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Art, Architecture, and Theater

Nicholas P. Cushner

in Why Have You Come Here?: The Jesuits and the First Evangelization of Native America

The visual presentations of the new religion were found mainly in the colonial art and architecture of Christian churches. Workshops functioned as places where native artisans could learn the new ... More

The visual presentations of the new religion were found mainly in the colonial art and architecture of Christian churches. Workshops functioned as places where native artisans could learn the new motifs that were current in places of worship. Jesuit schools, following the European tradition of Jesuit Theatre, enacted plays that provided entertainment but were didactic as well.Less

Architecture in the British Empire

Thomas R. Metcalf

in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography

Any assessment of architecture within the British Empire must take into account both the historic monuments of the colonized territories and colonial architecture. The notion of decline at once made ... More

Any assessment of architecture within the British Empire must take into account both the historic monuments of the colonized territories and colonial architecture. The notion of decline at once made possible an appreciation of India’s ancient architecture, and yet, as the two cultures diverged ever more dramatically, paved the way for British colonial conquest. As the Empire expanded across the globe, the British themselves, as settlers and as rulers, erected a wide range of structures, in a variety of architectural styles, in the colonies they established. In Britain, the 1980s saw an outpouring of celebratory writing on the architecture of Empire. In general, the historiography of the architecture of the British Empire, together with that of its art and the larger colonial culture in which both were embedded, is fast being transformed.Less

Public and domestic colonial architecture

Sara Mills

in Gender and Colonial Space

This chapter takes a look at the way that colonial architecture structures the way that spatial relations are considered. The discussion focuses on the domestic architecture of the bungalow and the ... More

This chapter takes a look at the way that colonial architecture structures the way that spatial relations are considered. The discussion focuses on the domestic architecture of the bungalow and the impact this had on the social relations between Indians and the Anglo-Indians. This chapter also analyses the specificity of colonial public and domestic architecture, while focusing on the way that these forms of architecture evolved out of a complex relationship with both indigenous and metropolitan styles of architecture.Less

Anglo-Indian Architecture and the Meaning of Its Styles

Preeti Chopra

in A Joint Enterprise: Indian Elites and the Making of British Bombay

This chapter explores the architectural style of Bombay during the period roughly between the second half of the nineteenth century and World War I, a period when most of Bombay's public institutions ... More

This chapter explores the architectural style of Bombay during the period roughly between the second half of the nineteenth century and World War I, a period when most of Bombay's public institutions were founded and the city's image as a Gothic Revival capital was established. It argues that the imperial styles—particularly Gothic Revival—of Bombay reflect the joint partnership between architects, engineers, craftsmen, native philanthropists, and the colonial government, as well as the new public arena they created, rather than simply the virtues of the colonial regime. It also shows what Bombay's Gothic Revival architecture meant to the colonial elite and its native population more generally.Less

Inheritance and Betrayal: Historical Preservation and Colonial Nostalgia in Harbin

Yukiko Koga

in Inheritance of Loss: China, Japan, and the Political Economy of Redemption After Empire

“Inheritance and Betrayal: Historical Preservation and Colonial Nostalgia in Harbin” shows the dynamics of inheritance and betrayal as they play out in the politics surrounding historical ... More

“Inheritance and Betrayal: Historical Preservation and Colonial Nostalgia in Harbin” shows the dynamics of inheritance and betrayal as they play out in the politics surrounding historical preservation of colonial-era architecture in Harbin, China, built mostly by Russians and Japanese in the beginning of the twentieth-century and the ensuing nostalgia industry related to “Old Harbin,” as locals affectionately refer to Harbin during the era of colonialism. The chapter explores the heated and public “historians’ debate” on Harbin’s colonial origin in preparation for the city’s ill-fated centenary celebration in 1998, a concomitant photography exhibition on the history of Old Harbin in the beautifully restored cathedral in the center of the city, and the virtual resurrection of Russian-built St. Nicholas Church, destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. We see how the Harbin municipal government’s capitalization on colonial inheritance through preservation unintentionally questioned the legitimacy of the party-state and called forth an unexpected ghost of a different sort––the Cultural Revolution. Through the dynamics of inheritance and betrayal, the case of Harbin illustrates how multi-layered losses from different historical sediments––losses from colonialism, socialism, and postsocialism––unexpectedly emerge through the capitalization of colonial inheritance.Less

Back to the Future: Modernist Architecture and All That Heaven Allows

Victoria L. Evans

in Douglas Sirk, Aesthetic Modernism and the Culture of Modernity

Since every stage of Ron Kirby and Carey Scott's relationship is marked by alterations in their domestic environments, Chapter 6 ("Back to the Future: Modernist Architecture and All That Heaven ... More

