| |
Colonial
Architecture
 Like
all other aspects, colonization of Indian also had an impact on
architecture style. With colonization, a new chapter in Indian
architecture began. The Dutch, Portuguese and the French made
their presence felt through their buildings but it was the English
who had a lasting impact on architecture. In the beginning of the
colonial rule there were attempts at creating authority through
classical prototypes. In its later phase the colonial architecture
culminated into what is called the Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The Indo-Saracenic architecture combined the features of Hindu,
Islamic and western elements. The colonial architecture exhibited
itself through institutional, civic and utilitarian buildings such
as post offices, railway stations, rest houses and government
buildings. Such buildings began to be built in large numbers over
the whole empire. Colonial architecture in India followed
developments not only from metropolis but also took inspiration
from existing architecture in India.
From the mid nineteenth century it became a norm for the
Anglo-Indian church builders to follow the model set by the
revivers of the many combinations of Gothic in England. In many
cases imperialism was the sole guiding force rather than
practicality. On many occasions heavier styles than Gothic were
employed. This can be seen in the Mutiny Memorial Church at Kanpur
and the last garrison church in New Delhi.
The Italian Gothic was seen to be well adapted to conditions in
India. The architecture style recommended by Sir Gilbert Scott for
Bombay University proved crucial in making the colonial
architecture look more 'Indian'. Perhaps this was the beginning of
a truly imperial style that reached its apex at New Delhi. The
great public building campaign launched in Bombay in the second
half of the nineteenth also resulted into great development of
colonial architecture. In this phase Sir Gilbert Scott's buildings
were significant products. Other remarkable landmarks produced
during this phase were William Emerson's Crawford Market, the
Bombay high court and the Victoria terminus (now Shivaji
terminus).
The Victoria Terminus, once the headquarters of the Great Indian
Peninsular Railway, was the culminating masterpiece of the phase.
It was increasingly hybrid in style. The Classical and Baroque
style furthered the innovation in architecture. Its best exponent
was Walter Carnville's Calcutta General Post Office. The
innovation in colonial architecture did not stop here; in Victoria
Memorial, William Emerson tried to emulate the Taj Mahal in
material if not in form. This was an indication of 'Indo-Saracenic'
hybridization and was being increasingly employed at different
places like St. John's College, Agra and the Madras High Court,
Madras.
From the time
the East India Company’s first envoy stepped into India during
Jahangir’s rule in 1616 to the time they left in 1947.
 British
Style of Architecture
The British followed various architectural styles Gothic,
Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance and Victorian being the
essentials. Bombay, a forgotten port because of its weather, was
renovated after the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. The town hall, built
from 1820 to 1835 by Colonel Thomas Cowper and St Thomas’
Cathedral were already there, but Governor Sir Bartle Frere’s
aim was to build a city out of fragments. The old town walls were
broken down, and the Gateway of India (through which the last
British troops left) was built.
The idea was definitely Gothic, to give Bombay a truly Imperial
ambience. The Secretariat, University Library, Rajabai Tower, the
Law Courts, Public Works office, Telegraph office, Victoria
Terminus all followed the Victorian Gothic style, similar to
buildings in London.
Built during 1878 and 1887, the Victoria Terminus, or VT as it is
fondly called, is the finest example of Gothic architecture in
India. Its architect was Frederick Willaim Stevens, an unknown in
England, who married marble, decorated tiles, stained glass,
metal, concrete and bricks in a fusion which never happened again.
High above the huge stairway inside a massive dome looms up as
statement of Imperial progress in all its glory. The entrance is
flanked by symbolic sentinels of the Raj, a tiger and a lion.
Stevens was a practitioner of Victorian Gothic architecture and
also designed the Churchgate Terminus. But Stevens’ Municipal
Building opposite the Victoria Terminus with the intermingling of
Gothic and Indo-Saracenic architecture stands as the final
testament of his brilliance, unsurpassed in British India. Built
from 1888 to 1893, the Building is a massive conglomeration of
masonry crowned with a true Islamic dome.
British Gothic Architecture
Across India Gothic architecture flourished under the British. In
Varanasi, one of the true Gothic monuments is Queen’s College,
built in a perpendicular style by Major Kitoe from 1847 to 1852.
