Suprio Bhattacharjee
Tekton
Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2016
pp. 32 – 45
Suprio Bhattacharjee is an architect, pedagogue, researcher and writer based in Mumbai. He is the Founder and Principal Architect of S|BAU / Suprio Bhattacharjee Architecture Unit. He has been teaching architecture since a decade and a half and is frequently invited as a guest critic. His writings can be found within the pages of DOMUS India, and he is presently developing the ‘Architecture Theory and Practice’ Course at the Rizvi College of Architecture where he currently teaches. He enjoys gardening, atmospheric music, contemplating trees, landscapes, butterflies, birds, overcast skies- all of which allow for moments of introspection within the cacophony of Mumbai.
ABSTRACT
The recent exhibition ‘The State of Architecture’ held at the NGMA, the- National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, from 6th January to March 20th 2016 offered an insight into the evolution of architecture in the country since independence – with a specific focus on the last two decades. What is evident is the diversity of expressions within the production of architecture over this period. The curators of the exhibition consciously avoided any kind of critique of the works exhibited – although one can say that their selection of the works of significance from the past twenty years in itself sets the tone of what in their minds the future of architecture in the country needs to be. Taking this as a trigger, this essay seeks to investigate the broad range of expressions evident in the projects displayed by exploring the ‘tendencies’ inherent, and through this, speculate on the possibility of a manifesto for our future building culture.
KEY WORDS
Nation-Building, Place and Context, Building Culture, Building Language
