Silence, muted anger, elusive closure, a lingering feeling of loss, and accompanying it, helplessness. As iconic ‘modern’ structures, testimonies of post-colonial narratives and socialism are left to become derelict, or simply razed. These seminal edifices that lose their utility to passing time and their chassis to abandonment, are reduced to a mere memory—and memorialised. What value do these memorials hold in a different era and what does it mean to commemorate the disappearing socialist architecture today? Memorial to Socialist Modernity is an engaging visual documentation by Indian architect and artist Rohit Raj Mehndiratta, architect and co-founder of SVR (Studio VanRO) Foundation. A cumulation of mummified debris, fundamental drawings and photographs, the architectural exhibition traces the erasure of modern architecture and structures over the past decade, transforming the urban fabric of the city of Delhi, India. The show sheds light on the demolition of three particular spaces—the government colony Sarojini Nagar (1955-2019) in Delhi along with two of structural engineer and designer Mahendra Raj’s engineering feats, Hall of Nations, Delhi (1972-2017), and Hindon River Mills, Ghaziabad (1973-2021). Speaking about how the exhibition came together, Mehndiratta shares with STIR, “I have always been fascinated with, not photography as a singular art, but how when it is framed with something else, the meaning changes. How do you create and generate meanings by bringing different situations together?”

(Contemporary) Urban Archaeology

While the exhibition looks at a very specific moment in India’s architectural history, it does tap into a larger discussion about the cross-sectional relationship between time, type and architecture. Mehndiratta’s focus on the three Indian modernist structures does create a template to examine the life cycle of a building beyond its actual physical existence. The palimpsest created as part of the display looks at the conception of the building through its drawings; layered visuals of its demolition, followed by abstract fixtures created by the remnants of the demolished buildings. The structures themselves were (and perhaps still are) a testament to the time they were built in. They were created under a very specific ideological belief that extends beyond the realms of architecture, the most important of which—especially in the context of India—was the idea of nation-building.

Keeping the discussion within the realm of architectural style, urban geography, urban typology and the ability of architecture to act as a marker of identity, it is fair to argue that over time all of these disciplines have to evolve and adapt. In a conversation with STIR, Mehndiratta specified this as part of the motivation for putting the exhibition together, saying, “I want people to engage with the idea of and understand that there is a period which is getting over. I also want them to become activists for these idiosyncratic structures which are very fast disappearing.” It is important to note that the “period which is getting over” in question is not an idealisation of the past but rather an acknowledgement of our changing contemporary. 

In a way the exhibited palimpsest acts as a record of the structure akin to the finds of urban archaeology. As contemporary metropoles continue to transform and change, the urban artefacts of the 20^th century become memorials. Some of these are incorporated into the new urban fabric of these cities through the means of adaptive reuse and restoration practices. However, some of them continue to exist in a state of dereliction standing as shells no longer being able to adhere to their purpose.

Demolition as Urban Construction

The 21^st century has seen a big and important move in how cities are currently being planned. The second half of the 20^th century saw the expansion of cities well beyond their designed infrastructure, their utopia idealism often falling to the realities of urban neglect. Cities across the world have become a site of constant construction—a never-ending project. The manner in which the exhibition is presented, it is perhaps important to contemplate if demolition itself is an important part of how urban spaces are meant to be conceived. Over the past few years, we have seen numerous panel discussions and practices stating the opposite. Even Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, the 2021 Pritzker Laureates, called demolition an act of violence. Yet demolition is as much a part of urbanisation as construction.

Memory as a Memorial

The act of demolition is also an act of memorialising. To create a memory that becomes significant, the subject of that memory needs to no longer exist. That is what makes the memory valuable. The exhibition itself uses abstract artefacts and real visages as layers. The display does not present the actual visual memory of the structures but rather the affects of what the structures were.

Mehndiratta contemplates these memories stating in the exhibition press release, “Beyond my memories, buildings such as the Hall of Nations were a collective imagination of an India that many grew up with. Again, as a student of architecture, I extensively researched the development of Delhi’s government housing post-independence. Enclaves such as Sarojini Nagar spoke of an era, of a form of governance and gave the city its bureaucratic identity. What happens when they are taken away from us? How does one remember them and get closure? These thoughts inspired the show.” He laments that these buildings became effective architectural symbols defining the ambitions of the socialist state 25 years post-independence. With Sarojini Nagar epitomising the rationalism of the newly independent Developmental State, the Hall of Nations and Hindo River Mills in their structural audacity supported innovative adaptations of existing material and construction technology.

Capturing demolition through architectural photographs, documentation and salvaging construction debris, the exhibition engages with a type of modernity produced by idiosyncratic brilliance and mass production. A post-colonial narrative defined by frugality and innovation lies today in a derelict and neglected state. Memorial to Socialist Modernity intends to generate dialogue on the notions of loss on the visual spectacle of erasure and the idea of collective and personal memory and a past that soon may not exist.

Partaking in the India Art Fair Parallel Program 2024, the exhibition is on view from January 27 to February 27, 2024 at the STIR Gallery.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its Editors.)