India: Modern Architectures in History

A place of astonishing contrasts, India is home to some of the world’s most ancient architectures as well as some of its most modern. It was the focus of some of the most important works created by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, among other lesser-known masters, and it is regarded by many as one of the key sites of mid-twentieth century architectural design. As Peter Scriver and Amit Srivastava show in this book, however, India’s history of modern architecture began long before the nation’s independence as a modern state in 1947.              Going back to the nineteenth century, Scriver and Srivastava look at the beginnings of modernism in colonial India and the ways that public works and patronage fostered new design practices that directly challenged the social order and values invested in the building traditions of the past. They then trace how India’s architecture embodies the dramatic shifts in Indian society and culture during the last century. Making sense of a broad range of sources, from private papers and photographic collections to the extensive records of the Indian Public Works Department, they provide the most rounded account of modern architecture in India that has yet been available. </p

Slumming India: A chronicle of slums and their saviours

A whistle-blowers account of the chaos that is urban development Slumming India is a chronicle of our times, offering a glimpse into the story of the slumming of our cities. The author explores the fundamental question of how, in the worlds largest democracy, a large and growing section of the urban population is less equal and not faring well. Written with rare honesty by one who has been part of The System, the book dwells on the underlying processes through which so many urbanites have been marginalized as slum-walas, forced to live on pavements or in jhuggi clusters, and how a small number of urban development-walas are letting our cities slowly die

Part One: Black and White – Long Shots

Dewan Verma, Git

Part Two: Shades of Grey – Close-ups

Dewan Verma, Git

Indian Cultural Landscapes: Religious pluralism, tolerance and ground reality

India is often referred to as the land of cultural plurality and diversity where two contrasting worldviews - that of the traditional and continuous and the formal and official (inherited from the British) thrive. These two views today coexist uncomfortably, often at cross purposes, clashing with the contemporary official and is impacting our cultural resources adversely