In nearby Allahabad, the British went on a rampage, building a
series of edifices which include the colossal University, All
Saints Cathedral, the High Court and Mayo College (now a sports
association called Mayo Hall). In the east in Calcutta a High
Court was erected on the Gothic style. All Saints Church in Nagpur
was redesigned, the plans being sent to India from England by G F
Bodley.
But it is Calcutta that takes the architectural cake. Who can
forget the massive Howrah Bridge, finished in 1943 to replace a
pontoon bridge built in 1874? The Bridge spans 1,500 feet, leading
to Howrah Station whose red brick facade is surrounded by eight
square towers in the Oriental and Roman style. 1880’s Writer’s
Building was refaced with terracotta and conceals an earlier
structure which were the mercantile headquarters of the East India
Company. Fort William, the stronghold of the British in mid 19th
century, took 13 years to construct at a cost of more than $3.5
million.
The Magnificent Victorial Memorial
The Victoria Memorial (1921) is probably the most imposing of all
British structures in India. Located at a short distance from Fort
William, it stands as a silent sentinel of the departed Raj,
dominating the entire city by its sheer beauty. Dedicated to Queen
Victoria, is rises up behind two ornamental tanks leading from a
pathway featuring a statue of the Queen. The entire exterior of
this massive edifice is in Makrana marble, the same which was used
to build the Taj Mahal in Agra. A 16 feet bronze statue of
Victory, weighing three tons, revolves in the uppermost section of
the building. The domes around the corners resemble those of the
Mughals, and the south has a triumphant archway where a statue of
Lord Curzon, the architect, is placed. The interior has statues of
the young Queen Victoria, representing her accession to the throne
along with bronze and marble statues and busts of King George V
and Queen Mary. A succession of rooms follow which house
paintings, artifacts, sculptors, books and manuscripts.
The Indo-Saracenic style of Architecture
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Victorian Indo-Saracenic
style came to the forefront. Rising Indian nationalism prompted
the revival of this style, and the British began to adapt their
image to mingle with that of Indians. Victorian in essence, it
borrowed from the Islamic style of Mughal and Afghan rulers,
perhaps as a subtle statement that the British were the real
powers behind the princely states.
The Indo-Saracenic style was Indian on the outside and British
inside; the facade built with an Indian touch while the interior
was solely Victorian. Madras (now known as Chennai) is home for
some finest masterpieces of this style, like the Law Courts,
Presidency College and Senate House. The Law Courts especially
stand out for their grandeur in a splendid rendezvous of Muslim
domes, canopied balconies, arcaded verandahs all topped off with a
minaret at whose pinnacle is a bulbous dome. In Mysore, the
Maharaja’s palace was designed on the lines of the Madras
Courts, with a dome and minarets.
Colonial Architecture Splendor At New Delhi
New Delhi is a city made by the British, not the Mughals. In 1911
the King Emperor George V passed an order declaring that the
capital would be moved from Calcutta to Delhi.
The city was
planned systematically, combining 20th century
architecture with that of two centuries before. Sir Edward Lutyens
was responsible for the overall plan of Delhi, and his tour de
forte is Rajpath, approached by a 3.2km long road flanked by the
imposing buildings of the two Secretariats, built by Herbert
Baker. The Rashtrapati Bhawan, built of brown stone, is truly a
befitting home for the President of the second largest democracy
in the world.
But it
wasn’t Lutyens or Bakers who built the rest of Delhi as is
commonly believed; most if its structures were designed by an
unknown Englishman called Robert Tor Tussell, who built Connaught
Place, Eastern and Western Courts, Flagstaff House (where
Jawaharlal Nehru lived later) and the thousands of public
buildings, post offices, officer’s bungalows and public
buildings. St Martin’s Garrison Church is the final British
piece of architecture, one of the most important ones because it
represents the end of a search for an definitive style over 200
years. Looming out of the ground and made of three and a half
million red bricks, the Church is a huge monolith with a high
square tower and deeply sunken window ledges reminiscent of Dutch
and German architecture.
With India’s independence in 1947, British architecture died a
gradual death, especially after the new city of Chandigarh was
completed by Le Corbusier and his English colleagues.
CLICK
HERE FOR PRINCIPLES AND TIPS OF INTERIOR DESIGN
CLICK
HERE TO KNOW OUR SERVICES AND CHARGES
Languages  English Français Español Deutsch Italiano Portugues
|
