Name: Tanvi Verma
Guide: Prof. Ashok B. Lall

Title: ‘
.’ The role of patrons in the attempt to correct the breaking continuity in Indian architecture

INTRODUCTION
Architecture has a history of over 5000 years, there is an important role played by the patrons of architecture. Over the years, there has been a shift in the style of architecture with the shifting patronage. It is the patron of architecture who brings about historical changes, other developments in architecture lead to evolutionary changes. In earlier times, the patrons where the kings or the rulers, the architecture that time was autocratic and power centric in nature. When India was colonized, British rulers gained dominance and the role of the older patrons got diluted with time. Colonial architecture was power centric and showed dominance. Post independence the patrons became the government agencies who wanted a modern national identity for the country. Later, this shifted to the private agencies and the nature of architecture also shifted from public sponsored to private. With the advent of globalization in the 1990’s, rapid socio cultural changes started taking place. With social, cultural and economic changes, the patronage also shifted to the ever increasing public sector that brought about a major change in the architecture, both its style and functions. The architecture of today is based on economy, efficiency, modern and progressive lifestyle and aspirations of people. With the shifting patronage there is a corresponding change in the style of architecture. Over the years, the continuity in architectural language seems to be broken somewhere. There was an important role played by the colonial architecture and later the post independence modern movement in the breaking this continuity. This research proposes to find that what is the role of patronage in today’s time in regaining a sense of continuity in architectural language in India?

BACKGROUND
‘Our heritage and identity are our cultural heritage and the ability to hold such a heritage is what makes us human’.¹ Our culture has various art forms like paintings, murals, music, dance, architecture etc. In some of the forms there is a sense of continuity over these centuries; in others continuity once broken was reinvented. Dance forms like the orissi (odissi) dance had nearly disappeared during the colonial period as the social position of the dancers had begun to decline. But independence brought in a major change in official attitude towards Indian dances and like other classical arts; dance was seen as a way to define India’s national identity. And during the 1950’s from the scriptures found in orissi temples, this form of dance was reinvented. Similar is the case with Bharatnatayam. On the contrary in Kathakali the tradition was carried forward without any disjunct or need to reinvent the form. So is the case with Indian music, the contemporary music has roots in our traditional Indian classical music. The new forms are based on the same raga’s that were created centuries ago. And there seems to be a sense of identity and continuity. In the field of architecture this link seems to be broken somewhere. This happened mainly, when the main patrons of architecture became the British and when western educated architects and engineers came into the field. They were more influenced by the western architecture than their own traditional architecture.

India has a rich architectural heritage. India is a heterogeneous country of many geographies and subcultures. Building continuity in architectural language is building for the contemporary needs with roots going back to our local building traditions. “Continuity is cohesion, connection, an interrelationship, or a logical sequence. Heritage is the means of connecting to the past. It helps us in creating a distinction between indigenous and alien”2 In the practice of architecture today an understanding and recording of our architectural traditions is important. Building continuity is important to us as it gives us a sense of identity and keeps us closer to the sustainable building methods by responding to the physical context.

In the present scenario many architects, are imitating from the west to create modern images rejecting the past completely. But it is very important to understand that to build in the present we need to understand the past well enough to know why and how it changed and how it must be changed to suit the present day needs. Building the continuity in architectural language varies from ideological levels to physical attributes. Superficially using motifs and patterns from the past leads to pastiche and in that case sense of continuity is missing. It is most successful when it starts at the design process level itself and then gets reflected physically.

ROLE OF PATRONS
Over the years, in the history of architecture there is an important role being played by the patrons of architecture. It is a similar case to art, where the patrons were the rulers or the king. After colonization, the patronage got shifted to the British rulers, and then comes a change in style of painting with the evolution of company paintings. Prior to independence the Bengal revivalists started reviving their art to keep their culture and tradition alive. Later came other artists, most of whom who had studied abroad, they used their knowledge along with the traditional art forms to create a contemporary style. And in present times the patrons of art are mostly the foreign tourists and affluent families in India and abroad and also the institutions of art collectors (museums).3 The patrons allowed the artist to follow his/her own style, whether to look back and revive traditional art or be completely modern or link both. In case of dance forms, the role of the patron got dissolved and the dance forms were reconstructed. For example, in case of khatak the patronage got dissolved and the reconstructed dance form is being taught to common public. Bhartiya kala Kendra in Delhi is being sponsored by business families where khatak is taught to whoever is interested unlike in earlier times when only a particular section of the society could do so. On the other hand, in architecture the patron has always played an important role in creation of architectural languages and continues to do so in present times also.

