Colonial Revival: 1880-1955

Early Colonial Revival examples were rarely

Typical Features:

Accentuated front door with decorative pediment supported by pilasters or extended forward and supported by slender columns to form entry porch

Fanlights and sidelights common; Palladian windows common

Façade symmetry; centered door; aligned windows

Double-hung sash windows usually with multi-pane glazing; frequently in adjacent pairs; multi-pane upper sash with single pane lower sash and bay windows (not historically accurate) were popular

One-story wings, usually with a flat roof and commonly embellished with a balustrade

Broken pediments, rare on original colonial structures popular in Colonial Revival examples

Door surrounds tend to be shallow (less deep) than originals and exhibit machine-planed smoothness

Dormers, often with exaggerated, eclectic pediments

Masonry cladding grew in popularity as technology for using brick or stone veneer improved after 1920

Gable, Hipped, or Gambrel roofs

Details tend to be exaggerated with larger proportions than original elements

Details from two or more types of Colonial styles often combined so pure replicas of a particular style are far less common than eclectic mixtures

Interior floor plans are not symmetrical and are more open than historic examples

Colonial Revival architecture

Memorial City Hall, Auburn, New York, built in 1929-30 in the Colonial Revival style

Historic Robinson Hall on theLouisiana Tech University campus in Ruston, Louisiana, is named for the second president of the

institution, William Claiborne Robinson.

Colonial Revival (also Neocolonial, Georgian Revival or Neo-Georgian) architecture was and is a nationalistic design movement in the United States. Part of a broader Colonial Revival Movementembracing Georgian and Neoclassical styles, it seeks to revive elements

of architectural style, garden design, and interior design of American colonial architecture. (There may have been more than one such movement over the decades, each with the goal of reviving Georgian/Neoclassical architecture.)

The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 reawakened Americans to their colonial past. This movement gained momentum in the 1890s and was accelerated by the early 20th century advent of the automobile, which allowed ordinary Americans to visit sites connected with their heritage more easily than was possible than when travelling by rail. [citation needed]

Contents

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1 History 2 Defining characteristics 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 External links

History[edit]

Colonial Revival post office inHyattsville, Maryland

Successive waves of revivals of British colonial architecture have swept the United States since 1876. In the 19th century, Colonial Revival took a formal style. Public interest in the Colonial Revival style in the early 20th century helped popularize books and atmospheric photographs of Wallace Nutting showing scenes of New England. Historical attractions such as Colonial Williamsburg helped broaden exposure in the 1930s.

In the post-WWII era, Colonial design elements were merged with the then popular ranch-style house design. In the early part of the 21st century, certain regions of the United States embraced aspects ofAnglo-Caribbean and British Empire styles.[citation needed]

Defining characteristics[edit]

Colonial Revival home ofHenry M. Jackson in Everett, Washington.

Colonial Revival sought to follow American colonial architecture of the period around the Revolutionary War, which drew strongly from Georgian architecture of Great Britain.

Structures are typically two stories with the ridge pole running parallel to the street, have a symmetrical front facade with an accented doorway, and evenly spaced windows on either side of it.

Features borrowed from colonial period houses of the early 19th century include elaborate front doors, often with decorative crown pediments, fanlights, and sidelights, symmetrical windows flanking the front entrance, often in pairs or threes, and columned porches.

Brown and Sypherd Residence Halls, University of Delaware. Much of the central campus is built in Colonial Revival style.

See also[edit]

Dutch Colonial Revival architecture Mission Revival Style architecture Spanish Colonial Revival architecture Colonial Revival garden New Classical architecture

Further reading[edit]

A. Axelrod, The Colonial Revival in America 1985. William Butler, Another City Upon a Hill: Litchfield, Connecticut, and the Colonial Revival Karal Ann Marling, George Washington Slept Here: Colonial Revivals and American Culture,

1876–1986 1988. Richard Guy Wilson and Noah Sheldon, The Colonial Revival House 2004. Richard Guy Wilson, Shaun Eyring and Kenny Marotta, Re-creating the American Past:

Essays on the Colonial Revival 2006.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Colonial

Revival architecture.

