This course will explore the role and significance of 'modern' architecture in the making of nation states. Seminars and selected readings will explore topics such as: Spatial strategies for asserting nationhood such as maps, boundaries, government buildings, monuments, museums, domestic architecture, events in public space, stylistic hegemony, etc; cultural borrowings and architectural exchange between 'East' and 'West'; and the tension and overlaps between the ideals of Internationalisation and the construction of a local identity. While the seminar's focus on India and Bangladesh will situate the discussion within the politics of post-colonial independence, selected themes will be discussed as they relate to other sites of investigation including the birth of Israel and the post war re-construction in Lebanon.