In architecture, the patron was the king or the ruler who commissioned the building projects to show his power and dominance. The architectural style of that time reflected the power and dominance of the ruling king. With colonization the patronage shifted to the Britishers. The Britishers first came to India for trade and later settled here and colonized the country. The early architecture of the British era was more to fulfill the functional needs for example, railway stations, institutions, offices etc. later to show their power and dominance, a new vocabulary of architecture was introduced by our colonizers.

Right after independence, there was a need of a national identity to be created. An image was required which would look ahead into the country’s future. And somewhere in this race for a search of national identity, ironically, the sense of continuity got diluted. After independence the patronage shifted to the government agencies. Nehru called Le Corbusier and his team to design the new city, Chandigarh. Nehru dreamt of a modern national identity for the fast developing nation. Later, government agencies like CPWD, DDA etc commissioned large scale projects like institutions, offices, housings etc. in these works of architecture, there was an evident similarity with the western architectural ideas. These works were not transformative in nature as they failed to maintain links with the past. ‘The affinity to the western architectural ideals is seen in the expression of the structural grid and the interplay of volumetric elements to achieve the aesthetic objectives of architectural composition.’4

Post independence there were two major prevalent architectural ideas. Architects were products of Indian education or western education. One of them being the ‘revivalist’ and other the ‘modernists’. Followers of revivalist style wanted to revive the past traditions in the present context. For example, Ashoka hotel (1952), New Delhi is an outcome of the revivalist ideas. Here motifs from the past were used to embellish the building built with contemporary materials and technology addressing contemporary functional requirements. The other line of thought was based on European modernism. Many architects had influence of their western education which reflected in the works in India as well. CSIR (1953) designed by A.P. Kanvinde, was an outcome of these ideas only. This building has volumetric compositions, where structure played an important role in creating order. No applied decoration was used to identify the character of the building. The influence of modern movement in India became very strong and it diluted the urge to retain Indian values and forms. Modernism was based on the perception that change away from the past is required in order to make a better future. This rejected historic past as a source for the creating of architecture. Function was considered as a prime generator of form and also being true to the materials was the aim.

During the 1950’s most of the architects were working for the projects commissioned by the government. There was a constant tussle between the modern architect and post colonial government officials who were familiar only with Indian traditional or colonial architecture. An important role was being played by the high level government officials in shaping the architectural style of that era. The architects working for the government were just employees and could not contribute majorly to the style of architecture.

During late 1950’s and 1960’s private practices emerged. “Buildings that visited the revivalist style had enlightened patrons who recognized the limitations of an amalgamated form and were willing to give modernism a try”5 During the 1960’s, private developers like DLF came about and in the next few decades private patronage played an important role in the production of architecture. In the 1960’s there was a reversal of architectural ideas. In contrast to earlier times, now the government architects started following the ideas of modernism while the private architects responded to the movement against international style and followed what Kenneth Frampton calls regional modernism.

Unlike most architects of this era, there were still a few like Charles Correa, Raj Rewal, Uttam Jain etc. who were working ever since to maintain the continuity in architectural language. For example, Jawahar kala Kendra in Jaipur, designed by Charles Correa responds well to the context and the contemporary needs with roots going back to our traditions. The planning is based on navgraha mandala. Here his reference to tradition is through planning and spatial organization. Raj Rewal is another architect, who builds for the present day needs to form a contemporary image and also has a deep understanding of our traditional architecture. Another architect, Uttam Jain is equally sensitive towards traditional architecture. His dependence on Indian traditional architecture is a response to culture, people, materials, historical spaces and not literal built forms.

GLOBALIZATION
When satellites were launched in the sky the earth was being considered as a whole and a new term came into existence i.e. ‘the global village’. Whenever there was a happening in one part of the world it became known in all other parts in no time. The dictionary definition of the term globalization is as follows, ‘globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political and ecological spheres.’

The western ways of living were exposed more and more to the people in India. The younger generations looks forward to the newly exposed world which they witness through the internet and media. Mainly due to lack of knowledge of their own traditions, they find the western ways of life more appealing than their own cultural heritage. This change is constantly being reflected today in the socio-cultural behavior as well as architecture of the present times. The 90’s brought in a new era of economic and cultural globalization and subsequent changes in the Indian landscapes. There is emergence in new built forms for working, living, shopping, education and leisure. With the advent of globalization there is a need for a ‘global image’ to be projected. The globalization of the world’s economy is resulting in a uniformity of architecture. Ignorance of one’s own traditional architecture, leads to a universal aesthetic expression ignoring the regional demands. Many architects end up imitating from the west aspiring to portray a modern image. In this process the continuity in architectural language is lost. Regional architecture has given way to imported architecture. Everyplace has a particular culture, a soul which is lacking now due to superficial imitations from the west without any links to our own past.

