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Modernism and Identity in the Indian Subcontinent: A Sketch of Minnette de Silva and her Works

Akhter, Anam
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1658-172X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535373153296611

Abstract Details

2018, MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Problem: How does national politics affect architecture and how are architects an important influence in not only the design process (as an opposition to the prevalence of `process’ in architectural design), but also as politically conscious individuals that can determine and act on social issues and make an impact or contribution? The Thesis focuses on the life and work of post-independent Sri Lanka’s first Modernist architect Ms. Minnette de Silva and her contribution to Regional Modernism which was an attempt to synthesize modernism with vernacular forms and crafts of the country. By looking at de Silva’s work through several lenses like national politics, identity issues, Modernism & CIAM, it will be shown how crucial developments in architecture have taken place (and could take place in the future), due to these influences, and the agency of the architect. More specifically, it will be shown how the question of IDENTITY came about in politics and hence in architecture (due to the influence of the Indian Independence movement whose ethos lay in asserting an `Indian-ness’ that was radically different from the colonial power), how de Silva asserted herself as a new voice in Sri Lankan architecture as a modernist trained form the AA, and how the identity of de Silva touched aspects of the `exotic’ – which has political connotations in itself, and how modernism figured out in her designs that sought to be modern as well as regional. The outcome of this study will be a master’s level Thesis on the work of de Silva highlighting her contribution to the Regional-Modern architecture in Sri Lanka as a product of not just a `Modernist zeitgeist’ but also her own politically aware personality. This study is important not just in illustrating the work of a pioneering woman architect in Sri Lanka, but also to raise questions in architectural practice on its single-minded emphasis on the `Process’ of design, it’s ignorance of the background and political activism of the architect themselves, relevance of questions of identity in contemporary architecture, and the emergence of local, assertive architecture across the globe.
Jeffrey Tilman, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Rebecca Williamson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
88 p.
Architecture
Modernism; Identity; Indian subcontinent; Minnette de Silva; Regional Architecture; Politics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Akhter, A. (2018). Modernism and Identity in the Indian Subcontinent: A Sketch of Minnette de Silva and her Works [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535373153296611

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Akhter, Anam. Modernism and Identity in the Indian Subcontinent: A Sketch of Minnette de Silva and her Works. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535373153296611.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Akhter, Anam. "Modernism and Identity in the Indian Subcontinent: A Sketch of Minnette de Silva and her Works." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535373153296611

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1535373153296611
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© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Modernism and Identity in the Indian Subcontinent: A Sketch of Minnette de Silva and her Works by Anam Akhter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.