ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the pivotal role of the Sabarmati River in the urban development of Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat. The Sabarmati has historically been used as a water reservoir, and since its banks were very fertile, they have always been cultivated. When the British arrived in Ahmedabad in 1818, they decided to extend it beyond its original walls on the west bank, opposite the old city.
The Sabarmati thus became a natural barrier, dividing Ahmedabad in two. Soon after, the cotton textile entrepreneurs established their industries by its riverbanks, using those sandy shores to dry colourful saris. In 1951, Le Corbusier, called to design Le Palais de Filateurs (known as ATMA), marked with his symbolic architecture the sheer power of cotton.
