The Bungalow in Twentieth-Century India : The Cultural Expression of Changing Ways of Life and Aspirations in the Domestic Architecture of Colonial and Post-colonial Society

The primary era of this study - the twentieth century - symbolizes the peak of the colonial rule and its total decline, as well as the rise of the new nation state of India. The processes that have been labeled 'westernization' and 'modernization' radically changed middle-class Indian life during the century. This book describes and explains the various technological, political and social developments that shaped one building type - the bungalow - contemporaneous to the development of modern Indian history during the period of British rule and its subsequent aftermath. Drawing on their own physical and photographic documentation, and building on previous work by Anthony King and the Desais, the authors show the evolution of the bungalow's architecture from a one storey building with a verandah to the assortment of house-forms and their regional variants that are derived from the bungalow. Moreover, the study correlates changes in society with architectural consequences in the plans and aesthetics of the bungalow. It also examines more generally what it meant to be modern in Indian society as the twentieth century evolved. Set within a sociopolitical and architectural history of Matera from 1950 to the present, this book analyses the contemporary effects of preservation on the city and surrounding province. More broadly, it examines the relationship between and interdependence of preservation and modernism within architectural thought. Shaped by encrusted layers of development spanning millennia, the southern Italian city of Matera is the ultimate palimpsest. Known as the Sassi, the majority of the ancient city is composed of thousands of structures carved into a limestone cliff and clinging to its walls. The resultant menagerie of forms possesses a surprising visual uniformity and an ineffable allure. Conversely, in the 1950s Matera also served as a crucible for Italian postwar urban and architectural theory, witnessed by the Neorealist, modernist expansion of the city that developed in aversion to the Sassi. In another about-face, the previously disparaged cave city has now been recast as a major tourist destination, UNESCO World Heritage Monument, and test subject for ideas and methods of preservation. Set within a sociopolitical and architectural history of Matera from 1950 to the present, this book analyses the contemporary effects of preservation on the city and surrounding province. More broadly, it examines the relationship between and interdependence of preservation and modernism within architectural thought. To understand inconsistencies inherent to preservation, in particular its effect of catalyzing change, the study lays bare planners' and developers' use of preservation, especially for economic goals and political will. The work asserts that preservation is not a passive, curatorial pursuit: it is a cloaked manifestation of modernism and a powerful tool often used to control economies. The study demonstrates that preservation also serves to influence societies through the shaping of memory and circulation of narratives Shaped by encrusted layers of development spanning millennia, the southern Italian city of Matera is the ultimate palimpsest. Known as the Sassi, the majority of the ancient city is composed of thousands of structures carved into a limestone cliff and clinging to its walls. The resultant menagerie of forms possesses a surprising visual uniformity and an ineffable allure. Conversely, in the 1950s Matera also served as a crucible for Italian postwar urban and architectural theory, witnessed by the Neorealist, modernist expansion of the city that developed in aversion to the Sassi. In another about-face, the previously disparaged cave city has now been recast as a major tourist destination, UNESCO World Heritage Monument, and test subject for ideas and methods of preservation. Set within a sociopolitical and architectural history of Matera from 1950 to the present, this book analyses the contemporary effects of preservation on the city and surrounding province. More broadly, it examines the relationship between and interdependence of preservation and modernism within architectural thought. To understand inconsistencies inherent to preservation, in particular its effect of catalyzing change, the study lays bare planners' and developers' use of preservation, especially for economic goals and political will. The work asserts that preservation is not a passive, curatorial pursuit: it is a cloaked manifestation of modernism and a powerful tool often used to control economies. This study demonsrates that preservation also serves to influence societies through the shaping of memory and circulation of narratives Over the past few years there has been a proliferation of new kinds of retail space cropping up just about everywhere in the urban landscape. This book describes how the retailization of public domains affects our everyday life and our use of the built environment. Over the past few years there has been a proliferation of new kinds of retail space. Retail space has cropped up just about everywhere in the urban landscape: in libraries, workplaces, churches and museums. In short, retail is becoming a more and more manifest part of the public domain. The traditional spaces of retail, such as city centres and outlying shopping malls, are either increasing in size or disappearing, producing new urban types and whole environments totally dedicated to retail. The creation of these new retail spaces has brought about a re- and de-territorialisation of urban public space, and has also led to transformations in urban design and type of materials used, and even in the logic and ways through which these design amenities meet the needs of retailers