Since every stage of Ron Kirby and Carey Scott's relationship is marked by alterations in their domestic environments, Chapter 6 ("Back to the Future: Modernist Architecture and All That Heaven Allows") explores some of the conflicting social and cultural connotations that have been encoded into their respective dwellings. For instance, Ron's progressive renovation of the Old Mill recapitulates the history of twentieth-century Modernist architecture in reverse. The final incarnation of this structure evokes Le Corbusier's Machine Age villas of the 1920s rather than Frank Lloyd Wright's more organic mid-century Modernist aesthetic, which dissents from the dominant 1950s American view of the ideal home by suggesting a less materialistic way of life. By contrast, Carey's suburban Colonial Revival residence represents the negation of the freedom from traditional conventions that Ron's living space ultimately implies.Less

New Zealand and the Pacific

Ian Lochhead and Paul Walker

in Architecture and Urbanism in the British Empire

New Zealand’s first architecture was shaped by the country’s geographical remoteness, its seismically active geology and its natural abundance of timber. Māori settlers, from around 1250–1300 CE, ... More

New Zealand’s first architecture was shaped by the country’s geographical remoteness, its seismically active geology and its natural abundance of timber. Māori settlers, from around 1250–1300 CE, developed a unique timber architecture embellished with decorative carving. British colonization from 1840 resulted in timber variants of contemporary Victorian building types being erected in the principal settlements, although by the 1870s these were being replaced by brick and stone structures. Wooden Gothic Revival churches were a distinctive feature of the colony. British influences remained strong into the early twentieth century but were supplanted, after World War I, by American technological Modernism. Adoption of European Modernism, from the 1930s onwards, paralleled growing political independence. The search for a local modern architecture became a dominant theme of the 1950s.Less

Conclusion: The Coronado Cuarto Centennial and the Depletion of Spanish Heritage

Charles Montgomery

in The Spanish Redemption: Heritage, Power, and Loss on New Mexico's Upper Rio Grande

The Cuarto Centennial paid tribute to multiple strands of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage. As the summer of 1940 approached, Spanish colonial art and architecture, village folkways, ... More

The Cuarto Centennial paid tribute to multiple strands of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage. As the summer of 1940 approached, Spanish colonial art and architecture, village folkways, and the Santa Fe Fiesta were all brought into the promotional spotlight. The image of Coronado as noble civilizer quickly spread beyond the inner circle of exposition organizers. Coronado's memorable quest for gold was incidental to interests of Anglo cattle ranchers, farm, railroad, and mine owners, and real estate developers. As the failure of the Coronado Cuarto Centennial Exposition makes plain, Spanish colonial symbolism may have intrigued the occasional traveler and big city critic, but its potency was limited to the upper Rio Grande. Just as the racial and cultural character of los paisanos has always divided Hispano New Mexico from the modern American nation, it was the Spanish revival that helped to close the gap.Less

Walling the City

Jeremy Tambling and Louis Lo

in Walking Macao, Reading the Baroque

This chapter discusses the defences and colonial architecture that were built in Macao. It is composed of walls that run from one end of Macao to the other; for example, the walls to the north run ... More

This chapter discusses the defences and colonial architecture that were built in Macao. It is composed of walls that run from one end of Macao to the other; for example, the walls to the north run down to the Inner Harbour as a defence against the north. Aside from the walls that frame the city, there were fourteen fortresses that were built in the seventeenth century. The most significant of these is Guia, which was built to help defend Macao from piracy. The vaulting in the main chapel features trompe l'oeil effects, which is at the heart of baroque.Less

Architectural Remains at Fort St. Joseph

Erika K. Hartley and Michael S. Nassaney

Michael S. Nassaney and Michael S. Nassaney (eds)

in Fort St. Joseph Revealed: The Historical Archaeology of a Fur Trading Post

This chapter reveals the architectural remains recovered at Fort St. Joseph. Unlike other colonial settlements, no detailed maps, drawings, or descriptions have come to light to illuminate the ... More

This chapter reveals the architectural remains recovered at Fort St. Joseph. Unlike other colonial settlements, no detailed maps, drawings, or descriptions have come to light to illuminate the physical appearance of the fort. Here, we trace the origins of French colonial architectural styles and how they were adapted to the New World. We then employ archaeological and documentary sources to ascertain the types of buildings that may have existed at Fort St. Joseph, their functions, and what they may have looked like. This information will help in our interpretations of the function, construction techniques, and materials used to construct buildings as revealed through the architectural remains and associated structural materials found at Fort St. Joseph. This examination of eighteenth-century buildings in New France provides a better appreciation and understanding of colonial architecture and the conservative nature of French building practices.Less