INDIAN ARCHITECT & BUILDER - Faculty of Architecture ... Chisholm.pdf · Indian Architect & Builder...

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ARCHITECTUREBroadcasting Place: FCBStudios

IN CONVERSATIONPeter Clegg

TRIBUTERobert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm

TERRACE ALIVE 2015

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Indian Architect & Builder - May 2015 Indian Architect & Builder - May 2015

Robert ‘Fellowes’ ChisholmCentennial Exhibition, Vadodara 2015

Centenary Exhibition on Robert “Fellowes” Chisholm (1915-2015) unravelled his large body of work in Vadodara and the entire Indian Subcontinent.

The centennial exhibition on Robert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm was held in January at Sayajirao Baug, Vadodara, as a part of VADFest

2015– the Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival organised by the Government of Gujarat and Gujarat Tourism. Curated by Ar Sanjeev Joshi and Young Indians Team (CII) in collaboration with Indian Architect and Builder(IA&B), this event proved to be a thought provoking and interactive session that probed a deeper understanding of Chisholm’s ideals.

One of the most versatile and renowned architects of British India, Robert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm was the Chief Architect in the Madras Presidency, when he was commissioned to design important edifices in Vadodara under the rule of Sayajirao Gaekwad III. His designs of the Nyay Mandir, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, the Baroda Museum, the Khanderao Market and a series of other buildings in the city, formed a distinctive spine of landmarks that structured its previously organic growth. True to the timelessness of Robert Chisholm’s legacy, these buildings went on to be among the most memorable landmarks and public buildings of the city, and are

just as relevant in their present context today, continually imparting a lesson in climatically sensitive design and an intelligent use of structural techniques.

In an attempt to recapture the essence of his work and his vision for the city, architects and students gathered and participated enthusiastically for the centennial celebration of Chisholm’s work. Inaugurated by Padmashree Dr Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, Shri Manish Bharadwaj (Municipal Commissioner, VMSS) ,Shri Sameer Sinha (Chairman, IGBC Gujarat), and supported by Indian Architect and Builder Magazine, IIA, INTACH Chennai (for content), VMSS and Young Indians, the event was attended by architectural, artistic and intellectual enthusiasts across Gujarat. The exhibition inauguration was followed by a panel discussion that aimed at paying homage to this master architect that shaped the city of Vadodara. VadFest honours the vision of celebrating the city of Vadodara as a united whole, and as the architect who first envisioned the city as a singular architectural entity, it is only befitting that Chisholm be remembered upon this occasion. 26 meticulously organised panels displaying Chisholm’s work.↑

post event

Text: Lavina BulchandaniImages: courtesy Ar Sanjeev Joshi

The Exhibition

Displayed through 26 carefully organised panels, the centenary exhibition titled “Robert Fellowes Chisholm; An Architecture that Changes Cities…An Architect that Shaped Baroda” was a composition of Chisholm’s large body of work which emerged in the Indian Sub-continent during the pre-Independence period. Curated by Ar Sanjeev Joshi and his team, this exhibition highlighted the three major phases of the architect’s life spanned across Chennai, Vadodara and London. The presentation explored the diverse spectrum of his work with some of the most important urban edifices and renowned classics such as the Laxmi Vilas Palace, the Female Training College at Sursagar, the Nyay Mandir Law Courts, to name a few. Showcasing nine projects of Vadodara amongst his other significant works, the exhibition showed a clear timeline of his work globally. Quoting his ideologies from the JRIBA, the evolution of the Indo-Saracenic style was clearly understood through the meticulous organisation and specific display of the panels. Never seen before, this exhibit also delved in to the aspect of Chisolm’s watercolour paintings, that he used as an active medium for study.

An ongoing effort, the exhibition aims to augment its extraordinary body of content, all through 2015, with retrieval of further information on Chisholm’s facets of work from the RIBA Archives. It is also intended that the exhibition shall travel through 5 cities of India, Rangoon and the original location of Chisholm’s RIBA lectures – London.“We seek to take this exhibition around several key cities in India and would also like to see it go to RIBA and London in 2015” says architect Sanjeev Joshi, the curator of the Chisholm exhibition.

