SOUTH ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

INDIA
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
OF ARCHITECTURE
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (2700
BC-1700BC)
The Indus Valley is one of the world's
earliest urban civilizations Flourishing
around the Indus River basin, the
civilization primarily centred along the
Indus and the Punjab region. The Indus
Valley Civilization located in the
northwestern region of the Indian
A well and drainage system at Lothal
subcontinent, consisting of what is now
mainly modern-day Pakistan and
northwest India.

POST MAHA JANAPADAS PERIOD

(1600 BC—200 AD)

The Great Stupa at Sanchi

EARLY COMMON ERA—HIGH LATE MIDDLE AGES
MIDDLE AGES (200 AD—1200 AD) (1100 AD—1526 AD)

Ornate lintel over mantapa entrance, Belur temple

The temple complex at Khajuraho

ISLAMIC INFLUENCE AND MUGHAL ERA
(1526 AD-1857 AD)
The Architecture during the Mughal Period
has shown a very good blend of Indian style
with the Iranian style.

Taj Mahal at Agra

COLONIAL ERA (1500 AD—1947 AD)

Se cathedral goa
POST - INDEPENDENCE ARCHITECTURE AFTER 1947
WORKS OF MASTER
ARCHITECTS IN INDIA

LOUIS ISADORE KHAN

LE CORBUSIER
 CHANDIGARH-known as The City Beautiful, a city and a union territory in
the northern part of India that serves as the capital of the states of
Haryana and Punjab.
The city of Chandigarh was the first planned city in India post-
independence in 1947 and is known internationally for its architecture
and urban design. The master plan of the city was prepared by Le
Corbusier, transformed from earlier plans created by the Polish architect
Mathew Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer.

The “Open Hand”

• Arranged in a grid, the city's districts are connected by boulevards and are dotted
with parks, public spaces and streets planted with trees.

• The group of buildings that form the government's administration complex – known
as the Capitol Complex – that have become symbolic of Le Corbusier’s work in India.
The Capitol Complex is made up of three concrete buildings: the Palace of
Assembly or Legislative Assembly, the Secretariat and the High Court. The Capitol
Complex is one of 17 Le Corbusier buildings is being recognized as a World Heritage
site by UNESCO.

• Le Corbusier saw the city like a human body. Based on 4 main functions (live, work,
move and keep body and spirit), the proposal makes an analogy with the human
body: the head is the Capitol Complex (Sector 1); the heart- the Central Area
(Sector 17); the lungs were Placer Valley, parks and green areas; the brain,
universities and schools, the circulatory system were 7Vs tract (The sectors are
linked by a network of streets called the 7Vs) and the digestive system the industry.
Capitol Complex
1. High Court
• The High Court was the first
building to be completed.
• It consists of an L-shaped block,
framed by a concrete cover that
functions as a large umbrella that
unfolds gracefully shaped arches,
and that somehow provides a
tribute to the decks of havelis in
Mughal architecture. The space
between the double roof
ventilation offers an ease in the
summer and protection during the
rainy season.
• Le Corbusier used to say that the
sun and rain are elements of
architecture, and therefore applied
in this building famous for its brise-
soleil, or the inclusion of items such
as umbrellas and permanent
constituent of the building.
2. Palace of Assembly
• The Palace of Assembly was designed to have an open-plan interior,
framed by a grid of reinforced concrete columns, offering a view of the
nearby Himalayan mountains.
• The building has a free facade – a feature that became integral to many of
Le Corbusier's designs – meaning it does not serve a structural purpose.
This allows it to host large sections of glazing covered in brise-soleils or sun-
breaks.
3. Secretariat Building
• The Secretariat is the largest of the structures, and houses the
headquarters of both the Punjab and Haryana governments.
• The massive building is almost 250 metres long and comprises eight
storeys of rough-cast concrete.
• Demonstrates similarities to Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation housing in
Marseille – arguably the most influential Brutalist building of all time.
• The concrete was molded into different forms to create complex
geometry and patterns, which are highlighted in the paintwork.
• Ramps at either end allow for vertical circulation through every storey.
Unité d'Habitation
housing in Marseille
 Other Buildings designed by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh

Government Museum & Art Gallery Chandigarh Architecture Museum

Chandigarh College of Architecture

SHODHAN HOUSE
Architect: Le Corbusier
Location: Ahmedabad
Construction period: 1951-56
Key aspects to be considered in designing Villa Shodhan included
sun, wind, the view upon arrival and landscaping. They could be
addressed above all by the positioning of the facades which, with a
diagonal orientation, allowed the incoming visitor a view over
three-quarters of the building.
•Incorporation of nature into design. This is seen through considerations of
light, wind, rain and the addition of plants into the building.
•Influences from the De Stijl movement: The parasol roof and the connectivity
between the interior spaces clearly reflect De Stijl influences. It can also be seen
through the façade windows and the brise-soleil, where asymmetry, flexibility
and plasticity were key elements incorporated into the design.
•For this building to be incorporated into the culture and style of Ahmedabad,
Le Corbusier incorporated features of old Ahmedabad houses, including the
ancestral Shodhan residence. The most prominent reflection of this is the
double height living room on the ground level. Traditionally, the entrance halls
of old Ahmedabad houses were double-height, reflecting opulence and status.
This readaptation, along with the open plan of the building allowed Villa
Shodhan to be integrated into the Indian environment.
The Villa Shodhan reflects many of Le Corbusier’s previous designs, all built in the 1920s.
The most prominent examples of this are his Villa Savoye and Maison Citrohan projects.
The comparison between his Villa Savoye and Villa Shodhan rests within the plasticityof
the design and the freedom that this brings. The overall concrete form and the use of
strip windows at Villa Savoye is the origin of this plasticity.

Comparisons can be made between Le Corbusier’s Maison Citrohan and Villa Shodhan
particularly focusing on the male nature of this architecture. The angular, strong,
geometric form of Maison Citrohan clearly reflects the masculine aspects present in
architecture, and confers this onto the Villa Shodhan. The interconnected nature of the
ventilation and shade systems also highlights the similarities.
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (IIM)
Architect: Louis Kahn
Location: at an isolated rural area many miles away from the first point
urbanized city of Ahmedabad, one of the most populous in India, Gujarat state
Construction period: 1962-74
In 1961, a visionary group of industrialists collaborated with the Harvard
Business School to create a new school focused on the advancement of
specific professions to advance India’s industry. Their main focus was to
create a new school of thought that incorporated a more western-style of
teaching that allowed students to participate in class discussions and
debates in comparison to the traditional style where students sat in lecture
throughout the day.

Balkrishna Doshi, primarily assigned for the work, believed Louis Kahn would
be able to envision a new, modern school for India’s best and
brightest. Kahn’s inquisitive and even critical view at the methods of the
educational system influenced his design to no longer singularly focus on the
classroom as the center of academic thought. The classroom was just the
formal setting for the beginning of learning, the hallways and Kahn’s Plaza
became new centers for learning. The conceptual rethinking of the
educational practice transformed a school into an institute, where education
was a collaborative, cross-disciplinary effort occurring in and out of the
classroom.
CONSEPT
Kahn conceived the Indian Institute of Management as a mixture of austerity
and majesty, including spaces for informal interaction and achieving a balance
between modernism and tradition, which captured the timeless spirit of India.
local materials (brick and concrete) and large geometrical façade
extractions as homage to Indian vernacular architecture. It was Kahn’s
method of blending modern architecture and Indian tradition into an
architecture that could only be applied for the Indian Institute of
Management.
The large façade omissions are abstracted patterns found within the
Indian culture that were positioned to act as light wells and a natural
cooling system protecting the interior from India’s harsh desert
climate. Even though the porous, geometric façade acts as filters for
sunlight and ventilation, the porosity allowed for the creation of new
spaces of gathering for the students and faculty to come together.