Monuments of Minimalism

A naked sepia edifice stares down at the fickle traffic. An architect reminiscences the story of a city’s birth. The touch of raw concrete under a neem's canopy soothes the tired feet. Along the austere corridors of an institution, the murmuring of students gently echo. Ornate curves and arches give way to brute geometry. A game of sunlight and shade persists.

India, a newly formed nation seeking to forge a singular identity from the many, found an interesting refuge in modern architecture. This journey explores India’s tryst with the architectural styles of the 20th century starting with the Mughal stronghold of Delhi, where two eras of power, different in time and essence, stand together solemnly. It then heads through the defined lanes of Chandigarh, an anomaly of measured grids in the sprawling lines of an Indian map. From there, the trail enters the old city of Ahmedabad, a centre whose flourishes are greatly expressed in the confluence of different styles found in its quaint lanes. The path comes to rest at the metropolitan of Mumbai, a city - of tightly packed chawls, elaborate bungalows, plush cars and crowded trains - for all.

A longstanding seat of power, Delhi has borne witness to the rise and fall of many dynasties, evident in the many monuments that lay hidden in the urban agglomeration. In buildings like the India International Centre and the Palika Kendra, the city saw bold experiments by Allen Stein, Kuldip Singh, Habib Rahman and the likes who vowed to provide it with the identity that represented the nation’s vision.

Testimony to a beginning, Chandigarh was a planned city among cities that seem to have grown organically with varied architectural influences at different points. The magnum opus of Le Corbusier, the city was modelled after the human body with sectors being divided and designed based on their functionality.

Ahmedabad is a ground that exhibits proudly, its longstanding romance with architecture. Louis Kahn, Charles Correa and B. V. Doshi explored blending the ideas of functionality and traditions of building with locally available materials. In its exposed brick structures and experimental buildings like Amdavad Ni Gufa, one finds the modern architectural oeuvre attain a full circle.

Considered to be the first modern cosmopolitan of India, Mumbai is the perfect representation of urbanity. A city of dreams that evolved under the colonial rule, it is the city where the irregular chaos that is characteristic of India and the symmetry of modernity come together to form a unique rhythm which the city’s many lives jive to.