A wealthy city from its inception, Ahmedabad is one of India’s megacities that still preserves its medieval core.  The city’s art, architecture and culture have responded to the many social, political, and economic challenges over six centuries of its history. Ahmedabad was a front-runner of the independence movement, the home of a booming textile industry, and the crucible of modern architecture and design.
This volume commemorates 600 years of the founding of Ahmedabad with essays on modernism, art, crafts, food, and heritage by writers who have made this city their home. Each essay presents a different portrait of the city, as no singular view of Ahmedabad can do justice to its multi-faceted complexity.
 
Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan studied visual communication at the National Institute of Design and teaches at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at CEPT University. Her research and teaching interests include design history, orality and visual literacy, and the sociology of design. She is co-author of The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond (2005) and Ahmedabad: From Royal City to Megacity (2011).

Sharmila Sagara studied sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, and has participated in group shows, curated exhibitions, and written in newspapers and art journals as an art critic. She headed the Kanoria Centre for Arts (2001–05) and is presently Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, CEPT University.