“Robert Fellowes Chisholm was a brilliant architect who was always willing to take visual risks.” Charles Correa

The centennial exhibition on Robert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm at Sayajirao Baug, Vadodara. The centenary exhibition titled “Robert Fellowes Chisholm; An Architecture that Changes Cities…An Architect that Shaped Baroda”.

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“Recognition of this 19th century period is critical; since this was truly an urban epoch, in the transformation and modernisation of the towns and cities of the Indian Sub continent at a vast and heroic scale” Sanjeev Joshi

The Panel Discussion

The exhibition was followed by a discussion titled “Reflections and Conversations on Robert Chisholm- An Architecture that Changes and Shapes Cities”, with the panel comprising of Dr B V Doshi, Artist Rekha Rodwittiya, Prof R J Vasavada and Architect Yashwant Mistry. The discussion was moderated by Prof Pratyush Shankar, acting Dean of the Faculty of Achitecture, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT), Ahmedabad.

The discussion opened with views from Dr Doshi who highlighted the architectural ethic of Chisholm to be rooted firmly in local art and skill and contextual relevance. Dr Doshi spoke about his long standing association with the city of Vadodara and pointed out the significant contribution of Chisholm towards shaping monuments of this city. “Vadodara would not exist, as we know it today, without Chisholm’s work” said Dr Doshi as he pointed out that Chisholm’s work spoke not about form but substance in terms of scale and grandeur. The architecture of the pre Independence period had to build culture and history along with it and transform an alien land into something beautiful. The role of an architect in a foreign land and the necessity of creating your own language as an architect were also discussed in his talk.

Rekha Rodwittiya an artist native to the land of Vadodara spoke about the relationship of art and design to architecture. While architecture displays the progress of society, we learn aesthetics from our ancestors. Every city has its own soul and a distinct language that can be reflected in its monuments. Throwing light on this subject Ar Yashwant Mistry spoke about the homogenous nature of the city of Vadodara. We can derive our inferences from external influences and evolve an individualistic approach towards architecture giving rise to our own style as seen from Chisholm’s works. Prof Vasavada who has closely examined 19th century architecture deliberated on the book, “The Seven Lamps of Architecture” published by John rusking in 1849, in the context of the life and work of Chisholm, highlighting how an architect must train himself. One must study the history of the architect and not the buildings designed by him.

After the enlightening talk by the panellists, the discussion was open to the audience to seek comments, questions, refutations and appraisals. Ranging from young students to established professionals Prof Pratyush Shankar moderated a range of questions from the attendees. Through the various inquires of the shaping of the city, techniques of climate responsive architecture and response to the fabric of a city, Chisholm was exemplified through the discussion as a model architect.

Reflections

Reflecting upon the exhibition, Ar Charles Correa quoted, “Robert Fellowes Chisholm was a brilliant architect who was always willing to take visual risks. His Fine Arts Faculty building at the University of Baroda with its fluid plasticity of surface is a highly inventive masterpiece, the equal of anything the British later built elsewhere in this country, including New Delhi.” Chisholm’s pioneering work in creating the Indo- Saracenic style was a crucial contribution to the problem architects were facing in India in the pre-Independence era. Involving the skills of local craftsmen and truly adapting to the native land and climate of the country, this endeavour was a wonderful and long overdue homage to this Master Architect.

The panel discussion- “Reflections and Conversations on Robert Chisholm- An Architecture that Changes and Shapes Cities”. Students and professionals attending the panel discussion organised.↑ ↑


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RobeRt ‘Fellowes’ Centennial

An epitome of grandeur and archetypal style of building architecture in the Indian subcontinent in the 2nd half of the 19th century, Robert “Fellowes” Chisholm (1840 -1915) was one of the most versatile and talented architects to work in British and Princely India.

Text: Ar Sanjeev JoshiCompilation of Text: Lavina BulchandaniImages and Drawings: courtesy The Robert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm Centennial Exhibition content

In the pre-Independence period of the Subcontinent of India, the professionals of British India endeavoured to define a distinctive style that would establish a fusion of European

and English design with Islamic and Hindu/Buddhist/Jain ideas, details and imagery.

