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 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.
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 Spain's ‘Casa Mila Barcelona’ (1905
to 1910 A.D.) designed by Antoni Gaudi; ‘Grand Central’, New
York (1913) designed by Reed and Stern and Warren and Wetmore;
The ‘Chrysler Building’, New York (1930) designed by William Van
Alen; ‘The Empire State Building’, New York (1931); the ‘Sydney
Opera House’, Australia (1957-1973) designed by Jorn Utzon; the
‘World Trade Centre Twin Towers’, New York (1970-1977), which
were demolished by terrorists, designed by Minoru Yamasaki;
‘Bibliotheca Alexandrina’, Egypt (2002); ‘Museu Oscar Niemeyer’,
Brazil (2003); ‘30 St Mary Axe’, London (2000-2004); ‘Bank of
China Tower’ (1982-1990); ‘Olympic Games Tent’, Munich, Germany
(1972) designed by Gunter Behnisch; ‘Museo Guggenheim’, Spain
(1997) designed by Frank Gehry; ‘Petronas Towers’, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia (1998) designed by Cesar Pelli; ‘Sears Towers’, Chicago
(1974 to 1976) designed by Bruce Graham/ SOM; ‘C.N.Tower’,
Toronto, Canada (1976) designed by John Andrews; ‘Seattle Public
Library’, Seattle, USA (2004) designed by Rem Koolhaas; ‘Haj
Terminal’, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (1972) designed by Skidmore
Owings and Merrill (SOM); ‘Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank’, Hong
Kong (1979-1986) designed by Norman Foster; ‘Emirates Office
Tower’, ‘Burj al Arab’ and ‘Emirates Hotel Tower’ in Dubai; ‘Abraj
Al-Bayt’ in Makkah and ‘Al Faisaliyah Centre’, Riyadh in Saudi
Arabia are some of the finest modern buildings of the world.
While many modern buildings of India do not come anywhere near
these architectural masterpieces in different parts of the
world, some of our own noteworthy buildings include ‘Kanchanjunga
Apartments’, Mumbai (1970-1983) designed by Charles Correa; ‘Cybertecture
Egg’ in Mumbai; ‘Suzlon One Earth’, Pune, which is touted as one
of the greenest and most energy-efficient buildings ever built;
‘National Judicial Academy’, Madhya Pradesh; ‘Akruti Trade
Centre’, Mumbai; ‘Infosys Progeon’ and ‘Infosys-Diamond in the
Sky’, Bangalore and ‘Terminal 1D’, New Delhi Airport among
others.
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.
