Contemporary Architecture

Drasthi Thumar

The lecture series set out to look at contemporary architectural practices in India and ask what kind of economy makes them possible. It offered a critical lens to view the practices and the "political economy" that drives it. What became clear is that Indian architecture had been operating in a state of productive tension, with the demands of rapid neoliberal growth. What emerged through situating ourselves in this  “political economy” was a picture of architecture as a field deeply shaped by money, labor, politics, land, and aspiration.

The opening lectures framed contemporary practice as a set of trajectories arising from the West as the mass-production shifts to the global south. With the emergence of the Middle class in the early 1990’s and mills/industries shutting down across cities in India, an informalization of these earlier production took place, where the processes were split. In the decade leading to 2000’s  a landscape of high cooperative capitalization and derivative finances which formed the base of the political economy. Discourses of environmental heritage and technological/computational logics are produced by this economy.

We moved ahead by examining the "Boom," typified by the explosion of interior design and luxury farmhouses in the peripheries of the city. As discussed in the lectures, these are not just design trends but economic indicators of a rising middle class and disposable income. This commercial pressure is mirrored in the "logistical turn" of large multinational firms where architecture becomes managerial and logistical. Design is fragmented into teams, workflows, and software systems. The architect’s role shifts from author to coordinator. This scale enables reach and efficiency, but also distances design from site, material, and social context.

In contrast, individualistic and artisanal practices showed how architects negotiate scale and authorship. These practices often rely on close relationships with craftsmen, local materials, and slower modes of making. They resist speed and standardization, yet they survive within fragile economic models that depend on limited commissions and personal networks.

Lectures on environment, conservation, and activist practices in architecture were viewed through newer meanings of repair, negotiation, and refusal. Working with communities, ecologies, and existing structures demanding  ethical positions as much as technical skill. These practices operate within constrained economies, yet they often produce the most socially urgent work.

Further, there was a focus on the "Expanded Field" i.e. research, writing, and curation. The mention of exhibitions like The State of Architecture highlights how curatorial practice has become a necessary tool for architects to critique their own profession and engage with the public. This opens a critical reading of Indian histories which forms another body of work looking at a synthesis of ideas. Practices that “act otherwise” start operating through mediums of research and pedagogy establishing a production of space as a collaborative effort involving a diverse set of players, and here the architect's function is best understood as an agent who negotiates, facilitates, and modifies spatial relationships rather than as a single author of form.

Overall, the lecture series allowed us to read architecture critically, not just as a form, but as a product of economic conditions, power structures, and choices. It informed us  that to practice architecture today is also to take a position within the world that produces it.

Work in this lecture series can be found here.