Delhi Modern

Delhi Modern

Delhi Modern is a book project that examines the use of modernist architectural aesthetics and space-making practices in the city of Delhi as a way of deciphering Indian attempts to create a post-colonial identity in the period before economic liberalization. This project uses the changing urban landscape of India’s capital, in other words, as an index to chart the country’s difficult transition from British colony to secular, democratic post-colonial nation-state.

Delhi Modern, at its most basic level, seeks to document the city’s architectural innovations of the 1960s ,‘70s, and early 1980s before their complete disappearance. More fundamentally, however, Delhi Modern is a book about the role of spatial and architectural experimentation in nation-making, urban place-making, and socio-economic change. It examines the ways that architects, planners, and politicians utilized modernist built forms and ideals to shape Delhi into not just a functional metropolis, but a veritable showcase of the country’s aspirations on domestic and international issues ranging from poverty alleviation to excellence in scientific research.