture and Global India since 1990
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
1. Rationalization: The Call to Order, 1855-1900
2. Complicity and Contradiction in the Colonial Twilight, 1901-1947
3. Nation Building: Architecture in the Service of the Postcolonial State, 1947-1960s
4. Regionalism, Institution Building and the Modern Indian Elite, 1950s-1970s
5. Development and Dissent: The Critical Turn, 1960s-1990s
6. Identity and Difference: The Cultural Turn, 1980s-1990s
7. Towards the ‘Non-modern’: Architecture and Global India since 1990
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index