Movement
South Asian Modernism
Explore in the Atlas →The post-Independence architecture of South Asia, in which architects in India and Sri Lanka inherited Western modernism through figures such as Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn and then reinterpreted it through climate, materials and cultural pattern, using courtyards, jaali screens, deep overhangs and local materials. Its leading practitioners include Charles Correa, Balkrishna Doshi and Geoffrey Bawa, and it forms a major non-Western contribution to critical regionalism.
Dwelling Power Collectivity
Details
- Origin
- South Asia (India and Sri Lanka)
Classifications
- Holder
- Individual
- Source of authority
- Lived experienceReason
- Subject
- Human centred
- Political position
- Subaltern resistant
- Degree of codification
- Pattern based
- Mode of transmission
- Text drawing
- Knowledge type
- Relational embodied
- Epistemic cluster
- Western philosophicalSouth asian
Referenced by
- Kenneth Frampton associated with
- Geoffrey Bawa associated with
- Balkrishna Doshi associated with
Sources
- Martino Stierli, Anoma Pieris and Sean Anderson (eds.). The Project of Independence: Architecture of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985. Museum of Modern Art, 2022.
Cite this entry
First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026
CLAD. "South Asian Modernism." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/movement/south-asian-modernism/. Accessed July 17, 2026.