INTRODUCTION (MODERN ARCHITECTURE)

The modern era of Indian architecture can be broadly categorized into a set of time periods in between
1920 and present day .
The very first era of modern architecture was in between 1920 and 1950 .
In India, the architectural work was either Neo-Classical, or some modified version or Art Deco. There
was a large amount of influence from the architecture of different countries like the work of Frank Lloyd
Wright in The United States.


Bank of India building (1944)
Mumbai was the heart of architectural thinking in India. The major British-headed architectural firms as well as the newer Indian
practice. International modernism can be seen in some of the works of the major Mumbai firm Gregson, Batley and King. Much
of it, as in the Bank of India building (1944) in Mumbai.
Neo-Classical work can, however, best be exemplified by the buildings such as Statesman Building in Calcutta (1931-33)

Against this backdrop there were two architects who assisted Edwin Lutyens in the design of New Delhi were Walter Sykes
George and Arthur Gordon Shoosmith

Statesman Building St Stephens College,
Delhi
ART DECO AND INDO DECO
EARLY MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Art Deco was a style of rich surface, sensuous textures flowing forms.
Much of it incorporated luxurious materials.
The integration of local elements and Art Deco motifs displayed in the
Indo-Deco is more complex than in many other countries because of the
diversity of Indias architectural background

Reid House and Esplanade Mansions, Calcutta
Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
PLANNING OF MAJOR CITIES
The New Delhi town plan, like its architecture, was chosen with one single chief consideration: to be a symbol of British power and supremacy Edwin lutyens
was invited to design the new city. He began planning in 1911 and finished in 1931, barely 19 years before Le Corbusier started Chandigarh.
There is no such difference between old Delhi and new Delhi. Basically,
buildings of mughal era referred to as old Delhi and the buildings built
during British era later, have been referred to as new Delhi.
Rashtrapati Bhavan
India Gate The Secretariat
Rashtrapati Bhawan is at the end of Raj path Marg, which
leads on to India gate and is perpendicular to Janpath. With
this as the central axis, a hexagonal road pattern has been
created.
NEW DELHI

Lutyens asked his friend architect Herbert baker to
help him design the city of Delhi. Herbert baker
designed many important buildings in Delhi. The
secretariat is a set of twin buildings that face each
other in front of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
There is an application of symbology and influences
from both Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic architecture.
The British designed new Delhi when n they shifted
their capital from Calcutta to Shahjahanabad, were
then called it old d\Delhi.
It is a classical European building with some features of Mughal architectural style. This blend of Indo- English architecture is not a
great success, especially the Buddhist stupa surmounting the central dome, which is very European in style.
Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
PLANNING OF MAJOR CITIES
CHANDIGARH

The first ever plan for the city of Chandigarh was conceived by Albert Mayer

In 1951 the project was given to Le Corbusier. The city was divided into sectors and planned meticulously in
a grid plan.
Albert Mayers Plan
The roads were classifies with respect to their connectivity inside as well
as outside Chandigarh.

In its first phase Chandigarh was organized in 30sectors. The sector was
conceived as an autonomous unit including housing as well as all service
needed for everyday life: schools, artisans, shops, leisure.

Le Corbusiers
plan of Chandigarh
Chandigarh planning was done in an manner that everything was easily clear
about the routes and sectors.
Sector which is introverted in character communicates only at 4 junctions
with the adjoining neighborhood units

Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
REGIONALISM IN INDIA
Some Eastern architects were exploring ways to merge traditional architectural forms and modernism. One such attempt
is Rewal's use of handcrafted stone grills, or jalis. In pre-colonial Indian architecture, jalis were used for decoration and
to separate the outside from the inside, to diffuse the harsh sunlight, and to visually and audibly connect two spaces while
physically separating them
Institute of Immunology
Raj Rewal
Drawing on earlier urban housing models, Rewal's Asian Games Village in New
Delhi used a network of streets and squares with vehicular access at either end of the
site. Its morphology resembles a traditional village, with cubic solids and voids that
are characteristic of the Indian urban fabric
Raj Rewals works clearly show that he didn'tt simply copy the western ideas and dint come under the pressure of
globalization .

Rather than a TRANSFER it was a TRANSFORMATION of the ideologies and typologies o the modernistic
architectural movement applied to an Indian context .

Asian Games Village
Parliament Library
After fifty years a chaotic, rootless picture of the nation
emerged which addressed a change. At such a time when
there was an emergence of pride and a surgency towards
psychological and political independence.

The understanding and use of this concept needs a keen self
-consciousness. As a step in this direction, Charles Correa
stands out amongst other Indian masters who has the vision
to abstract the cultural history of India and root the present
in the past.


LIC Building C.P.
Ten of the top 30 fastest-growing urban areas in the world are in India, and 700 million people are estimated
to move to its cities by 2050.
Multinational corporations are flocking to the country to tap into its vast, resource-rich, labour- and
consumer-abundant market.
The worlds corporate architecture firms have been swift to move in too.

The IT and BPO sectors have transformed the skyline of major IT hubs like Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, etc.

ATTRIBUTES OF GLOBALIZATION
International Tech Park Limited,
Bangalore
The number of Indian mega cities will double from the
current three(Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata) to six by the
year 2021 (new additions will be Bangalore, Chennai
and Hyderabad), when India will have the largest
concentration of mega cities in the world.
Today, India's skyline is a work in progress. But while the
towering new skyscrapers, sprawling IT parks, glitzy airports
and swanky townships reflect desi aspirations, the blueprint,
more often than not, is foreign.
The selection of an international architect or planner is driven by the unique needs of
the project. For instance, the 325-acre Mahindra World City(New Chennai) project is
one of the largest such developments under implementation and to that extent the
width and depth of on-ground implementation experience is currently available only
with international firms who have conceived and implemented such projects in
different parts of the world," says Anita Arjundas, COO of Mahindra Life spaces.
Mahindra World City
Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
Traditions of Indian Architecture : In Praise of Hybridity
CONCLUSION
Modernist architecture in India is identied with the Nehruvian period, which witnessed decisive foreign interventions as well as the emergence of a modern
Indianidiom. Ideologically, it has been criticized for its universalist disdain for local conditions (heat, dust, damp, materials, and maintenance), its ugly reinforced
concrete fantasies, its neglect of the street, and its insensitive regulation of private and public spaces. The messy, mixed-use character of Indian built environments
was never accommodated within the totalizing vision of modernist design, however democratic it might have been in intent.
Modernism nevertheless produced some exceptional architectural statements in India. Architects like Doshi and Correa evolved by responding to environmental needs,
anticipating later experiments (for example, by Laurie Baker) in a sustainable vernacular conservation ethic.
The big four metros, all cities in existence for at least 400 years have an evolved sense of architecture and urban aesthetic that spans from the Mughal times to the
British Raj.
Things took a turn for the better in the early 90s when the opening up of the markets brought transformation into India in all sectors. IT Parks,
Technology campuses and the supporting housing, retail and commercial needs brought about an architectural boom that has been on a continuous
steady rise over the last two decades.
However, a total lack of a master plan and vision for the entire city has created a new jigsaw of competing styles, materials and designs.