Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Arjun Mukerji
Dr. Sanghamitra Basu
[Published in: ABACUS, Vol.6, No.1, Spring 2011. pp.11-20. ISSN: 0973-8339]
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In 1870, the English painter John Watkins Chapman used the term post-modern to
mean more modern than modern (Jencks, 1991, p.20). The meaning remains
preserved when looked strictly from a chronological point of view, and modern
translates to contemporary, but stylistically, post-modernism is not a double-dose of
modernism. In fact, it is in its reaction and opposition to modernism that postmodernism best expresses itself, be it in literature, art, architecture, or social theory.
Post-modernism signals the emergence of a period of multiple changes in society,
involving information advances, consumerism, the omnipresence of simulations, and
the rise of a post-industrial order (Brooker, 1999, Featherstone, 1991, as cited in
Bloland, 2005, p.123). In social theory, post-modernism is a reaction to grand
narratives on the nature of the universe, and offers no vision of theory beyond many
voices in continual play (Allan & Turner, 2000, p.364).
In literature, post-modernism is a reaction to the unity and primacy of narrative, often
playfully denying the possibility of meaning, and eradicating the distinction between
high and low culture with the employment of pastiche, the combination of multiple
cultural elements, including subjects and genres not previously deemed fit for
literature.
In the visual arts, postmodernism was a rejection of the grand narratives of artistic
direction, eradicating the boundaries between high and low forms of art, and
disrupting the conventions of genre with collision, collage, and fragmentation. Postmodern
art
holds
that
all
stances
are
unstable
and
insincere,
and
therefore irony, parody, and humour are the only positions that cannot be overturned
by critique. Pluralism and diversity emerge as other defining features.
Several of these attitudes are shared by post-modern architecture. However, the
commonly assumed distinction of modern as artistic autonomy and post-modern as
mass culture does not hold good in architecture as it does in some other fields
(McLeod, 1989/1998, p.681). Also, it is worthwhile to remember that modernism and
post-modernism remain inextricably entwined, and often have a fuzzy boundary as
modernist works went beyond the puritanism of modernity, and continued to display
a respect to the cultural context, like Steins India International Centre, New Delhi.
The second generation of modernism emerged with the coming of Le Corbusier and
the rise of the rationalist Chandigarh school on one hand, and on the other, the more
empiricist work of Louis I. Kahn. Functionality, pragmatism, and modernist
vocabulary were complimented with an expressionist vision, a concern for climatic
and social context, and a brutalist image. The influence of the masters was carried on
and evolved by Indian architects like B. V. Doshi, who is now considered a master in
his own right. The structural innovations of Pier Luigi Nervi and Felix Candela also
served as inspirations and gave rise to the architecture of structural dexterity as
illustrated by Raj Rewals exhibition halls in New Delhi.
It is interesting to note that within Corbusiers abstract sculptural forms, and
interplay of solids and voids, several Indian references are carefully woven in (e.g.
the Assembly Halls roof is curved like a cows horns), and Kahns use of brick
almost resonates with the post-modern neo-vernacularism of the west.
The Post-Nehru modernist generation saw the emergence of many important Indian
architects. Their works are rich in variety and ingenuity, and a discussion of these
would be beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is worthwhile to note that there
was a rising disillusionment with the utopian paradigms of modernity, and while
many Indian architects, and especially the PWD, continued with rationalism and
utilitarian modernism, there were important instances of departure. Treatment of
architecture as symbolic sculpture is observed in projects like the Lotus Temple, New
Delhi, by Fariburz Sahba, and the Matrimandir in Auroville, by Roger Anger. Again,
brutalism evolved from being a puritan aesthetic to a frugal ethic, and embodied a
search for Indianness, as in the works of Kanvinde and Raj Rewal. Also, vernacular
architecture regained ground as a valid inspiration, like in Uttam Jains design for
Jodhpur University, where traditional materials are presented in a modern expression.
All of these remain modern in their paucity of added decoration, avoidance of direct
or abstract elements for historical reference, and lack of flamboyance, but a nascent
quest for meaning, identity and context cannot be denied.
4.0 POST-MODERNISM IN INDIA
The search for a contemporary Indian identity existed from much before the rise of
international modernism in India, as discussed in section 3.1, and continued to
manifest itself right through the period of late modernism. With the global
disillusionment with modernism, and the international rise of post-modernism as the
architecture of meaning and context, the quest found new directions.
Jon Lang identifies three distinct tendencies which characterize the post-modern
experience in India. These are: (1) the use of past elements or form in an abstract
manner, (2) a drawing on the vernacular past to indigenize architecture, and (3) a
recognition of the variety of problems that exist in a society and an attempt to address
them directly (Lang, 2002, p.121). However, only the first two may be considered
as morphologically evident post-modern architecture, though the last is also a
response to the post-modern world.
The following sections illustrate evidences of the first two approaches, as well as
other traits of post-modernism (as reviewed in Sections 2.1 and 2.2), identifiable as
parallels to the International repertoire.
4.1. Abstractionism
Historicism often found its expression in post-modern architecture through the use of
abstracted traditional forms. Stanley Tigermans use of Ionic silhouettes for the
Pensacola Place Apartments, Chicago, is a classic example of western
abstractionism. Similar use of abstracted historic forms as cultural references in
contemporary Indian architecture actually started long before the international postmodernist debate, and this strain continues to thrive in agreement with the
international development.
