Art Deco in Kolkata

Art Deco architecture in Kolkata

The Art Deco in Kolkata, India is a prominent architectural style which can be found across the city, most notably in the southern parts of the metropolis.[1] The style can be traced back to the 1930s "with the use of Portland cement and with geometrical articulation in plan and cosmetic decorative treatment including perforated concrete grill-work on a simple elevation (façade)."[2] Although Kolkata is notable for its colonial-style (Victorian, neo-classical, gothic revival) and vernacular-style (mansions constructed by the Bengali elites) buildings, the emphasis on Art Deco buildings while discussing the architectural history of the city is often overlooked. This is in exception to the few prominent art deco buildings constructed during the colonial period in the first half of the twentieth century—about which enough has been written.[3] Despite art deco being so prominent in the latter half of the twentieth century insofar as entire neighbourhoods—architecturally speaking—appeared to be adaptations of one style,[4] it was not paid enough attention up until the twenty-first century when many such buildings (mostly residential homes) started to be either severely neglected or demolished because of lack of architectural and historical awareness and preservation efforts.[5][6][7][8]

Some characteristic features of Art Deco buildings in Kolkata are a blend of traditional style with European provenances: "semi-circular balconies, a long vertical strip comprising glass panes for the stairwell, porthole-shaped windows, sunrise motifs on grilles and gates," cast iron railings, etc.[8] Prominent Kolkata neighbourhoods where one can witness Art Deco buildings are Gariahat Road, Tollygunge, Southern Avenue, Beliaghata, etc.

It is important to note that Art Deco architecture is not a direct successor of the Art Nouveau style in Kolkata.

## Background

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Historically, Art Deco emerged in Europe, and Chicago is credited to be the first city in the world wherein the architectural style flourished with its skyscrapers.[9][10] The Home Insurance Building constructed in 1884 with structural metal in its frame is a notable example. New York City made the art deco style prominent by constructing various skyscrapers (Chrysler Building, American Radiator Building), Miami became the largest city in the world housing Art Deco architecture, and Mumbai in India has been ranked as the second largest city with art deco buildings.[11][12][13][14][15] The architectural style credited to be a blend of many elements does not share the same history in Kolkata as the above-mentioned cities.

The nomenclature 'Art Deco' itself does not have any definitive origin and is often alluded to the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier who used the phrase while writing for his journal L'Esprit Nouveau regarding the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris 1925.[16][17] Art Deco may have been named after this global exhibition. In the context of Kolkata, there are many reasons why the architectural style was never paid as much attention as it did in other cities in the world. Firstly, in the absence of the Indo-Saracenic style in Kolkata (as the British did not see its relevance in the city), the British promoted neo-classical architecture.[3] Whereas the wealthy Bengali landowners constructed buildings with huge courtyards and structures which may be seen as resistance to the imperial architectural styles. Secondly, there was "retaliation against the proliferation of art deco architecture in India during this time and the rise of modernism in Europe",[3] which can be seen through the lenses of the Modern Indian Architecture Movement and the work of Bengali architect Sris Chandra Chatterjee, one of the pioneers of the movement.[18] This movement aimed to find a more appropriate architecture catering to the Indian sentiment for buildings constructed by Indians.

The first few art deco buildings in Kolkata were mostly either office buildings, private houses, or movie theatres. The Metro Cinema, a private structure developed by "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to promote its movies opened to the public in 1934, designed by New York-based, Scottish-born architect Thomas W. Lamb."[3] This Art Deco building would later become one of the most significant examples of the style in the city. Other prominent buildings include the Reid House on Red Cross Place and the Laha Paint House in Bow Barracks.[19]

However, it was not until the 1960s that art deco buildings gained a stronghold in the city. This is because after the Partition of Bengal in 1947 and with various refugee families settling in the southern parts of the city,[1] many individuals preferred to build houses styled after the Metro Cinema Hall.[4] These were middle-class individuals with access and aspirations such as doctors, lawyers, civil servants, etc. who lost their ancestral houses due to the Partition of India. With limited spaces as opposed to the huge mansions of wealthy individuals in northern Kolkata, these individuals would ask civil engineers (and not architects because they would charge 2-3% of construction cost, unlike in other cities) to file building plans and construct houses in a similar fashion as the Metro Cinema.[4] Therefore, many such residential houses came to be known as "metro-style houses."[4] These ordinary residential homes were compact and of a more contemporary architectural style as opposed to the older style of houses in north Kolkata. Many of its residents did not even know about the art deco style in Europe and their homes boasted a blend of many styles: from traditional features to European characteristics of the Art Deco. One may even claim that this was Kolkata's interpretation of art deco which may be referred to as 'indie-deco'. The second-generation residents of these houses, statistically in many instances, often moved out or migrated to other regions for better livelihood prospects.[20] Thus many such houses by the turn of the century started to disappear with failure of maintenance or the old inhabitants finding it easier to give their property to developers who would construct apartment buildings to house many more families, a demand which can be seen against the backdrop of increasing urbanisation and modernisation of cities in the global South.[21][22]

While the social and historical conditions under which art deco residential houses in Kolkata emerged can be traced back to the mid-twentieth century, its decay and negligence as compared to other cities in the world can be attributed towards a lack of awareness regarding this more colloquial form of Art Deco housing structures prevalent in the region.

