The featured projects—by key figures such as Balkrishna V. Doshi (India), the only South Asian winner of the Pritzker Prize in Architecture; Minnette de Silva, the first woman to become a licensed architect in Sri Lanka; and Yasmeen Lari, the first woman to qualify as architect in Pakistan, to name a few—will address how architecture mediated the process of decolonization and modernization for these emerging nation-states.
This exhibition will cast a new light on the culture of modern architecture in South Asia — focusing on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka—in the first decades after independence from colonial rule in 1947/48, in which modern architecture was a significant agent of progressive societal transformation.
By focusing on the prolific and diverse work conceived and realized by local, rather than international, architects, designers, and planners, "The Project of Independence" will consider the region’s architectural production as an active force in the drive for independence and selfdetermination.
Sunil Janah (Indian, 1918–2012). Industrial Documents. Untitled. 1940s–1960s. Gelatin silver print, 14 3/16 × 11 1/4 in. (36.00 × 28.50 cm). Courtesy Swaraj Art Archive.
The Project of Independence will be organized around thematic sections:
This exhibition will cast a new light on the culture of modern architecture in South Asia — focusing on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka—in the first decades after independence from colonial rule in 1947/48, in which modern architecture was a significant agent of progressive societal transformation.
By focusing on the prolific and diverse work conceived and realized by local, rather than international, architects, designers, and planners, "The Project of Independence" will consider the region’s architectural production as an active force in the drive for independence and selfdetermination.
Sunil Janah (Indian, 1918–2012). Industrial Documents. Untitled. 1940s–1960s. Gelatin silver print, 14 3/16 × 11 1/4 in. (36.00 × 28.50 cm). Courtesy Swaraj Art Archive.
The Project of Independence will be organized around thematic sections:
- In a large section on Institution Building, Charles Correa and Mahendra Raj’s Sardar Vallabhai Patel Municipal Stadium in Ahmedabad (1959–66) demonstrates the ways in which structures such as government institutions, theaters, places of worship, and stadiums underlie the social, political, and cultural forces at work transforming South Asian societies post-independence.
- A section on Education will include seminal examples, such as Muzharul Islam’s College of Arts and Crafts (Institute of Fine Arts) at Dhaka University, Bangladesh (1953–55), that explore the ways in which governments’ significant investment in building institutions of higher education were directed toward creating self-reliant societies.
- Political Spaces will include key projects such as Raj Rewal and Mahendra Raj’s Hall of Nations in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi (1970–72), which was built on the 25th anniversary of India’s independence and served as a symbol of industrial progress and an embrace of innovative engineering and design.
- Industry and Infrastructure will feature the Ceylon Steel Corporation Office Building at Oruwela (1966–69), by the seminal Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, as well as Achyut Kanvinde’s Dudhsagar Dairy in Mehsana, India (1970–73), one of the iconic structures representing India’s push toward the industrialization of agricultural production.
- A section on Education will include seminal examples, such as Muzharul Islam’s College of Arts and Crafts (Institute of Fine Arts) at Dhaka University, Bangladesh (1953–55), that explore the ways in which governments’ significant investment in building institutions of higher education were directed toward creating self-reliant societies.
- Political Spaces will include key projects such as Raj Rewal and Mahendra Raj’s Hall of Nations in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi (1970–72), which was built on the 25th anniversary of India’s independence and served as a symbol of industrial progress and an embrace of innovative engineering and design.
- Industry and Infrastructure will feature the Ceylon Steel Corporation Office Building at Oruwela (1966–69), by the seminal Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, as well as Achyut Kanvinde’s Dudhsagar Dairy in Mehsana, India (1970–73), one of the iconic structures representing India’s push toward the industrialization of agricultural production.
A common thread across all sections will be how material cultures shaped an experimental expression of modern architecture in the region, leveraging localized conditions of largely pre-industrial labor.
A newly commissioned photographic portfolio by architectural photographer Randhir Singh will punctuate these thematic sections, presenting some of the region’s most impactful projects through a contemporary lens. In addition, the curatorial team is collaborating with a group of students at the Cooper Union who will be constructing a number of new models of particularly inventive projects, such as Valentine Gunasekara’s Tangalle Bay Hotel in Sri Lanka (1968—1972) and Anwar Said’s “C” Type Mosque (Ahle Hadith Mosque) in Islamabad (1969–73/1975–77).
A newly commissioned photographic portfolio by architectural photographer Randhir Singh will punctuate these thematic sections, presenting some of the region’s most impactful projects through a contemporary lens. In addition, the curatorial team is collaborating with a group of students at the Cooper Union who will be constructing a number of new models of particularly inventive projects, such as Valentine Gunasekara’s Tangalle Bay Hotel in Sri Lanka (1968—1972) and Anwar Said’s “C” Type Mosque (Ahle Hadith Mosque) in Islamabad (1969–73/1975–77).
