Similarity in Differences Architecture of Mumbai & Delhi: a visual comparison Abstract In this era of globalisation where every modern city is inclined towards acquiring a similar kind of look and feel to provide the jet-setters a sense of familiarity to the spaces around them, this is all being done at the cost of losing the traditional look of the city as a space. For example, all the airports and the hotels looks the same. We have all the brands of clothes and shoes, restaurants, fast food chains that are available all across the globe. The idea of malls only reinforces this obsession with each and every one of them having the same brands – it’s just the architecture and allocation of the stores that are different. This idea of globalisation unintentionally eats up the space of and for the traditional and local cultures and identities. Every culture on Earth has its own identity, it has a few symbols, elements etc. through which we identify it and associate it with that particular culture. All those things are being brushed under the carpet or the backroom of a museum by the idea of globalisation. So what are those elements, symbols, icons etc. which makes one culture different from the other? This is an attempt to find and decode those elements and symbols through visuals (photographs) of two culturally different cities of India, considering the socio-political, economical, architectural and geographical conditions of the same. 01 Architecture One can choose whether or not one wants to be involved in politics or religious rituals but one cannot distance oneself from the architecture that surrounds them. One can be more interactive, sensitive and productive if he or she knows about their physical surroundings. Architecture is the physical embodiment of who we are as individuals and as a collective and it represents the culture of a collective for times immemorial. From inside a room to a block to a city it communicates a lot about the person, their social life, society, locality, city and culture. Architecture tells us much about a city’s history also. It can reveal the lifestyles, religion, technology and ethnic background of its settlers. It also reveals the influences that mark time, the rise and fall of cultures and kingdoms. Architectural styles can tell us about the image a city wants to project. An examination of the varied styles and functions of a city’s buildings can be as enlightening an education as any history book can provide. 02 03 Mumbai The Mughal Empire, founded in 1526, Portugal, placed the islands in possession began to grow into a major trading town, and Rao II, the last of the Maratha Peshwa in was the dominant power in the Indian of the British Empire, as part of Catherine’s received a huge influx of migrants from across the Battle of Khadki. Following his defeat, subcontinent during the mid-16th century. dowry to Charles. However, Salsette, India and outside. From 1782 onwards, the city almost the whole of the Deccan came under Growing apprehension of the power of Bassein, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli continued was reshaped with large-scale civil engineering British suzerainty, and were incorporated the Mughal emperor Humayun, Sultan to remain under the Portuguese possession. projects aimed at merging all the seven islands in Bombay Presidency. The success of the Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate was into a single amalgamated mass. This project, British campaign in the Deccan witnessed obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with These islands were in turn leased to the known as Hornby Vellard, was completed by the freedom of Bombay from all attacks by the Portuguese Empire on 23 December British East India Company in 1668 for 1784. In 1817, the British East India Company native powers. 1534. According to the treaty, the seven a sum of £10 per annum by the Royal under Mountstuart Elphinstone defeated Baji islands of Bombay, the strategic town of Charter of 27 March 1668. The population Bassein nearby and its dependencies were quickly rose from 10,000 in 1661, to 60,000 offered to the Portuguese. in 1675. The islands were subsequently attacked by the Mughal Empire, the Dutch The Portuguese were actively involved in several times. laying the foundation and the growth of their Roman Catholic religious orders in In 1687, the British East India Company Bombay and around. transferred its headquarters from Surat to Bombay. The city eventually became the Some of the oldest Catholic churches in headquarters of the Bombay Presidency. the city such as St. Michael’s Church at Following the transfer, Bombay was Mahim (1534), St. John the Baptist Church placed at the head of all the Company’s at Andheri (1579), St. Andrew’s Church establishments in India. The Portuguese at Bandra (1580), and Gloria Church at presence ended in Bombay when the Byculla (1632) date from the Portuguese Marathas under Peshwa Baji Rao I captured era. Salsette in 1737, and Bassein in 1739. And again after the First Anglo-Maratha War On 11 May 1661, the marriage treaty of the British occupied Salsette. Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of By the middle of the 18th century, Bombay 04 05 Architecture of Mumbai European colonists brought with them to buttresses, lancet windows and stained Art Deco is an eclectic style and designers Art Deco is one of Mumbai’s least noticed India concepts of their worldview and a glass. At first, due to the immense freed drew inspiration from many sources - architectural styles, though Mumbai with whole baggage of the history of European space it obtained, Gothic building only artifacts from Ancient Egypt and Greece, its suburbs put together possibly have the architecture. The initial structures were served as churches. However, soon Meso-America, Africa, Japan and China – largest number of Art Deco buildings in the utilitarian warehouses and walled trading enough there came a need for public halls, all had been influential. Cubism, Orphism, world. Art Deco in India (and especially posts, giving way to fortified towns along parliament houses, mansions, and the Futurism and Constructivism provided in Mumbai) evolved into a unique style the coastline. The British left a lasting Gothic era was the solution. an abstract, geometric language that was that came to be called Deco-Saracenic. Art impact on the Indian architecture, and quickly assimilated into the Deco style Deco architecture in Mumbai developed perhaps saw themselves as the successors Indian architects came to analyze this style and the high styles of European tradition during the 1930s and produced distinctly to the Mughals and used architecture as and represent it and put it into play in continued to provide inspiration. angular shaped buildings with facades. a symbol of power. The British followed relation with the climate, and in relation to Eros Cinema is a typical art deco building, various architectural styles – Gothic, society’s plans and sensibilities. This style, designed by architect Sohrabji Bhedwar. Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance the blend of Gothic and contemporary and Victorian being the essentials. styles, is what came to be known as “Bombay Gothic.” The Indo-Saracenic style Bombay Architecture became what it is developed in the second half of the 19th thanks to the British sensibilities of the century, combining Islamic and Hindu 18th and early 19th centuries. At first it architectural styles with its characteristic was the neo-Classical style of architecture domes, arches, stained glasses, spires, that captured the British imagination, and minarets. The Gateway of India but then a new style came to exist, one and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu that reflected modern European fashions: Sangrahalaya are good examples of this Gothic Architecture. architectural type in the city. Where the Classical has an orderly The Deco period began in 1910 when Art monochromatic presence, the Gothic style Nouveau slid out of fashion. Art deco’s is expressive, disjointed with surfaces of linear symmetry was a distinct departure lives colors, beautified with carved and from the flowing asymmetrical organic narrative elements, consisting of flying curves of its predecessor style art nouveau. 06 07 Delhi Remains of seven major cities have been in ruins. Near Delhi, Timur massacred Maratha forces sacked Delhi, following After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, discovered in Delhi. Anang Pal of the 100,000 captives. Delhi was a major centre their victory against the Mughals in the Delhi came under direct rule of the Tomara dynasty founded the city of Lal of Sufism during the Sultanate period in First Battle of Delhi. British crown and was made a district Kot in AD 736. The Chauhans conquered Delhi. province of the Punjab. In 1911, the Lal Kot in 1180 and renamed it Qila Rai In 1739, a weakened Mughal Empire lost capital of British India was transferred Pithora. The Chauhan king Prithviraj In 1526, Zahiruddin Babur, a Timurid the Battle of Karnal, following which from Calcutta to Delhi, following which III was defeated in 1192 by the invader descendant of Timur and Genghis the victorious forces of Nader Shah, the a team of British architects led by Edwin Muhammad Ghori. Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Turkic ruler of Afsharid dynasty, invaded Lutyens designed a new political and Uzbekistan), invaded India and defeated and looted Delhi, carrying away many administrative area, known as New Delhi, In 1206, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, the first ruler the last Lodhi sultan in the First Battle of treasures, including the Peacock Throne. A to house the government buildings. New of the Turkic Slave Dynasty established Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire treaty signed in 1752 made Marathas the Delhi, also known as Lutyens’ Delhi, was the Delhi Sultanate.