Photo Gallery of Colonial Revival houses Examples of Colonial Revival in Buffalo, New York 1876 Centennial Information Colonial Revival architecture at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut Colonial Style Homes Exude Tradition - Patriotic

British Colonial Style of 1801-1850. British Colonial style of architecture was introduced in the city from the time of establishment of a military station at Visakhapatnam. Gothic architecture along with new building materials (at that time) like glass and iron were introduced. Planning and design techniques used in the construction of large religious gathering places and schools in their home land were adopted in the city. This kind of architectural style was followed in the initial stages of development in constructions such as St. Paul‟s Church, St. John‟s Church and St. Aloysius Church. Indo-Saracenic Style of 1875-1917. A synthesis of Islamic designs and Indian materials carried out by the British engineers in India during late 19th and early 20th centuries is termed as Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. This hybrid style combined diverse elements of the Hindu with that of the Mughal architecture in a playful manner giving rise to pointed arches, domes, spires, tracery, minarets, open pavilions and use of stained glass. This style is dominant in public buildings such as Mrs. Ankitam Venkata Narsinga Row College, Queen Victoria Pavilion and Maharaja Sir Gajapathi Row Hindu Reading Room. British Colonial Style of 1890-1947. Assimilation of vernacular/ native skills and designs into British style had led to the evolution of a new school of architecture during 1890-1947. Introduction of bungalow type residential forms with colonnaded verandahs, hexagonal or octagonal bays, stain glass fanlights, Venetian shutters to doors/ windows, carved bargeboards, monkey-tops (pointed hoods over windows), partially glazed and paneled doors, sash ventilators, ashlar masonry for elevations, porches, etc. marked this period. Development of clock towers, light houses, turrets, conical/ cross gable/ Jack arch/ pitched/ pyramidal roofs, Sateri roofs (bell shaped domes), circular arches, crenellated parapet, buttresses, finales, reinforced cement concrete and prefabricated members are the highlights of this period.

Colonial Architecture – Modern India Portuguese established impressive churches in Iberian style of architecture for

ex. churches of Goa Francis Church at Cochin( 1510) is believed to be the first church built by the

Europeans in India Portuguese used bricks as the main building material along with wooden roofs

& stairs British followed various architectural styles viz. Gothic, Imperial, Christian,

Palladian and Victorian being prominent Britishers used Red sandstone & coarse limestone as the main building

material Constantia, a building erected by General Martin (British) at Lucknow, is the

best specimen of Palladian Style in India Wittet designed the Gateway of India in Mumbai, borrowing several elements

of Mughal style Sardar Ram Singh, a master builder of Punjab, designed the Central Museum

and the Senate House at Lahore (in Pakistan)

Constantia Lucknow

Gateway of India, MumbaiVictoria Terminus Station (Chhatrapati Shivaji station), Mumbai

Designed by the British architect F. W. Stevens, the structure became the symbol of Bombay

Based on late medieval Italian models, the terminal was built over 10 years, starting in 1878

An outstanding example of Victorian Gothic revival architecture in India Blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture Bombay city was labelled as the ‘Gothic City’

Victoria Terminus StationVictoria Memorial Hall (Kolkata)

Designed by William Emerson in late 19th century To perpetuate the memory of Queen Victoria in India Drew elements from the indigenous & Indo-Islamic architecture combined with

the Gothic revival & Neo-Classical styles

Victoria MemorialRevival of Delhi

1911 → Transfer of capital from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi Sir Edward Lutyens was made responsible for the overall plan of Delhi He constructed India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhawan (Vice Regal Place) Vice regal palace appeared with a huge dome on the lines of a Buddhist stupa, Represent some elements of Hindu ornamentation & Islamic symmetry Herbert Baker added South Block and North Block, which flank the Rashtrapati

Bhawan. Englishman Robert Tor Tussell built the Connaught Place.

