Contemporary House India offers stunning portrait of the country's new modernism

Edmund Sumner and Rob Gregory’s new monograph shines a light on one of the most audacious environments in modern residential architecture. Contemporary House India is a survey of more than 20 examples of new Indian houses, spanning the vast country and including the work of many of India’s most pre-eminent architects, as well as new faces. Casting its net wide, this architecture book celebrates a new modernism in Indian architecture. 

With an introductory conversation with the Pritzker Prize-winning architect BV Doshi, featured studios include Matra Architects, Studio Mumbai, Romi Khosla and Architecture Brio. There is a special focus on the kinetic experimentation of Ahmedabad-based Matharoo Associates, where walls and shutters flip and transform, creating endless interior variations. 

Sumner has travelled extensively in India and his photographs place each house in context, from urban density to suburban sprawl, to remote villas that are set against a backdrop of spectacular scenery. The very welcome addition of plans and sections makes this much more than a glossy picture book – even though the glossy pictures are exceptional.

Detail designs and the wide variety of different materials and hand-crafted elements throughout the houses are covered with precision, juxtaposing fine finishes, rich textures and dramatic interiors with the dramatic variety of sites and locations. 

Ultimately, this is the architecture of individualism, a broad sweep of programmes and approaches that reflects the country’s extraordinary diversity, as well as the craft and construction skills that are available to create such detailed designs. There’s a broad taxonomy at work – remote villas, urban living, new settlements and improvisation – but the 92-year-old Doshi sets the tone.

‘Analysis has freaked our brain and attitude to life,' he says in the introduction. ‘If you just use the word “dwelling” for everything and print it like that, nobody will question what it is.’

INFORMATION

Contemporary House India by Edmund Sumner and Rob Gregory, Thames & Hudson, £45