Architecture today is being governed by various factors, economic, social, cultural etc. an important aspect being the patronage of architecture. An architect wants to be sensitive in creating designs that fulfill the environmental as well as cultural needs of the context. But due to various factors most of the times the product does not reflect the above said issues. In the education system students are also sensitive about all these factors. So why is there a difference in what is done academically versus the practical field? There could be various factors involved in this, a major being the role of the patron or the sponsor of the project.

There are various kinds of patron-architect relationships that exist in the present times. One, where there is a local client and local architect. Another, where the architect is foreign and the client can be both local and foreign. The design image is conceived by a foreign architect and execution of work is commissioned to a local architect. In this case, most of the times, there is no sensitivity in design considering the immediate local factors. Architects easily absorb bold proposals made by foreign experts and applies the ‘one size fits all strategy’. Another relationship is where the client is foreign and the architect local. In this case the architect can have two set of ideologies. First, where the architect takes a strong hold and links to the traditional style of architecture. For example, Raj Rewal while designing the Grapecity- Japanese software centre (2004), in Noida, was equally sensitive of his traditional styles as he was of the modern day needs of an office building. But on the other hand another kind of relationship between foreign client and local architect is that the architect follows what the client says. Many a times this leads to imitations from the west. Patronage represents the single minded commercial interest and the architect has to follow it. The patron is very clear about what he wants. Architecture becomes a product of preconceived commercial minded interests.

This research proposes to find what is the role of the patron in the attempt to correct the breaking continuity in Indian architecture?

Till the recent times the role of the patron is one of the most important factors shaping the style of architecture. However, in present times, it seems that the role of the patron is diluting to a certain extend and an important role is now played by the architect’s own sensibilities. Socio-cultural and economic factors play an important role in creating of architecture today. In present times, there are multiple styles being evolved. The patronage also varies, unlike in the past when the importance of a single body was evident like the kings, British rulers, or the government. But now there are various kinds of architect-patron relationships which results in a variety of architectural styles. In the present scenario, this is the time in the past 60 years where there is an opportunity that an architect with help of the patron tries to rediscover the breaking continuity.

This research will be done by studying the various time periods over which the shift in patronage is evident. How are the various patron-architect relationships affecting the styles of architecture will be analyzed by literature reviews and interviews. What are the attempts being made to correct the breaking continuity in architectural language by these groups? Another category of case studies will be the works of students in academic systems, where the primary force shaping their designs is the role of a patron. However, here the patron is imaginary and other constraints like economy decreases. Nevertheless this will give a comparison between various kinds of practices being done. With the new global image being created and the socio-cultural changes taking place rapidly over the last 5-10 years, there seems to be a need for studying the architectural projects over this period of time. This will give an insight of the new developing trends, and how architects today are dealing with the issue of building continuity in architectural language along with the pressure of their clients.

The scope of the study will be limited to projects in and around Delhi. Delhi being the capital of India, a metropolitan city has witnessed multiple changes occurring over the time. Delhi has witnessed various kinds of patron-architect relationships in the past as well as in the present times. This will help in understanding the wide range of patron-architect relationships and their effects on the styles of architecture in the past and present scenario.

1 Robert Adam, Globalization and Tradition, INTBAU, India, 2007
2 GHR Tillotson, The tradition of Indian architecture, continuity, controversy and change since 1850, oxford university press, Delhi 1989, p127.
3 Discussion with architect Ms. Parul Kiri Roy, who is a faculty member in T.V.B.S.H.S.

4 Prof. A.G.K. Menon, The contemporary architecture of Delhi: A critical history, 1999
5 Prof. A.G.K. Menon, The contemporary architecture of Delhi: A critical history, 1999

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Architecture and contemporary Indian identity, by Rahul Mehrotra, Prasad Shetty and Rupali Gupte. 2. Quest for identity, by Charles Correa
3. Globalization and tradition, by Robert Adam
4. Why tradition matters: History of modern architecture and urban planning in India, by Prof. A.G. Krishna Menon
5. The contemporary architecture of Delhi: a critical history, By Prof. A.G.K. Menon.
6. The contemporary architecture of Delhi: the role of state as middle-man, By Prof. A.G.K. Menon
7. The idea of India, by Sunil Khilani
8. The Raj versus the republic: the legacy of lutyens, by William Koehler & Madhu C. Dutta.
9. Cultural continuum and regional identity in architecture, by B.V. Doshi
10. History of dance forms in India, www.kanaksabha.com
11. The tradition of Indian architecture-continuity, controversy and change since 1850, by G.H.R. Tillotson, oxford university press, Delhi
12. Architecture and Independence-the search for identity, India 1880 to 1980, by Jon Lang, Madhavi Desai and Miki Desai, oxford university press, Delhi
13. Regionalism- Resource for identity, by Uttam C. Jain.