`Colonial Diasporic Architecture and a City
Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background of the study Calcutta, today known as Kolkata, was an important trading centre for the British empire. Having a rich history filled with important events, the city houses many resettled business communities like the Armenians, Chinese, Jews, Parsis, Gujaratis, Marwaris, Tamilians, and more. Some belonged to a far-flung diaspora, as they originated from outside of today's India. The term diaspora is used for people who have left their ancestral hometowns and migrated to various parts of the world, in search of a better life. Some reasons for this migration included events like wars, persecutions, conflicts, economic necessities, expansion etc. An interesting aspect about the city of Kolkata is that it contains a complex set of sociological groups, where the architecture built by the communities, carried particular characteristics and had an interesting development. This helped the communities establish a root within the city.
"The city allows a space for people to interact with others, to learn, to accept, to reject, to develop, to create new ways of life and of life itself." ~ Himadri Banerjee, Nilanjana Gupta, Spira Mukherjee, Calcutta Mosaic 2012. Image 1: Esplanade Mansions An Art Nouveau building built in 1910, for a Jewish businessman called Elias Ezra in Calcutta.
Some communities, particularly the Indian ones, did well in businesses and are still active. While others, whose architecture has made a lasting impression on the city, are on the verge of dying out. The communities are different from each other, with some integrated socially and economically, while others architecturally. The project aimed to understand the latter, as only few studies have been found, to try and understand how the communities have been architecturally influenced by the urban landscape. This project was a study on the architecture, built by the diasporic communities, from the early 18th century to the early 20th century. It looked at communities that had played an important, economic and architectural role in Calcutta. These included the Armenians and Jews, whose architectural contributions are mainly found in Bara Bazar and Park Street, two commercially different but important areas. Involved in important mercantile businesses, these communities had a close association with the British and some marginalized communities. Some members helped create important buildings like, grand mansions (Refer Image 1), religious and educational institutions, most of which are still currently active in the city's everyday life. `
Goa College of Architecture
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Andrea D'Silva
