SWIKRITI An Art Piece for the elective Cultures in International Context
Shweta Manikshetti Master’s in Design Innovation and Citizenship Cultures in International Context, Ranjana Thapayal Glasgow School of Art 2nd May 2014
Swikriti The tradition of acceptance in India.
Architecture in India has transformed continuously through centuries. Beginning from wood construction, to its replication in the rock cut caves, from the formation on Hindu philosophy to construction of temples and cities. It changed and evolved even more with every invader who left his mark on our visual aesthetics and philosophies. This rich diversity became the identity of India. Architecture is the physical manifestation of political ideologies. The east, as Amartya Sen suggests, has venerable traditions of public participation in decision making, of government by discussion, and of religious tolerance. He writes at length of the "tolerant multiculturalism" of Akbar's court, where, in the 1590s, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Jews, Parsees, and atheists were gathered to discuss where and why they differed and how they could live together. Emporor Ashoka combined personal and state ethics and tried to bridge divides in his multi-cultural empire. He wrote, "You Are True to Your Own Beliefs If You Accord Kindly Treatment to Adherents of Other Faiths. You Harm Your own Religion by Harassing Followers of Other Creeds" The diversity that always existed and accelerated, has led to the sense of acceptance in the Indian mindset, and not just tolerance. Even in the wake of some fundamentalists who oppose western celebrations such as Valentine’s Day, these are the exceptions and not the rule. India has an open mind. It has absorbed external Influences and still maintained its roots. The ability to learn from elsewhere, transform the idea, and make it your own, is a major part of Indian tradition. Vastu Shastra, the ancient science of architecture, practically reigned the method of designing and constructing buildings in the past, and after so many years and periods of different ideas in art and architecture, it has still prevailed. In the 1900s India saw a radical shift in politics, society and culture. The post-colonial ideologies played an important role in shaping everything. In independent yet traditional India, Jawaharlal Nehru invited the Pioneer in Bauhaus Architecture, Le Corbusier to build and start a new chapter in the architecture of India. The modernist architect studied the Indian context and performed his brutalist art. It was modified for the Indian weather and colour palette, but yet could not show the life that local architecture showed. His designs were concrete, with brutal straight lines, shouting out minimalism. Yet they were well received by many a people. His buildings were pioneers in modern architecture that followed in the rest of India. Le Corbusier did not just impose his designs in the entirely different Indian context. He changed it and transformed it just like the contextual tradition of acceptance and deliberation. He designed a special sun shading devise for the harsh Gujarat sun. Owing to the love and importance of terraces to Indians, the treated the terrace as fifth façade and developed it.
Chandigarh, the city designed by Le Corbusier, to house innumerable refugees and to provide an administrative seat for the newly formed government of re-defined Punjab, was designed on the Ideologies of social utopia. Le Corbusier was not the one to start the Chandigarh project, but he was the only one who could satisfy Nehru’s lofty optimism and his progressive, modernist vision for an impoverished, politically unstable, newly independent nation. It was the first post-colonial city in India. Le Corbusier's ‘Monuments’ are sculptural elements symbolic of his strongest design preoccupations as well as the pride and the spirit of the new republic. The Open Hand stands as the material symbol of the city's ideology- ...open to receive the created riches ...open to distribute them to its people..." “It expresses a philosophy, the result of a life of study, of struggles of defeats, of victories. From my first meeting with Mr. Nehru in Delhi and Chandigarh the open hand was present. Over the years the open hand became the crowning point of what I call the contemplation hollow, a place to discuss public affairs far from officials elected or imposed. The hollow was dug at the summit of the city dominated by the hand, dominated by the 28 meter high hand shining against the Himalayas. The floor of this consideration pit, consideration? Things which should be considered. Consider means to think to see, to talk about what is real. This consideration pit is 5 meters deep and consists of two amphitheatres. Because there are always two sides to a question. There are some chairs for people who wish to speak that evening, I should say that day at sunset and a speaker’s platform with an acoustic shell. All this is dominated by the hand which is 28 meters high and mounted on a ball bearing. It turns with the wind not aimlessly but to express what life really is, our daily bread. The open hand is the only political act of my life. They say it’s anti-communist. No! The hand is open to give and open to receive. It is a sign of optimism in this world, of catastrophe.” - Le Corbusier On ‘The Open Hand Monument’, Chandigarh, India. The Ashoka Chakra The Ashoka charkra is the depiction of Dharmachakra which forms the centre of the Indian flag. It represents 24 virtues in Hindu philosophy. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President, described the Ashoka Chakra as follows, The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.
My art piece shows how the argumentative, accepting tradition of India has welcomed international concepts and made them their own by transforming them to suit needs and context. It also shows the respect and acceptance that external forces have had for the Indian philosophy that led them to integrate it in their work in India. Aaratya Sen, in his book, ‘Argumentative Indian’ states that the liberal traditions in India have derives less from the appreciation of democratic ideas from the west, and more from their own tradition of ‘Swikriti’, or acceptance. From my research on ‘Modern Buildings, Vastu Shastra, and political impact on architecture’ I conclude that modern architecture is still influenced by traditional methods, not only in design and planning, but also in aesthetics and construction methods. Regardless of whether citizens are aware or not, the political identity and status quo influences the physical and ideological space they survive in.
Reference and Reading: Sen, Amartya: The Argumentative Indian-Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity. Vikramaditya Prakash : Chandigarh's Le Corbusier: The Struggle for Modernity in Postcolonial India (Studies in Modernity and National Identity)
http://whc.unesco.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmcR9jU6SPw http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/the-town-that-corbusier-built/15028/
I would like to thank Ranjana Thapayal, my tutor in the elective Cultures in International Context the insightful seminars and also active workshops. The elective has opened research areas which I would like to explore in future.
Shweta Manikshetti Glasgow School of Art, 2014