DOI: 10.5176/2301-394X_ACE13.103
Authors: Prerana Chatterjee
Abstract:
Cities voice out their culture, history and heritage through the architecture and typology of their built form, constructed down the ages. The evolution of architecture and its expression on the building facades tells the story of the inhabitants, natives and visitors, who have influenced the cult of the city over a period of time. Calcutta being born out of the ambition of British colonization in the late 17th century also hints out its history through different expressions in its changing architectural typology through over 300 years. One of the major styles observed in course of this evolution is an amalgamation of the British and Indian sentiments to give rise to a hybrid called Bengal Baroque. Though from outside these architectural ensembles look very much European, a close look at them in detail reveal that they are mere prototypes emerged by borrowing the trends of their European forefathers. In fact, most of them were quite close to the examples followed by Andrea Palladio in Italy. Altogether it is an indigenized Baroque that became a symbol of architecture in Calcutta that would move ahead to represent the cult of the city in the coming days.
Keywords: Kolkata, Heritage Architecture, Palladianism, Bengal Baroque, Indigenous Architectural Style
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