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 Corbusiers 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
as 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 work of Correa inspired other budding architects to
design keeping the traditional ways in mind while working with modern aspects as well.
Balakrishna Doshi was cheered by the Mughal form while architect Uttam Jain forged the
indigenous planning modes. Apart from the fact that the nineteenth century buildings fronted
dishonour in the twentieth, some historians still perceive it as flaunting a meretricious oreintalist
imagery as they were typically the more nearer to earth when it comes to the materialistic aspects.

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. 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.
Indias 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.