and/or consumers. This book describes how the retailisation of public domains affects our everyday life and our use of the built environment. Taking an architectural and territorial perspective on this issue, it looks specifically at how retail and consumption spaces have changed and territorialised urban life in different ways. It then develops a methodology and a set of concepts to describe and understand the role of architecture in these territorial transformations When considering the successful design of cities, the focus tends to be on famous examples such as Paris or Rome, with equally successful but smaller and more remote examples being ignored. In addition, the more diffuse patterns of settlement of the north and western parts of Europe are hardly considered at all in comparison to the tightly formed urban centres of the Mediterranean. However, the diffuse town/region is typical of our time, whatever the location. By analysing the development of a successful small city of ancient foundation which grew from a diffuse long settled and dense landscape, then demonstrated a slow growth as a tight urban form before an early adoption of the designed landscape as'town'lessons can be learned. These lessons may be useful in addressing the nature and growth of any city or city/region. The story of Aberdeen is just such an example. Not only are the materials for its long history present, its relations and concerns with the wider world are also well attested, and many of the ideas which directed or significantly impinged on the design of cities were tested there, or had their origin there. As its form accumulated and developed over such a long time Aberdeen also suggests the idea of an architecture of the city. This book examines the development and design of a city from three inescapable aspects: its location and character of the landscape; its own particular history of development; and its cultural responses to various waves of thought. Between the two World Wars, there was an unprecedented need for new houses in Britain which resulted in a building boom. While only a small percentage of this building took the form of Modernism, there was still a significant number of semis and terraces built for the workers and middle-class families in the 1920s and 1930s built in this style. This book examines these modest Modernist houses within the broader context of the Modern Movement in Europe, as well as the inter-war building boom in suburban Britain. Illustrated with line drawings and photographs of more than 30 examples from around the country, and based on little-known contemporary material such as catalogues, advertisements, radio broadcasts and letters, it shows how these houses speak of a time of political, social and artistic unrest, and a world where the avant-garde architects sought to capture the spirit of modern technology in their designs for the average home owner. While the Modernist houses never became popular with the general public, the fact that so many are still standing and now sought after by twenty-first century families speak for their endurance and special appeal. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of figures Preface 1 Introduction: The Bungalow: Its Origins and its Evolution in Twentieth-Century India PART I The Family House 2 A Point of Departure: Residential Building Types in India in 1900 - Indigenous and Colonial 3 The Utility of the Bungalow as a Precedent for Twentieth Century Residential Architecture PART II The Evolution of the Bungalow and its Offspring in the Twentieth Century 4 Suburbanization, Cultural Change and Building Type Modifications 5 Architects, Architectural Fashions and Stylistic Shifts 6 Regional Climates and Cultures and House Form: Diversifying and Homogenizing Factors PART III Postscripts 7 Apartments and Bungalows, Villas and 'Farm' Houses 8 Conclusion: The Disappearing Bungalow? Bibliography Index Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Credits -- PART I ARCHITECTURAL MODERNISM -- 1 Towards Modernism in England -- PART II WORKING-CLASS ESTATES -- 2 The Clockhouse Way estate - Braintree -- 3 Crittall's Garden Village - Silver End -- 4 The Bata estate - East Tilbury -- 5 Lescaze at Dartington Hall -- 6 Estates for war workers -- 7 Jellicoe's seven secret estates -- PART III MODERNIST HOUSING - THE INTER-WAR PERIOD -- 8 The rise of Modernism in continental Europe (1900-1940) -- 9 Housing inter-war England Prologue : Introduction To The Problem -- Geographic Situation -- Social Geography And Political Context Of Modern Matera -- 1945-1952: Transformation Of Public Discourse Into Political Action -- 1953-1970: Modernization Of The Vernacular City -- 1971-2001: Completion Of The Job: Recupero Dei Sassi -- 2002-2006: Consequences Of Preservation -- Epilogue : Preservation, Modernization, And The Political Economy -- Appendix : Timeline. By Anne Parmly Toxey. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 10 Modernism and its critics - England in the 1930s -- PART IV MIDDLE-CLASS MODERNISM - A JOURNEY THROUGH ENGLAND -- 11 Greater London - northern part -- 12 Greater London - southern part -- 13 The coastline from Cornwall to Essex -- 14 Inland locations -- 15 Modernism, Art Deco and the Suntrap House -- PART V POST-WAR MODERNISM -- 16 Modernism 1945-1965 -- 17 The wilderness years and a new Modernism 1965-2010 -- Appendix I -- Appendix II -- Appendix III -- Bibliography -- Index When considering the successful design of cities, the focus tends to be on famous examples such as Paris or Rome, with equally successful but smaller and more remote examples being ignored. The story of Aberdeen is just such as example. This book examines the development and design of Aberdeen city. Prologue The landscape Legacy of the mediaeval town Early improvements The designed city From classic to Caledonian Architecture for everyman The granite city The perfect pattern for a town.