Rashtrapati Bhawan

India GateSome Famous Architects of Modern India

Laurie Baker Was called as the architect of the poor and the conscience keeper of India. He merged the buildings with the environment and utilized locally available

materials. To reduce the consumption of steel and cement, he introduced filler slab

construction. While designing he gave more importance to ventilation & thermal comfort. Revolutionized mass housing in Kerala. 

Karl Heinz He was a German Architect and was commissioned with instructions to stay

clear of elements of British or Mughal Architecture Heinz used local materials like red sand stone and lime which were easily

available. Prominent Feature → Red sandstone buildings with white domes, with big

courtyards and windows Architecture by him is known as modern style of architecture as it resembles

today’s style buildingsLe-Corbusier

He was a French Architect He designed the city of Chandigarh on the pattern of well-ordered matrix He conceived the Idea of sector as self-sufficient green belt Designed regular grid system for fast moving traffic Charles-Correa

He was a Goan Architect & played pivotal role past independence. He placed special emphasis on prevailing resources, energy and climate as

major determinants in the ordering of space.

He did pioneer work in urban issues and low cost shelter in the third world. Example: Planning of Navi Mumbai, Kanchenjunga apartment, Mumbai, British

Council building, New Delhi, etc.

ARCHITECTURE of MODERN INDIA

TAKEO KAMIYA

The delivery of New Delhi to the viceroy

BACK________NEXT

The miniature shown above is painted in the Indian traditional style, bordered with flowers and foliage, but actually the depicted scene is not the Mughal Court. The dignitaries wearing courtiers’ costumes at the audience are all British. This picture, painted in 1931 by a British woman, Marjorie Shoosmith, symbolizes the last brilliance of the ancient regime and the final days before the advent of new architecture, in the mid-19th century. Here I will concisely describe what sort of end it was, through the vicissitudes of architecture before and after the scene of this miniature.

INDIAN ARCHITECTURE in the LAST HALF of the 19th CENTURY

Colonizing most of India, the British Empire attained to its golden age in the last half of the 19th century. Its colonial capital Calcutta (now Kolkata) was embellished with edifices in the style of European Neo Classicism (the tendency to design new buildings in ancient Greco-Roman styles), such as the huge Government House. However, as the summer in Calcutta is so hot and was not considered

hygienic enough, the summer resort town Shimla in the north became the summer capital in 1865, where the English country-house-like Rashtrapati Niwas (Viceregal Lodge) was constructed in 1888 based on Henry Irwin’s design.

____ Rashtrapati Niwas (Viceregal Lodge), Henry Irwin, Shimla

As this typically shows, the designs of main edifices during the British rule were almost exclusively by the hands of British architects. They were ‘colonial architecture’, for which Indians were not entrusted, and moreover there were no institutions to bring up architects in colonial India. Therefore, there would have hardly emerged nationalist architects, equivalent to Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) in the field of painting in modern India.

On the other hand in Bombay (now Mumbai), in concert with the Gothic Revival movement in the suzerain, not only Christian churches but also commercial buildings were magnificently built in Gothic style, manifesting the opulent strength of the Empire. The Library and Convocation Hall of Bombay University designed by George Gilbert Scott are its best representatives.

University Library by George Gilbert Scott, 1878, Bombay

However, recognizing that these unilateral compulsions of Western civilization helped engender the Indian Mutiny against the British army during 1857-59, the colonial government turned its cultural policy in the

direction of adopting Indian traditional factors into colonial buildings. The result is the thriving of the ‘Indo-Saracenic style’, which made a compromise between Western and Mughal architectures, from the 1880s.

