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

by Madhavi Desai, Miki Desai

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409427384
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/16/2012
Series:	Ashgate Studies in Architecture
Edition description:	1
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jon Lang, Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia and Director for urban design at ERG/Environmental Research Group, Inc., Philadelphia Pennsylvania,USA

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; Introduction: the bungalow: its origins and its evolution in 20th century India; Part I The Family House: A point of departure: residential building types in India in 1900 - indigenous and colonial; The utility of the bungalow as a precedent for 20th century residential architecture. Part II The Evolution of the Bungalow and its Offspring in the 20th Century: Suburbanization, cultural change and building type modifications; Architects, architectural fashions and stylistic shifts; Regional climates and cultures and house form: diversifying and homogenizing factors. Part III Postscripts: Apartments and bungalows, villas and 'farm' houses; Conclusion: the disappearing bungalow?; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'Though a great deal of lucid writing exists on monumental Indian architecture, few architects today have given scholastic space to domestic buildings. The book is both an amalgamation of the many forms of the Indian house, as well as a distillation of that strange hybrid called the bungalow. Rigorous research expected of the impeccable credentials of the authors, places the once dormant subject squarely on the literary table. A scholarly work, immensely readable.' Gautam Bhatia, Architect, India 'This rich documentation and interpretation of the Bungalow in India propels our understanding of its contemporary and mutated manifestations and establishes its deep influence on our thinking about cities in South Asia - the book is a great handbook for practitioners in India.' Rahul Mehrotra, Harvard University, USA

From the Publisher