Several instances of Indian abstractionism have religious associations. In the Mazhar
of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, designed by Habib Rahman, the architect uses
an abstraction of the silhouette of the Taj Mahal. In the Dakshin Delhi Kalibari
Temple by Sumit Ghosh, we witness abstracted forms of a Bengal Roof in the
garbha griha, and a temple shikhara fused with a multiple conoid base which
represents the traditional Kalibaris. The Prarthana Mandir of the Ramkrishna
Mission Vidyapith in Purulia, West Bengal, by Sunil Pal and Ramananda
Bandopadhyay, employs a mushroom-like dome atop a tower, decorated with
abstracted leaf forms, to symbolize the Panchavati. By their very nature, religious
The employment of metaphors may time and again be observed in the works of
Charles Correa. In the British Council Library, Delhi, the abstract imagery of the
giant tree in the faade becomes a symbol of India, and may well be interpreted as a
metaphor: the tree of knowledge. An axial progression through three nodes with
elements representing the Hindu axis mundi, the Muslim Charbagh, and the
European inlay depicting the age of reason, symbolizes historic interface between
cultures. The cosmological references for Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, and the Interuniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, also rely on the use of
metaphors and symbols.
4.7. Narrative
The post-modern sense of concept, context and continuity is reflected in the building
up of narratives, real or concocted, through architectural spaces. Charles Correa
designed Cidade de Goa as a city with virtual imagery and real dwellings, narrating
the life and culture of an Indo-Portuguese town. The layout of dwellings along a
street is reminiscent of Kresge College. In the Radisson Ffort Resort, Raichak, Prabir
Mitra recreates a British naval fort which relays a fictitious narrative as to its
antecedents. The Belgian Embassy complex, by Satish Gujral, depicts a colonial
vision of India as a ruin and relates a reconstructed Indian history of disparate
temporalities Harappan, Mauryan, Gupta, and even the Kahn-influenced modern
(Brown, 2009, p.90).
4.8. Cosmology
Historically, architecture of various cultures has attempted to present a model for the
cosmos. The Indian Vaastu-shilpa tradition was intrinsically linked to Hindu
cosmology, astrology, and mythology, and was considered superstitious and
retrogressive by the modern architectural fraternity, until post-modernism rendered it
with a patina of avant-garde and intellectualism. The layout of the Vidhan Bhavan,
Bhopal, and the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, by Correa, were inspired by the
Navagraha Mandal: the archaic Indian notion of the cosmos. At IUCAA, Pune,
Correas attempt is to express more contemporary notions of the Cosmos with
metaphors of expanding universe and centrifugal energy. The layout of the Mahindra
United World College Campus, by Christopher Beninger, again draws parallels with
the Jambudweepa in a Mandala, and the () rings of sacred islands spread out in
the oceans of salt-water, ghee, milk and honey. (Naidu, 2004)
4.9. Deconstruction
Charles Correas Hindustan Lever Pavilion is an early example displaying a striking
fragmentation of space, and the Tillany Museum, Bangalore, by Inform Architects,
may be cited as a conscious effort at deconstruction, but otherwise, built examples of
deconstructivist architecture in India are rare. Building technology and skill available
in India is probably not favourable to such architecture; indeed, very few designs
have been realized even in the affluent western world. Also, it may be conjectured,
the absence indicates that fragmentation, disorientation, and alienation are yet to
become predominant realities of Indian society. Some of the gravity-defying
structures by Hafeez Contractor at Infosys Mysore may indicate that deconstruction
has finally arrived, but how much of the styling arises out of the theoretical paradigm
is questionable. However, several un-built design competition entries and students
projects do reveal the contemporary Indian architects fancy for this strain of postmodernism. It is also witnessed in the design of interior spaces, like that of the
AVLC Building, Lonavala, by Sanjay Puri.
4.10.
Multi-valence
an Indian identity continues. A small group of critics has put forth a range of theories
that aim to describe culture and/or society in the alleged aftermath of postmodernism,
which include performatism, hypermodernity, altermodernism, and digimodernism
(Bulley, 2010). None of these new theories and labels has so far gained widespread
acceptance, and post-modernism remains the most relevant paradigm for the
continual quest.
5.2. How Post-Modern is Indian Post-Modern Architecture?
Richard Bernstein states: "There are moments in history when, because of all sorts of
historical accidents a new set of metaphors, distinctions, and problems is invented
and captures the imagination of followers" (Bernstein, 1992, as cited in Bloland,
2005, p.124). Did India witness such a moment which may give rise to a new set of
architectural aesthetic? Advanced capitalism, which has been often identified as a
major stimulus for post-modernism (Allan & Turner, 2000), is only nascent in India.
Might this mean post-modern architecture does not have the necessary catalyst to
emerge as a critique of socio-economic realities, and is experienced only because of
formal influence of international trends?
Also, Indian modernism itself was often a modified expression: a regional third
world modernism, at times bordering on some of the very attitudes of postmodernism. For example, neo-traditionalism emerges as the most predominant postmodern tendency in India, whereas the traditional had continued to influence Indian
modernism throughout its growth and development. Thus, can Indian post-modern
architecture be interpreted as a revolution in reaction to the modernist practice or a
progressive evolution of it? Further studies may confirm the suggestion of a
possibility of arriving at the same solutions through two very different paths.
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