The style, which provided stone eaves in precaution against the rainy season and erected small embellishing Chhatris on roofs around main domes, caught on swiftly all over the Indian subcontinent, and was received amicably by the Indians too. It can be interpreted that British architects represented Indian nationalism in architecture on behalf of Indians.

Old Town Hall by Vincent Esch, 1913, Hyderabad

NEW DELHI, THE END of COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

In the 20th century the anti-British and independence movements grew rapidly, based mainly in Calcutta. The British government, experiencing a sense of crisis, declared in 1911 that it would construct a new city south of Delhi, located in central India, and transfer the capital from Calcutta in the west.

Thus the British leading architects Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and Herbert Baker (1862-1946) were invited to design the city of New Delhi and its important edifices such as the Viceroy’s House (Government House) and the Secretariats. Here they diluted the character of Indo-Saracenic style, inclining toward European Classicism, in accordance with the policy of the government.

Secretariats by Herbert Baker, 1931, New Delhi

It is the miniature at the beginning of this article that humorously depicts the delivery of these last large-scale colonial buildings to the viceroy, Lord Irwin, in 1931. The man presenting the model of Viceroy House is Lutyens, the next holding the model of Parliament House is Baker, and the last with a drawing of the city plan in his hand is the chief engineer, Alexander Rouse. The Viceroy’s House and Mughal garden designed by Lutyens are seen in the background.

In Europe in this period the movement of modern architecture, which rejected 19th century architecture based on classical styles, had attained to its high watermark. Lutyens’ assistant, who supervised the construction of New Delhi in situ, was the young architect Arthur Gordon Shoosmith (1888-1974). His wife was Marjorie Cartwright Shoosmith who painted the above-mentioned miniature. She may have learned traditional Mughal painting while her husband commuted to the construction sites.

A.G. Shoosmith was only one year younger than the champion of modern architecture, Le Corbusier (1887-1965), being likely dissatisfied with Lutyens’ old styles. When he was given an opportunity to design the Garrison Church of St. Martin (1930) during the supervision of the construction of New Delhi, he adopted a constructivist-like style with almost no embellishment, but a powerful mass of brick. It is the first piece of modern architecture in India.

St. Martin’s Garrison Church by A.G. Shoosmith, New Delhi

ARCHITECTURE AFTER THE INDEPENDENCE

Seventeen years after the construction of St Martin’s Garrison Church, India became independent from the British Empire in 1947, and Indian architecture immediately parted from European classical styles and rushed into modernism. The leading light who determined its direction was the French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965), who planned the new capital city of Punjab state, Chandigarh, and designed its capital complex and principal facilities.

____

Left: Secretariat by Le Corbusier, 1953, ChandigarhRight: Sangath (Doshi’s Atlier) by Barkrishna Doshi, 1980, Ahmadabad

Barkrishna Doshi, who had trained at Le Corbusier’s atelier in Paris, made this direction take root, working energetically in Ahmadabad in western India and boosted this city into a mecca of Indian modern design. While successive Indian architects developed new architecture, Raj Rewal especially modernized symbolically Indian traditional housing styles and forms, freely using the techniques of Western modern architecture.

STC Building by Raj Rewal, 1989, New Delhi

On the other hand there was an alternative tendency of a vernacular method of contemporary architecture, intending to adopt indigenous technologies suitable for the local climate rather than manipulate architectural forms. 

The architect who most greatly influenced this current was the British architect Laurie Baker (1917-2007). He lived in the Kerala region in southern India, pursuing low-tech architecture for the common people, suitable to the tropical climate.

____

Left: St. John’s Cathedral by Laurie Baker, 1973, TiruvallaRight: University Lecture Hall by Uttam C. Jain, 1979, Jodhpur

Uttam C. Jain who succeeded to this trend is developing an architecture taking root on arid land in the desert district in western India. Indian contemporary architecture spreads between these two reaches: globalism tightly connected with Europe and the U.S.A. and regionalism deeply based on the Indian earth.