## Preservation efforts

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Of late, there have been various campaigns to preserve the art deco houses in Kolkata, most notably the author Amit Chaudhuri's 2015 movement called the "Calcutta Architectural Legacies."[8][23][24] There are other private citizen's projects as well launched on social media platforms to document and preserve Kolkata's dying heritage houses (including art deco buildings) such as the 'Calcutta Houses' and 'Art Deco Calcutta'.[25] The 'Calcutta Heritage Collective' is also a notable restoration initiative comprising prominent civil society individuals of Kolkata.[26]

## See also

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* Architecture of Bengal
* Art Deco in Mumbai
* Art Nouveau

## References

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1. ^ a b "Art Deco in South Kolkata". Paper Planes. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
2. ^ Bose, Shivashish (2 September 2015). "State and management of architectural heritage in Kolkata". Journal of Architectural Conservation. 21 (3): 178–194\. doi:10.1080/13556207.2016.1142754. ISSN 1355-6207.
3. ^ a b c d Sen, Siddhartha (2015). Colonizing, Decolonizing, and Globalizing Kolkata: From a Colonial to a Post-Marxist City. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789048530687.
4. ^ a b c d Ghosh, Deepanjan (12 December 2017). "City secrets: Art Deco architecture spread across Kolkata, thanks to a state law – and jugaad". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
5. ^ Dasgupta, Reshmi (7 May 2013). "It is time India celebrates its Art Deco heritage". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
6. ^ "The old Calcutta chromosomes". The Hindu. 27 June 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
7. ^ Banka, Neha. "The battle to save Kolkata's crumbling heritage buildings". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
8. ^ a b c Chaudhuri, Amit (2 July 2015). "Calcutta's architecture is unique. Its destruction is a disaster for the city". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
9. ^ artincontext (17 December 2021). "Art Deco - A Summary of the Art Deco Era". artincontext.org. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
10. ^ "Chicago to Calcutta: The romance of art deco". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
11. ^ "The Architecture and Development of New York City with Andrew S. Dolkart". 5 January 2019. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
12. ^ "Miami Beach: an icon of Art Deco and bling". 6 October 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
13. ^ Thomas, Maria (27 June 2017). "Mumbai has the world's second-largest collection of Art Deco buildings but no one notices them". Quartz. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
14. ^ "The battle to save Mumbai's art deco buildings". BBC News. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
15. ^ "Art Dekho – a history of Mumbai's iconic Art Deco architecture". The Indian Express. 30 October 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
16. ^ Billauer, Barbara Pfeffer (2012). "Le Corbusier, the Occult and How Art Deco Began". Art Deco Society of Washington. 28 (3) – via SSRN.
17. ^ valenting (24 June 2020). "Pure architecture legacy: Le Corbusier and his influence on Art Deco". MOUVEX 1911. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
18. ^ Gupta, Samita (1991). "Sris Chandra Chatterjee: 'The quest for a national architecture". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 28 (2): 187–201\. doi:10.1177/001946469102800204. ISSN 0019-4646.
19. ^ "Art Deco makes a comeback to Kolkata after five decades". The Times of India. 1 April 2018. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
20. ^ "There goes the neighbourhood: Author Amit Chaudhuri talks about Kolkata and its decaying heritage". Firstpost. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
21. ^ "The crumbling mansions of India's 'City of Joy'". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
22. ^ "The role of small promoters in Kolkata's housing transformation". India Housing Report. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
23. ^ "Realty check to preserve traditional neighbourhoods". The Times of India. 28 March 2017. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
24. ^ "Saving charm of old Kolkata". The Hindu. 1 April 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
25. ^ Sikhwal, Abhishek (10 August 2017). "An Instagram project is preserving Kolkata's gorgeous buildings, before they vanish for good". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
26. ^ "From the Press | Calcutta Heritage Collective". www.calcuttaheritagecollective.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

## Further reading

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1. Chaudhuri, Sukanta. (1990). Calcutta: The Living City. Calcutta: Oxford University Press.

## External links

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* Calcutta Architectural Legacies
* Calcutta Houses
* Art Deco Calcutta
* Calcutta Heritage Collective