Finding the Indian in Contemporary Residential Architecture

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Finding the Indian in Contemporary Residential Architecture

Contemporary Indian design culture can aptly be described with one word – fusion. A close look at the trends in fashion, cinema, music, and art soon reveals the country’s aspirations as a globalized nation. Reveling in a new era, India’s art and design appear as a combination of influences from traditional life and the Western world. A “neo-Indian” image informs multiple forms of cultural expression, including architecture and interior design. As Indians and Indian architecture carve the country’s place in the world, a new design trend flourishes – one that is driven by modern lifestyles, international influences, a colonial past, and a desire to stay connected to its roots.

A few years after gaining independence from British rule, Indian culture was being influenced by the West, resulting in a “fusion” of Indian sensibilities with Western views of design. Much of modern Indian aesthetics features a clever integration of design elements from both cultures. Indian design can best be described as a melting pot of global practices used in conjunction with a design language that is rooted in local heritage. Amongst the architecture community, this design approach has given birth to experimental work that questions the fundamental identity of Indian architecture. Is architecture Indian because of its visible construction techniques and material palette or is its identity found in phenomenology and meaning?

Contemporary Indian architecture straddles the country’s complicated past and the multiplicity of its future. The subcontinent’s history dictates that its architecture be a direct response to its context and climate. The future demands a built form that meets the needs of privatized living, globalized lifestyles, and technological advancement. In an attempt to strike a balance between the old and the new, current residential architecture trends seem to be focused on visually bringing a sense of Indianness into design.

Today, the market for Indian architecture is following a tendency of “Indianization”, where regional design elements are being favored for their aesthetics rather than their contextual functionality. Indian architecture and interior design have been reduced to an impetuous combination of patterns, materials, and design elements that create an outward image of being locally rooted. Just as with other facets of Indian pop-culture, some instances of contemporary architecture portray Indian aesthetics through the ideals of Western order and design, subconsciously following colonized ideals.

A Colonized View of Indian Design
The process of decolonizing architecture and design has been transpiring since India became an independent nation. The modernist movement provided a canvas for the country to write a promising future over its colonial past. For designers trained in the West, such as Le Corbusier and Achyut Kavinde, India served as a testing ground for inventing an identity that bridged the realities with ambitions of the country. What resulted are buildings that experiment with Indian vernacular elements imposed over rather Western modernist forms – a design approach that still persists, especially in contemporary residential architecture.

Earlier attempts at “Indianization” can be seen in the Indo-Saracenic style that grew prominent during the country’s colonial era. The revivalist style drew from Western exposure to depictions of Indian buildings, painting the British’s idea of what Indian architecture was. The basic structure of these buildings mimicked those from the Gothic revival and Neoclassical styles of the West, with specific Indian features added as decoration. Perhaps this was the precedent for “Indianization” to prevail in contemporary architecture.

In the 21st century, Indian design still struggles to operate outside the confines of Western doctrines. Architectural education in the country trains young professionals to follow the philosophies of modernist architecture, most of which is considered as Indian architecture but is a regional variation of Western architectural development. The Indo-Saracenic style and Modernist architecture also seem to have brought a homogenization of Indian architectural identity, where regional variation has become impalpable.

Contemporary Residential Architecture
“Indianization” is also an outcome of market demands and vanishing crafts. Following Indo-Western ideals in design, modernized crafts are increasingly employed to replicate trending images. “Design has become less focused on the principles behind using local materials and crafts. We are now imposing Indian elements to fit into a traditionally-contemporary idea of architecture” shares Bangalore-based architect Shinas Shabaz.

Noticed especially in interior design, certain design elements tacitly bring an Indian touch to the space. The pursuit of this trending style often leads to compromise on the functionality of design elements. “We now have many shortcuts to making a design seem Indianized”, Shinas elaborates, “For example, the look of Athangudi flooring – a traditional craft with eco-friendly properties – is affordably being reproduced using machine-made printed tiles”. With craftsmanship becoming rare and expensive, the practicalities of Indian design are being lost. Local materials and techniques are pared down into mere ornamental elements.

What Makes Residential Architecture “Indian”?
Learning from historical precedents, architecture is functionally Indian when it is driven by its context and accommodative to social needs. Indian architecture is innately diverse, varying in its response to geographical and cultural landscapes. “Traditionally, Indian residential architecture was a series of multi-use spaces varying in levels of privacy”, explains Jay Vadodaria of inpractice. Commercialization and modern lifestyles have shifted layouts into compartmentalized homes that linger between localism and internationalism.

Aesthetically, Indian architecture is maximalist. Inspired by nature, spirituality, and the joy of human experience, Indian aesthetics are loud, colorful, and chaotically-ordered. Religious and vernacular architecture point at the elaborate ornamentation and art that inspires local practices, a stark contrast to Western modernist design principles. Indian architecture is also tied to visions of natural material, owing to sustainable designs that are more open and expressive.

n light of decolonizing design, Indian architecture is underway for a post-modernist revival of local principles. The movement will explore sustainable strategies for revisiting the roots of Indian architecture. An inquiry into the true nature of Indian residential design will carry the architecture industry forward, leaving it as a question that remains to be answered.

This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: The Contemporary Home, proudly presented by BUILDNER.

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