#projectofindependence

"What happens when a country goes from being a colony to an independent nation? Many things change – but one wave of change doesn't often get its due: The look of buildings."⁠ ⁠ Diane Cole speaks with 'The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985' curators @martino.stierli & Anoma Pieris @wnyc @npr⁠ ⁠ Read the interview and see a remarkable selection of images via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ Exhibition catalog published by @themuseumofmodernart ⁠ ⁠ #projectofindependence #decolonization #southasianarchitecture #postcolonialarchitecture https://www.instagram.com/p/CdL5a7BJE30/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The architecture world can't get enough of MoMA's 'The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985' — an exploration of "how modern architecture in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have given shape and manifestation to proclaiming autonomy, articulating national identities, and enacting social progress."⁠ ⁠ Read this in-depth review by Cristina Kiran Piotti — with photos by @_randhirsingh — @archdigest⁠ ⁠ "From the Anguri Bagh Housing in Lahore by Yasmeen Lari, who pioneered the way for regional and participatory architecture, and the climate-adapted houses by Sri Lankan architects Minnette de Silva and Geoffrey Bawa, to the ethos pervading the School of Architecture in Ahmedabad by Balkrishna V. Doshi—MoMa lends a stage to local architects who made the most of the region’s craft traditions to generate monumental, innovative and experimental structures, as the curator @martino.stierli explains. 'The exhibition is the result of a multi-year research project that started with regular trips to the region from 2016 onward. These trips offered an opportunity to not only visit many of the buildings that were included in the exhibition, but also meet their architects and the many private and public collections where their work is kept.'"⁠ ⁠ Read the full review via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ #projectofindependence #postcolonialarchitecture #architecture #architecturesofdecolonization #decolonizethisplace #southasianarchitecture #southasia⁠ https://www.instagram.com/p/CbBP4rspb49/?utm_medium=tumblr

More images from 'The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985' @themuseumofmodernart South Asia holds a unique place among the many regions of the world where modern architecture was understood as both a tool for social progress and a global lingua franca in the second half of the 20th century. Following the end of British rule in 1947–48, architects in the newly formed nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh (E Pakistan until 1971) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) proposed a novel understanding of modernity, disrupting the colonial hierarchy of center and periphery by challenging modernism’s universalist claims. Architecture offered multiple ways to break with the colonial past. Through the establishment of institutions that embodied the societal aspirations of the period, and the creation of new cities and spaces for political representation, South Asian architects produced a distinct body of work in dialogue with global developments while advancing the theory and practice of low-cost, climatically and socially responsive design. Anchored by a newly commissioned portfolio of images from architectural photographer @_randhirsingh this richly illustrated and meticulously researched catalog features essays by the curators and leading scholars in the field on subjects such as the politics of concrete, institution-building, higher education, housing, infrastructure and industry, landscape and design, as well as presentations of 17 transformative projects from around the subcontinent. While several of the architects appearing in these pages have in recent years received monographic exhibitions, 'The Project of Independence' marks the first attempt to consider their work within the ideological frameworks of its creation and the political context of the region as a whole. Edited by @martino.stierli @seanify22 & Anoma Pieris Text: Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Nonica Datta, Prajna Desai, Da Hyung Jeong, Farhan Karim, Evangelos Kotsioris, Saloni Mathur, Rahul Mehrotra, Mrnalini Rajagopalan, Peter Scriver, Devika Singh, Amit Srivastava More via linkinbio #projectofindependence #postcolonialarchitecture #southasianarchitecture #architecture https://www.instagram.com/p/CapovyHpFnh/?utm_medium=tumblr

'The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985' @themuseumofmodernart looks at how post-independence architects and engineers in South Asia embodied political and social aspirations and new national identities. The show, with superb exhibition catalog, is reviewed @nytimes by @michael_kimmelman He writes, "'The Project of Independence' — organized by @martino.stierli and a team of curators and advisers — surveys Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in the wake of the dissolution of the British Raj. It’s a sweeping, occasionally heartbreaking exhibition full of big ideas and beautiful work, too much of it not widely known." Pictured here in detail: 1. In 1956, a woman carries cement at Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India, in front of the Secretariat. 2. After a flood displaced slum communities in Lahore, Pakistan, the architect Yasmeen Lari created Anguri Bagh Housing (1972–73). She used local labor to construct its 787 apartments, their walls made of community-produced bricks. Interlocking spaces provide light and ventilation. 3. Minnette de Silva, climbing a ladder in 1951 to inspect concrete pillars at a house in Colombo, helped create a new architecture for the newly independent Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). 4. The Wijenayake House, designed by Minnette de Silva to respond to the tropical climate. It “treated European modernism as another tool in a toolbox already stocked with local traditions, materials and techniques" according to the Times. 5. The edenic Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore, by the architect Balkrishna V. Doshi (1977–92). Bangalore is called the Garden City of India, and Doshi built a campus where one could see and experience nature. 6. Interior view of the Hall of Nations in New Delhi, 1974. Demolished in 2017. Full review via linkinbio. #projectofindependence #postcolonialarchitecture #corbusier #chandigargh #capitolcomplex #yasmeenlari #AnguriBagh @barefootsocialarchitecture @minnettedesilva #minnettedesilva #colombo #WijenayakeHouse #tropicalarchitecture #iim #bangalore #balkrishnadoshi #balkrishnavdoshi #gardencityofindia #hallofnationsnewdelhi https://www.instagram.com/p/CapO7sYrOxb/?utm_medium=tumblr