Chisholm first came to India employed by the PWD in Bengal and was posted at Calcutta in 1864 as a 24 year old lad. Thereon, he participated and won the design competition for two buildings in Madras- the Presidency College and the University Senate House in 1865. Coinciding with the arrival of the new Governor Lord Napier, Chisholm soon became the consulting architect to the Government and went on to design some of the most significant buildings in Madras. It was during this phase that he was appointed as the Head of the Madras School of Industrial Art and Design. Chisholm was then an Elected Fellow of RIBA- the Royal Institute of British Architects, with recommendation of Napier and also a Fellow of the Madras University.

In the late 19th century, Chisholm was commissioned to design the grand palace of the Gaekwad State and Empire which soon turned out to be crucial landmarks for the city of Baroda. It was in this second phase that he established a new design paradigm for the entire subcontinent.

Chisholm was one of the most distinguished Architects practicing in India between 1860 and 1910 who established the true architectural statement of the British Raj in India. Pioneer of the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, Chisholm’s finest works survive in two cities in India – Madras (Chennai) and Baroda (Vadodara). An avid painter as well, some of his watercolours are at the RIBA collection while others are displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Over the 40 years of his career in India, Chisholm spoke many times at the RIBA and earned a reputation as an expert on Indian architecture, especially as a dome builder.

tribute

exhibition 2015VadodaRa

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At a time when British Architecture in India was largely in Neo-Classical style, Chisholm is considered as the torchbearer for the integration of the native building styles with the classic British staples to popularise a new and distinct architectural language. This style of architectural design emerged in after 1860; which was professed as the Hindu-Saracenic Style by James Ferguson and later coined as “Indo Saracenic Style” by the 1880’s. Chisholm became the flagship proponent, professional and votary of this style through his early designs in the Madras Presidency, in Travancore and in Ooty.

Chisholm’s advent in Southern India led to the exploration of this multicultural style, which borrowed elements from the west and adapted them to the native surround. Patronised by Lord Napier, his first few architectural interventions were seen in the Southern States of Travancore, Madras Presidency and ranging up to the region of Burma. He spent a large part of his early career in India designing key landmarks for the city of Madras, the Capital of Madras Presidency.

After completing the Presidency College in 1867, Chisholm went on to build the PWD building in Madras specially commissioned by Napier to hide the Chepauk Palace. Chisholm’s early understanding of the native Indian style is visible in his project where he built a tower to connect the two wings of the Chepauk Palace. It is believed that Chisholm’s visit to the Thirumalai Nayak Mahal was an event that changed his life. He wrote extensively of the Mahal’s ornamentation and went on to carefully restore it. The Senate building designed soon after, was a reflection of several Hindu elements and a true amalgam of the native Indian and British styles. The Senate building is considered as his best work in Madras which resonates in a thought he shared with the Journal of RIBA, “I have been a resident in Madras nearly nineteen years, and it was only during the past four or five years that I have been able to work with even a small degree of satisfaction to myself”.

Chisholm went on to hone his brand of the Indo-Saracenic with Madras’ Grand General Post office or Post and Telegraph Office,

The Madras Phase (1863 – 1886)

1. Public Works Department, Madras (1865)2. Madras Presidency College, Madras (1867 – 70)3. Conservation Work at Chepauk Palace Complex, Madras (1871)4. Office of P Orr and Sons, Madras (1871)5. Madras Central Railway Station, Madras (1873)6. Senate Building of Madras University, Madras (1880)7. Amir Mahal, Madras (1876)8. Post and Telegraph Office, Madras (1875 – 84)9. Pavilion at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Madras (1880)10. Revenue Board Office, Madras 11. Victoria Public Hall, Madras (1887)12. College of Arts and Crafts, Madras13. Restoration Work at Thirumalai Nayak Palace, Madurai (1869 – 1870)14. Lawrence Asylum Building, Ooty (1865)15. The Holy Trinity Cathedral Rangoon, Yangon, Burma (1886 – 94)16. Napier Museum, Travancore, Trivandrum (1875)

Central Railway Station, the Victoria Town Hall (Public Hall), the College of Arts and Crafts, the Office of P. ORR and Sons, and the Gates of the Amir Mahal. In Trivendrum, the Capital of the State of Travancore, he had concurrently designed the Napier Museum whose Design was influenced by the famed Padmanabhapuram Palace- which Chisholm had visited, studied and sketched extensively.

Chisholm was an architect with a great academic vision from a very young age. His strong academic influence is evident in his work enabling the Lawrence Lovedale School at Ooty (completed in 1865) to be realised at an early age of 25.

