ARTICLE NAME:The age of Indian architecture after Independence

BY:VISHAL KUMAR FROM(Accurate Institute of Architecture & Planning)

A study of major changes that took place after the independence in the field of architecture in
India India is one of the countries in the world with the richest history. One of the many things
India is known for is art and architecture. The field of architecture in India has undergone
significant changes since independence. In this article, we analyse the different phases of
architecture in India after post-independence. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the
independent India is widely known for his far vision, he was a modernist who favoured state
intervention. Nehru was the one to take the initiative of betterment and development of art and
architecture in India. He was the one behind the brilliant idea of suggesting that one percent of
cost of a public building should go towards its decoration with painting, murals and sculptures.
The mind behind the national art policy headed by the Lalit Kala Akademi and the National
Gallery of Modern is none other than him. A new era of architecture began when the very
famous architect Le Corbusier was invited to design the capital of the Punjab state, Chandigarh.
Le Corbusier’s uncompromising functionalism consciously broke with the past ‘historicism’ of
imperial architecture. Other invited architect, the very notable Louis Kahn created the avant-
garde architecture with the little spice of the ‘Mughal’, in Ahmedabad. The fame of Corbusier
marked the debut of many Indian architects such as B.V.Doshi. But this shear development of
modernism in the country also created some anxiety in the architects as it was tough at that
time to cope with the modern thought of architects and the old heritage of the nation. As a result
of the influence of modern thoughts, differences of opinion emerged among the people
belonging to the architecture community. Western and colonial architectural styles were
perceived

foreign and hence anti-national. Some of the tallest political leaders in the India lent their
support to the revivalists, who sought to reach back a thousand years for architectural forms
and details which symbolised various classical eras and golden ages of Indian culture. The
modern system abhorred superfluous surface decoration and induced the use of concrete, glass
and steel whereas the traditional way suggested working more on natural and vernacular
materials. On the other side some technocrats argued that monuments and old buildings should
be considered with the context of time and should not be simulated in the changing times. They
also advocated the idea of modernisation as their point was that modern India required modern
architectural symbols, forms and functions to achieve economic and social development. The
tension between the modern and the prominent Indian thoughts was solved for the first time by
the internationally acclaimed architect Charles Correa. Correa found the solution in the revival of
earlier practices, exploring the functions of Indian buildings, rather than their decoration, in his
search of authenticity. He was the one to develop the low cost housing, ‘open to sky’ spaces
and innovation to cope with different sort of climates. The
The early post independence era saw the birth of the new association called the Society of
Contemporary Artists, in which the artists like Bikash Bhattacharya , Ganesh Paine, Sunil Das,
Jogen Chowdhury, Ganesh Haloi, Balraj Panesar, Tapan Talukdar and many others gathered to
work for the betterment of art in India. The association met an early fall but it got the opportunity
to taste the success at international level. Many artists and architects like MF Hussain, FN
Souza, Gaitonde, Kishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta, and SH Raza were amongst the ones to
achieve great fame from the association. The foremost is the group of architects who are among
the first Indians to gain architectural education in America. Habib Rehman, Achyut Kanvinde
and the late Durga Bajpai. They were all young and idealistic; they shouldered the enormous
responsibilities, and were vulnerable to the criticism of seniors who came from different schools
of thought. The second group of architects were considered the ‘inspired by history’ people.
ARTICLE NAME:The age of Indian architecture after Independence
BY:VISHAL KUMAR FROM(Accurate Institute of Architecture & Planning)
They worked on the previously tried and tested ways to develop the era. The best examples can
be seen in the Supreme Court at Delhi, designed by the architects of the Central Public Works
Department, the Imperial Style of Lutyens and Baker where the designs are seen to be worth
repeating a full twenty five years later. The third predominant stylistic vocabulary in this period
attempted to express the spirit of free India at Chandigarh and in modifications made to the
International Style in Delhi. Climate antiphonary designs are always used all over India to cope
up with the wide and diverse environment conditions. Culture based on society, nature and
religion is vastly reflected in architecture of different regions. Villages were more likely to be
designed with courtyards, loggias, terraces and balconies which contained the scent of ancient
India happily grappling with the modern technology like electricity and water supply. In
conclusion it can be recalled that the development in the west is related with the spirits of times.
India’s counter and encounter with the modernisation can be relatively new but has grown up to
very high extents in the previous decades. After the independence the thing which dramatically
increased on the graph on developing India was the population. The population blast was one of
the major factors describing the design process in the post independence era. Small villages
evolved into urban and industrial regions. The new policies and actions raised the economic bar
and so fuelled globalisation and tourism. The basics and the components of these new policies
insured the development of government buildings and public structures so that the nation can
stand in the elite group of developing countries. And while the county continues advancing in
their architectural structures, historical buildings remain well-maintained and treasured.