Category Archives: Modern Heritage

MODERN HERITAGE is a research, listing and documentation initiative that attempts to chronicle the rich history of modern architecture in India with a view that irrespective of the legal and conventional understanding of ‘Heritage’, these buildings must be protected, and this history must be recognised in academic and professional discourses. With many works of significance already altered or even demolished, the need for a Modern Heritage list is all the more urgent.

Architecture, Conservation, Design Thinking, Dialogues, Discourse, Essays, History, Modern Heritage

Protecting Modern Masterpieces in India

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A Conversation between William J.R. Curtis and an Unknown Indian.

UI  You are known around the world as a historian and critic of architecture who defends quality against mediocrity, and who maintains a long view of events. In a recent article, ‘Nothing is Sacred: Threats to Modern Masterpieces in India’, (Architectural Review, April 2014)*, you have sounded the alert about the vulnerability of major works in India such as those by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn in Ahmedabad, and of course those by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh. Subsequently in the Times of India you have argued in favour of the legal definition and defence of modern architectural heritage. What are these threats and what can be done to protect these universal masterpieces of modern architecture? Continue reading Protecting Modern Masterpieces in India →