He was also a ‘Freemason’ and inscribed the symbol of the ‘Hexalpha’ within a circle on all his work, an activity known to the Madras Elite. Chiselling the skyline of this city, Chisholm’s hybrid language defined the architecture of the Indian Subcontinent in the pre-Independence period, defining him as the model architect of that era.

Chisholm in the South | First PhaseThe Emergence of the ‘Indo Saracenic Style’


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The second and most prolific phase of Chisholm’s career is seen in Baroda, where he created an identity for the Capital city. Sir T Madhav Rao IAS, earlier the Diwan (Chief Minister) of Travancore, who was familiar with Chisholm’s work in the South, was instrumental in getting Chisholm to work for Baroda State immediately after he was appointed the Diwan of Baroda State in 1875.

Chisholm’s work in Baroda saw a keen exploration with style of the built form. He believed, “style, as you are all aware, does not end with details; although details have a large share in creating a style. there is beyond detail something which for want of a better term, we call expression, a something which we all recognise but find difficult to clothe with suitable attributes; hence it appears to me that if an architect could, single handed design structures perfectly suited to modern requirements in India, the expression would be so much altered, that the building would scarcely be recognised as in any particular known style.” His preoccupation with a particular style and explorations within that in Baroda is absolutely evident from the diverse expressions of each of the buildings he designed.

There are three other concurrent themes which run through his body of work, and which matured in the buildings at Baroda:1. The preoccupation and concern of the harsh and extreme Indian climate 2. The serious explorations of technology as integral to design3. The incorporation of local craft, traditions and imagery with architecture

Chisholm was appointed as an architect for the Baroda College, where he experimented with the form of the dome giving rise to the largest free-standing dome built by the British. “The true dome, as far as I know, is a novelty”, an idea expressed by Chisholm when he gave rise to this 70 feet diameter dome for the Baroda College. He believed that it was the roof of a building that gave it a stronger impress of character and style than the mere language of detail. What started off as an informed response to the climatic conditions of Baroda, were later seen as stylised elements within his buildings. Chisholm’s architecture portrayed a sensitive understanding to the climatic region, where he states, “in India, where one practically lives in the open air the greater part of the year, it is desirable that rooms on the East, South and West should not only be shaded by verandahs, but, if

The Baroda Phase (1884 – 1904)

1. Baroda College, Baroda (1880 – 81)2. Anglo-vernacular Boys’ School, Baroda (1886)3. Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Baroda (1886 – 90)4. Female Training School, Baroda (1888)5. Extension of the Nazarbaug Palace, Baroda (1890)6. Laxmi Vilas Palace, Baroda (1896)7. Nyay Mandir – the Law Courts and Town Hall, Baroda (1896)8. Record Tower, Kothi Baroda (1896)9. Khanderao Market, Baroda (1906-07)10. Bombay Municipal Corporation and Office Building Complex (1888) (Un-built)

possible, there should be in front of every room an open terrace”. The roof and verandah were developed as architectural features in his designs that stood as testimony for his clear response to the locale.

The heritage and identity of the city are defined by landmarks designed by Chisholm, which remain icons even today, namely- , the Music College at Sursagar, the Female Training College at Sursagar, the Nyay Mandir Law Courts and Town Hall, the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, the Record Tower at Kothi, the Laxmi Vilas Palace, the Khanderao Market Building and even the Extension wing of the Nazzarbaug Palace.

Chisholm’s key concern was to support the local workmanship and crafts, where he expressed “the Architect who then elects to practice in native style must, in ninety - nine cases out of a hundred, notionally modify the style to suit his materials, but he must also teach his workmen how to use these materials”. Chisholm’s building became vehicles for the above ideology where the integration of traditional imagery was noticed in his designs.

Chisholm in Baroda | Second PhaseThe Architect Engineer who designed with Climate and Environment

It was also in this phase that Chisholm delivered two important papers at RIBA; one in 1883 pertaining to the New College building at Baroda and the second one in 1896 on the Laxmi Vilas Palace Project. Both the papers were also published in the JRIBA (The Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects). In 1888, Chisholm also won the Competition of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Office Building Project, which was later designed by F W Stevens.


