September 2010, 1363. VOLUME CCXXIII

An emerging generation of architects is in search of a new and authentic vision of Indian identity

The rapid growth of India as a world economic power has fuelled familiar problems concerning the impact of such expansiveness on architecture, urban development and the living conditions of the nation’s huge population. In its buccaneering urge to modernise, India has much in common with China, and they are often lumped together as the axis of economic influence shifts inexorably to the East.

But unlike China, India is a mature democracy. It also has a legacy, for better or worse, of strong colonial ties and has experienced a powerful brush with modernism through the influential work of Kahn and Corb.

The echoes of this encounter still resonate and are now being reinterpreted by an emerging generation of Indian architects who form the subject of this issue, compiled by AR senior editor Rob Gregory and illustrated with specially commissioned photographs from Edmund Sumner.

Underscoring this new approach is the notion of how the universality of modernism can be overlaid with a more nuanced and specific response to Indian conditions, such as climate, context and craft. And like their compatriots the world over, more Indian architects are now studying and working abroad, adding another dimension to an already dynamic cross fertilisation.

How this evolves in the quest for an authentic Indian architectural identity will be fascinating to behold. We hope that this special issue is just one of many enthralling glances eastwards over the coming years.