Roshita Sudhir

PG190787

Assignment No. 02

How do you understand context in contemporary India? (1014 words)

AD4604 Contemporary Architecture: Practices and Processes

16.08.2019
How do you understand context in contemporary India?
Deciphering context in contemporary India

Through this essay I would be making an attempt to understand the meaning of ‘context’ and its
role in shaping the architectural design in contemporary India. Context is variable with time; for
the purpose of this essay we would be examining India during the time frame from post-
independence to present-day.

In 1947, India managed to break loose from the ties of British Raj and was preparing to set sail
towards liberty and democracy. This period of transition, was a crucial decisive moment in its
history. India had to determine how the world would like to perceive her. Should she search for
her “roots” in the past or follow the trajectory of Western modernity?

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was endowed with the task of carving out India’s own distinctive
modern identity. The Partition resulted in Lahore being awarded to Pakistan, the state of Punjab
was in need of a new capital. Nehru was presented with an opportunity to breakaway from
India’s indigenous past as well as its colonial modernity. Thus, Chandigarh - the brain child of
Nehru was born. Sunil Khilnani quotes Nehru in his book “The idea of India”, ‘The site chosen
is free from existing encumbrances of old towns’, which would make the new city ‘symbolic of
the freedom of India, unfettered by traditions of the past … an expression of the nation’s faith in
the future’.

The book further discusses on how the new capital designed as a seat of government by the
celebrated architect Le Corbusier, failed to generate a meaning amongst its citizens and
eventually fell prey to a ruthless climate and society. Chandigarh - a symbol for modern
independent India is a classic example of how architecture of a place can be shaped by the
politics prevailing at that time.

We will now fast forward to the period of political emergency, one of the most controversial
time of India’s political history. The emergency period during which Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi obtained a near absolute control of the government and its people, resulted in stalling of
the economic, political and social life of the nation. After the fall of Indira Gandhi, several
regionalistic parties which were united in resistance movement against the emergency,
emphasised on regional focus rather than on a national one. The shift is reflected in architecture
as well.

Architecture during this time divorces from Nehru’s modernity and adopts a regionalistic modern
approach. Architects had started realising the limitations imposed by the pure function driven
approach of modern architecture and its failure to rise to the social and cultural aspirations of the
society. “Being a developing country, India cannot afford to expend valuable resources and
energy to construct and operate buildings that are blind imitations of buildings in the West
(Correa, 1983, Doshi, 1985). Without imitating the past, critical regionalism strives to fuse
together global technological developments with regional wisdom pertaining to climate, culture,
material and building technology. Vistara, an architecture travelling exhibition held between
1983-86 aimed at showcasing these critical regionalistic practices in India to the world.

However, with the economic liberalisation in 1990s, buildings started to seek a more global
appearance with modern glass façade and curtain wall. Increasing number of public private
partnerships have resulted in self-contained commercial cum residential complexes which forms
isolated entities in the urban landscape. The housing sector has witnessed major change. With
plethora of options available for loans, private havens have started to spring up in the fringes of
city as opposed to the earlier mass housing projects designed to cater to people belonging to all
economic strata. The working class population were being shunned from the shanties across the
city to give way to elite townships with shopping malls, service apartments and offices for the
new emerging economically mobile middle class.

Architectural expression of buildings in a city reflects the ideologies prevalent in the society at
that particular point in time. Architects are entrusted with the task of translating the aspirations of
the citizens into built structures.

On April 24 2017, Delhi’s iconic buildings in Pragiti Maidan - Hall of Nations and Hall of
Industries was razed to the ground to pave way for a modern complex. Commissioned by the
Indian government to Ar. Raj Rewal in 1972 to host the country’s first major international trade
fair. It marked a milestone in the architectural history of India as it was one of the world largest -
spanned concrete structures. Buildings of such calibre were not only relevant to the architecture
fraternity but also to the city and its inhabitants. However, ignoring the public outcry it was
mercilessly torn down to the ground and reduced to rubble.

Kaiwan Mehta in his article titled ‘If it’s not political, it is not design’ states that “It is not only
that the buildings have been demolished, but somewhere very clearly the ideas they embodied
have been demolished”. He further questions the relevance of architects in today’s society.
“The architect has no identity as a social or political entity today, nor as a distinct professional in
the plethora of service providers that exist today. Where then is the future of architecture or
design? Designers simply do not have space in public fora, and we have withdrawn from the
social space to the decorative space of finance capital”.

A call has been sent to re-examine our role as architects in tailoring the urban fabric of our cities.
Should we limit ourselves to mere service providers? Are we not liable to synthesise architecture
after contemplating upon the various social, cultural and economic parameters?

Afterforward
The aim of essay was to examine the relationship between architecture and context. Context is a
constantly evolving entity and not a static one. It changes according to the needs and aspirations
of society as illustrated using three milestones from history - Independence, Emergency and
Economic liberisation. The changing role of architects in our society has also been studied,
diminishing value of architect in recent years needs to be taken into account. The time has come
to turn the lens towards ourselves to re-examine and re-instate our position as architects in the
society.