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Chisholm in London| Third Phase Back at home

The last phase of Chisholm’s work emerged in London, which saw two projects, one of which remained unbuilt. He designed the First Church of Christian Science (currently known as the Cadogan Hall used by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra). His unbuilt project was a design competition for the design of the Indian Museum in London on a dominating site overlooking the Thames River in the heart of the city of London. This design showed a reflection of the several years of development of his work in the Indian Sub-continent.

Although the planning of New Delhi took place almost a decade after Chisholm left India, it has been evidently influenced by his ideologies. The key buildings designed by Edward Lutyens at New Delhi were an integration of styles which clearly sought to blend the European with the Oriental; a notion professed and practiced by Chisholm during his longstanding career in India. It is safe to assume that had Chisholm lived longer, he would be a serious contender for the Design of the new Imperial Capital.

What is a dome?

A dome is a rounded vault made of either curved segments or a shell of revolution, meaning an arch rotated around its central vertical axis. The terminology used has been a source of controversy, with inconsistency between scholars and even within individual texts, but the term “dome” may be considered a “blanket-word” to describe a hemispherical or similar spanning element. Corbel domes achieve their shape by extending each horizontal layer of stones inward slightly farther than the previous, lower, until they meet at the top. These are sometimes called “false” dome. A “false” dome may also refer to a wooden dome. “true” domes are formed with layers of wedge-shaped voussoirs, the joints f which are aligned with a point at the centre of the dome.

A masonry dome produces thrusts down and outward. Thought of in terms of two kinds of forces at right angles from one another, meridional forces (like the meridians, or lines of longitude, on a globe) are in compression at the top and tension at the base, with the transition in a hemispherical dome occurring at an angle of 51.8 degrees from the top. The thrusts generated by a dome are directly proportional to the weight of its materials. Grounded hemispherical domes generate significant horizontal thrust at their haunches. The “haunch” is the part of an arch that lies roughly halfway between the base and the top.

The London Phase (1907 – 1915)

1. The First Church of Christian Science, London (1907)2. The Indian Museum on the Thames River, London (1910) (Un-built)

Sources:

RIBA Lectures/ JRIBA Publications1. “New College for Gaekwar of Baroda, with notes on style and domical construction in India”, published in JRIBA (1883).2. “Baroda Palace: The town residence of H H Sir Sayajirao GCSI, Maharaja Sahib Gaekwar”, published in JRIBA (1896).

Books1. “Imperial conversations- Indo-Britons and the architecture of South India” - Shanti J Pillai YODA Press (2007).2. “An Imperial Vision” - Thomas Matcalf, Faber & Faber, London (1968).3. “Stones of Empire” - Jan Morris- OUP (1988).4. “European Architecture in India” - Sten Nillson- Faber & Faber, London (1968).5. “Colonial Urban Development” - A D King, London (1988).

Archival Reports1. Administrative reports of Baroda state - 1875 to 1906/07- Baroda State Press- Baroda State Archives - Southern Circle - Vadodara.2. “A report on the development and expansion of the city of Baroda” - 1915/16- Laxmi Vilas Press.3. “Maps of Baroda city and environs” - 1884/86- Central Library, Baroda.

When the design is completed we have yet to deal with the work itself and the workmen, the men who will actually leave the impress of their hands on the materials, and these men have an art-language of their own, a language which you can recognise, but cannot thoroughly understand.

Wren, in St.Paul’s, constructed his dome on a cone of brickwork and thus reduced all thrusts to a point, namely the bottom of the cone. It appears to me that this contains the germ of the true scientific method of domical construction, and a consideration of this expedient gave me the idea of treating a dome as a series of inclined girders, the thrust of each of which at the base can be ascertained by a simple resolution of force. Robert Chisholm (On the Baroda College)

Florence Cathedral Dome- Florence (Brunelleschi).

Florence Cathedral Dome- Section.

St Paul’s Cathedral Dome- London (Christopher Wren)

St Paul’s Cathedral Dome- Section.

St Peter’s Cathedral Dome- Vatican (Michaelangelo)

St Peter’s Cathedral Dome- Section.

Gol Gumbaz Dome- Bijapur

Gol Gumbaz Dome- Section.

Baroda College Dome- Baroda (Robert Chisholm)

Baroda College Dome- Section.

Please Note that the images and drawings of the domes shown above are not in the same scale.

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