"Indian modernism is often narrated through a narrow lens: a handful of iconic institutions, master architects, and formally radical experiments that came to symbolize the nation's post-Independence aspirations. Yet this version of history overlooks the far larger body of modernist architecture that quietly shaped everyday life across the country. Beyond celebrated campuses and canonical buildings exists a vast, dispersed landscape of housing blocks, offices, hostels, hospitals, markets, and townships - structures that were designed to function and endure."
"These buildings were not conceived as monuments. They were instruments of governance, welfare, industry, and service. Their contribution to Indian modernism lies not in visual novelty but in their capacity to absorb time, modification, and continuous occupation. Seen together, they form a parallel modernist legacy, one grounded in use, repetition, and social continuity rather than authorship or form. Across cities such as Delhi, Chandigarh,"
Indian modernism is frequently represented by iconic institutions, master architects, and formally radical projects. A far larger, dispersed body of modernist architecture shaped everyday life: housing blocks, offices, hostels, hospitals, markets, and townships designed to function and endure. These structures served as instruments of governance, welfare, industry, and service rather than monuments. Their value lies in capacity to absorb time, modification, and continuous occupation, creating a parallel modernist legacy grounded in use, repetition, and social continuity. Central Public Works Department staff housing from the 1950s–1980s exemplifies this stock with standardized plans, minimal detailing, and emphasis on efficiency.
Read at ArchDaily
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