IFI-CSH conference room (ground floor)

2 Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi – 110011

To register: Please fill the Registration form

This workshop deals with a subject that doesn’t exist. A subject lacking status, estimation or recognition. There is no generic name to describe it, no general framework for interpreting its objects, no vocabulary for having them registered in heritage lists. The preoccupation for an Indian architecture in colonial times is an obsessive theme that has to cope with the disastrous legacy of colonialism. For its own interests, the colonial system discredited regional architecture, relegating it to the raw actuality of a territory it intended to reconfigure. This somber legacy hangs like a shadow over the question of an Indian architecture, hindering its necessary qualification as an artistic and historical subject.

Françoise Dasques is an art historian working on the circulation of urban and architectural models in the global world of the 19th century. She faced the astonishing circumstance that Modern Indian Architecture (as then called) had not yet been methodically described as a consistent corpus. She has risen to the challenge by writing a work for at least situating the subject, the first book being now in press. Her recent work includes The art of cast iron, (codir. with A. Pandya, Delhi, IGNCA) 2018, Two Rome, Paris-Mexico, 1784-1910, Architectures. 3 vols, Paris, l’Harmattan, 2015 and Paris-Mexico, 1784 -1910, Architectures. Textes et documents, 3 vols, Paris, l’Harmattan, 2017.

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CSH Seminars are in hybrid mode. We request you to pre-register before Monday, 5 February, 2:00 p.m. IST for both offline and online registration.

To attend at venue: Please note that the room capacity is limited. Seats will be reserved on a first come first basis. Kindly carry an ID proof to be granted access to the venue.