CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

09AT5DCCOA

CONTENT COMPILED BY
AR. SAHANA. S
(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, B.M.S.C.A.)
HISTORY OF COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA

The history of colonial architecture in India can be broadly classified into four periods:

A. Period of settlement (1640-1840):

The Europeans needed to be secure and establish themselves as superior in the minds of the Indian people. Hence they built
Forts, garrisons, cantonments within which they housed their military forces, living quarters and institutions.
They alienated themselves from the locals culturally and socially through their architecture.
Famous examples of this period include:
1. Fort St. George, Madras – designed by Benjamin Robins and built in the year 1750,
the fort was high-walled, contained offices, warehouses, arsenal, barracks, living quarters,
church, theatre, auction rooms, library, bank etc. Assembly Building,
Fort St. George, madras

2. Fort William, Calcutta – designed by Capt. Brohier and built in the year 1773 and
irregular octagon in plan, contains within it St. Peter’s church, barracks, arsenal,
interconnected galleries and stables.
Fort William, Calcutta
These examples were of urban scale and contained moats and embankments and turrets.
B. Period of ascendancy (1840-1900):
Industrial revolution was prevalent during this period in the European countries and the ideas travelled to India too. The
British school of architectural thought was implemented in India. Security was no more a concern as the British had
established their government securely here. The then Modern amenities like Railways found place in the various cities like
Bombay.

Famous examples of this period include:

1. Christ Church, Shimla (1844)
2. St. Paul’s cathedral, Calcutta (1847)
3. Queen’s college, Benaras (1847) 2 3 4 5
4. Victoria and Albert Museum (1877) 1
Monumental and urban in scale, the style which was prevalent in Europe was predominantly used –
5. Victoria Terminus (1887)
gothic, renaissance. Stone and bricks were used as building materials. The detailing included stone
carvings, pinnacles, ornate arcades, ogee windows, statute niches, classical orders.
HISTORY OF COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA

C. Period of transition (1900-1925):

The freedom struggle had intensified during this period of time. Hence there was a transition in the political and architectural
ideas. City of New Delhi was designed during this period by Edwin Lutyens. Lord Charles Hardinge emphasized the necessity to
take the Indian culture and tradition into account while designing the cities and buildings in India as they were being designed
for the Indian public, but at the same time, the British school of architectural thought had to be implemented with it. Indian
climatic conditions were taken into account and there was a mix of British character and native architecture.

Famous examples of this period include:

1. Capitol Complex, New Delhi – 1912 – designed by Edwin Lutyens

and Herbert Baker
Capitol complex, new delhi Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta

2. Howrah Railway Station, Calcutta – 1906 – designed by Halsey Ricardo

The buildings were of monumental and urban scale, of hybrid style combining British and Indian architecture. Stone and brick
were used as building materials. The detailing included wide eaves, jaalis, stone cornices and details of baroque classicism.

D. The modern Movement (1925-1947):

The modern movement became the precedent for the advent of modern Indian architecture. The cultural and living styles of
Indians were mainly considered whiles designing the spaces. There was a departure from the traditional style of architecture
followed until now.

Famous examples of this period include:

1. St. Thomas’s Church, New Delhi – 1929 – designed by Walter George
2. St. Stephen’s college, New Delhi – 1938- designed by Walter George 1 2 3
3. St. Martin’s Church, New Delhi – 1928 – designed by Arthur Shoosmith

The building scale ranged from monumental to housing; exposed brick and indigenous stone were used as building materials.
Simple geometric forms, deep recessed windows, redundant garnishing and sharp profiles were the main details used in these
buildings.
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA (POST INDEPENDENCE ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA)

Post-independence several challenges cropped up that can be categorized as follows:

•Institutional– architecture for and by the government, public sector concerns, private organizations.
•Housing – Private residences, public housing, low-cost housing
•Industrial projects – Factories and infrastructure
•Low-cost and vernacular responses – modern interpretations of traditional and regional architecture
•Commercial architecture – Shopping and entertainment complexes, hotels and hospitality industry
•Special purpose facilities – Health industry, special facilities, sport and infrastructure, education
•Urban design and redevelopment – Planning and urbanism, new towns, expansion of old metropolitan centers,
urban design projects
•Conservation and Restoration
Architecture is one of the narratives of the nation, it is one of the economic and cultural practices through which the
nation tells and retells its stories.
•The first or heroic modernist, phase of modern Indian architecture would correspond roughly to the period of the
Nehruvian State (1947-1975). Architects like Habib Rehman, Achyut Kanvinde, Charles Correa, Balkrishna Doshi and
Raj Rewal arose during this period, when the State was viewed as a VISIONARY AGENT OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
AND CULTURAL REGENERATION, one that extended its aegis to innovative art and architecture.
•The Nehruvian State came to an end, not with Nehru's death in 1964, but in 1975, when Indira Gandhi abrogated
democratic freedoms and imposed the Emergency (1975-77) to contain popular unrest against her policies and her
authoritarian political style. FROM 1975 BEGINS THE NEXT PHASE OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURE, POST-HEROIC AND
POST-MODERNIST IN NEARLY EQUAL MEASURE.
•In the aftermath of the Emergency, the Indian nation-state lost much of its earlier momentum, and most of its
idealism.
•In architecture, this general situation was reflected through a degree of exhaustion: the civilisational vision that had
sustained the earlier generation of architects had come under severe strain.
•At the same time, the strange fruits of architectural post-modernism had begun to become available from Western
centers. All these factors led to a QUESTIONING OF IDENTITY, PURPOSE and method.
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA (POST INDEPENDENCE ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA)

•While the older generation responded to this twin societal and aesthetic crisis by seeking refuge in cosmology, the
younger generation then taking its first soundings appears to have moved in the opposite direction that of locality.
•Modernism was established as the language of contemporary architecture in India since the 1950s, especially after
the work of Le Corbusier in Chandigarh and Louis Kahn at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmadabad.
•A quick look reveals that two basic concerns have dominated the practice of architecture as a socially meaningful
and creative endeavor since the 1950s in India.
•Serious architectural reflection (in practice and discourse) since independence has been concerned with the
architectural language that modern India uses/strives to use/ought to use to phrase its architecture.
•The other is the concern with addressing the fact and possibility of local, contingent, situated place, as opposed to
high Modernism‘s abstract and Universalist conception of space.

•Revivalist Style:
•Revivalist was an extension of the late Indo-European style and laid importance on form and external
expression. It personified the efforts to evolve built forms appropriate to contemporary needs, yet bearing a
resemblance to traditional architecture. Eg: Ashoka Hotel, Delhi; Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore; Supreme Court,
New Delhi.

•International Style:
•The Modernist or International style, was the outcome of a rational approach to design , unhampered by
historical or cultural restraints. Eg: Golconde House, Pondicherry; T.B. Assoc., New Delhi; Atira Building,
Ahmedabad.
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA (POST INDEPENDENCE ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA)

Influence of international architects on independent Indian architecture and architects:

By the mid 1960s , few Indian architects began to examine their work and evaluate its relevance to our indigenous
requirements. This led to a search for design solutions that were more relevant to our context, local requirements
and life styles.
• Works of le Corbusier and Louis Kahn in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad respectively had set the pace for the
emergence of modern architecture and provided a wide spectrum of topics for planners, architects, engineers
and administrators.
• Their work embodied a vocabulary of powerful architectural images that seemed in many ways timeless and
contextual.
• In a land where building maintenance was often lacking, and where surfaces were subject to strong weathering,
brick and concrete seemed feasible alternatives to the smooth, plastered surfaces of the International Style.
• Louis Kahn and Le-Corbusier had experimented with sun-shading devices such as inset balconies and brise-soleil
to design their buildings to suit the Indian climate. Almost all the members of the first generation of architects
after Independence were greatly influenced by this unique experiment.
• Indian architects were inspired by kahn’s uncompromising approach to rethinking the fundamentals of
architecture.
• Through his massive brick forms, Kahn offered these architects a spiritual experience that made them believe
they could effectively build the new nation and achieve a balance between modernity and tradition.

• A new trend of high-technology with complete glass facades emerged gradually.