Indian Architecture

Comment

Comment by vandana naik on July 26, 2009 at 8:56am

@ Vishal ...Tough to get Nari Gandhi as he lived a short span and my discussion topic was tribute to his works I like...well I'm still trying to find some info on it..:) His works probably have a great influence of Frank Lloyd Wright as he trained at his office in the late 1950’s.
Invite to Sanjay Mohe has been sent on behalf of archisage..so hoping for some valuable inputs from the master:))

Comment by Vishal Charles on July 22, 2009 at 12:20pm

if we accept the difinition of evolving architecture then everything from Harappa to the colonial buildings are a part of Indian architecture. The problem arises when someone tries to define Indian architecture. It's not singular and not even on a single timeline. Many rulers have called a large part of India as we know her as their kingdom though history but India as a single political entity emerged only after independence in 1947. It took many more years for the idea of India to sink in the minds of people. If you have studied the history of India you know what I'm talking about- in simple words - it's complicated :) simple generalizations about Indian art or culture or architecture are mere generalizations and in order to study something we’ll have to look at the history of the region we are trying to study. Taj Mahal is a fine example of Mughal architecture. Is it ‘Indian architecture’? of course. Does that style evolved out of anything from the sub-continent? I don’t think so. Did it affect the local architecture after it was built? I think so- and in doing that it becomes a part of architecture of India.
Out of curiosity - When I studied history of architecture and contemporary architecture, the books were all written by western scholars. Is anyone aware of any Indian history of architecture book written by an Indian historian or architect?

Comment by sonam gupta on July 22, 2009 at 11:07am

thanks for understanding the emotion vandana.

the taj mahal point is something that "wowed" me....not cos sm1 thinks f "THE TAJ" that ways but cos it is indeed overpowering the other beauties on the indian continent.
The onething tht boggles me though is the fact tht if v actually sit and try to appreciate the indian architecture is there anything other than harappa and mohenjodaro tht can b called indian?
and if v call the aryan temples and settlements indian, or the mughal architecture's wonderous contribution a representation of everything indian......y r the english buildings on indian land not INDIAN????
hv the building designs nt influenced (negative or positive) from the indian context?? from the india office to the british bungalows!
were the masons, workers, labours .......who worked on those so called english contibutions english too???

Comment by Vishal Charles on July 21, 2009 at 4:24pm

I agree that any architectural style evolves over time and it’s more reasonable to study the relevance or context of a particular style instead of looking at it as ‘ancient’ or modern. I will add that in the context of India, external influences over the course of history played a significant role in shaping or waking up that evolution (globalization being the most recent one). Still, there is nothing uniquely Indian. The idea of India itself is a complicated thesis let alone the ‘Indian style or architecture’. Like her different people, languages and cultures, the architectural styles of India are also diverse.

The Taj Mahal point was just that- a point. I was 7 years old when I visited the Taj and I still have that first image in my memory. It was something beyond the scale that a 7 year old from a small town can imagine from looking at the photographs. Still it feels clichéd when I see it attached to everything Indian.

@Vandana: which architect are you talking about? Nari Gandhi? Or Sanjay Mohe? We need to get him here :)

Comment by Nadine Bouler on July 21, 2009 at 3:02pm

vandana-- I liked what you said about Indian architecture and I think Vishal raised an important point about using the archetypal image of the Taj Mahal. What I like about this group and archisage in general, is it is a way for me to further my global understanding of what's happening architecturally speaking around the globe-- not in terms of 'starcitects' but in how smaller firms are designing and developing their regional vernacular. Pawan-- I hope you don't mind an outsider joining in!

Comment by vandana naik on July 21, 2009 at 2:28pm

@sonam... I'm glad you brought that up...Just wondering if one could really define 'ancient and modern Indian architectural styles'... architectural style as such I believe is something that's evolved over a period and stays genuine to its context and then follows the trend of 'being mastered' by the followers...n so on. But the fact remains that it constantly keeps evolving trying to fit itself in these so called time frames...age old concepts of being 'ancient' and 'modern' .It would be nice if there is more information shared from different parts of our country. For example it could be architectural info of a particular region. Just a thought!!

@ Pawan...I would request you elaborate on your views on getting this group started. Your vision is required!

@ Vishal...I guess one tries to portray something which is easily identifiable on the international platform...unfortunately several places remain unexplored!

@all...Would like to share this link... interestingly one of my favorite Indian Architects I like to talk about is nowhere in the picture...;) have u registered?
http://www.worldarchitecture.org/world-architects/?worldarchitects=countriesdetail&no=India&CurrentPage=1

Comment by Vishal Charles on July 21, 2009 at 5:33am

Why do we always have Taj Mahal as the representative picture of India? Probably because it's the most famous and hence identifiable landmark. Similar to the Eiffel Tower for France and Statue of liberty for the US but I wonder if there is anything else that could be as identifiable with India as the Taj. Ideas ppl...

Comment by sonam gupta on July 21, 2009 at 3:45am

a discussion forum for ancient and modern indian architectural styles needs to go way beyond the architect and architecture i feel......cos the best part about the indian legacy of constructing/creating arts have been issues resulting into the architect producing a certain style or a certain style being mastered by an architect.