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Most of the designers throughout the Raj were [[British Army]] Engineers instructed in military engineering; architectural design was self learnt from practical experience, aided by architectural reference books and copy book designs. By 1870 regional differences were obvious with Bombay Public Works employing professional officers trained in architecture, while Calcutta continued to use amateur military engineers. Later, consultant architects invited from Europe included Lutyens in [[New Delhi]], and Modernist Le Corbusier in post-colonial [[Chandrigarh]]
The quality of local craftsmen and raw material made a difference. Bombay’s stone carvers were able to work with better grade stone than others– naturally their work was more detailed. The continued prevalence in other areas of the more simply decorated Neo-classical buildings demanded less intricate carving than was needed for the richly decorated Gothic style. The rise of the Indian Middle Classes with their patronage of the Arts and Architecture encouraged the marriage of indigenous and European designs. Their architectural commissions represented their affluence, civic pride, and Indian heritage. In contrast, English industrial progress is evidenced with widespread use of imported corrugated iron (from the 1840's) offered construction simplification, but tended to dumb down architectural advances.
Frequently colonial buildings were criticized about not responding to local conditions, or not being built using traditional, and proven local methods. The "London look" was achieved by stucco render over brick, and sadly many Raj buildings are falling into disrepair as the stucco peels away.
Arguably, Engineers on colonial service adversely influenced the training of Indian technicians, and this continued when Indian Universities, captivated with Modernism, offered Architecture in the run up to Independence. Several generations of Indians had not studied India’s rich architectural history. But the JJ School of Art [[Bombay]] accepted this and looked forward, visioning the more inclusive use of concrete, a new material that would house India’s masses. But again the stucco surfaces of early Modernist buildings is failing away from disrepair, just it is on the earlier Neo-Classical buildings .
===Bombay: birthplace of modern Indian Architecture===
*1865 Bombay Builder magazine first published
JJ School of Art, [[Bombay]]: courses
*1896 2 yr draughtsman’s course
*1908 4 yr architectural course
*1917 Indian Institute of Architects
*1922 5 yr architectural course
*1925 Bombay Architectural Association – with affiliation to the RIBA
*1930 RIBA exams held in Bombay
*1937 Ideal Home Exhibition introduces Modernism to India, and the more popular and the less restrained alternative - Art Deco.
*''Stones of Empire'', Morris, Jan and JJ Cotton. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1983.
*''Splendors of the Raj (British Architecture in India 1660 -1947)'', Davis, Philip. London, John Murray (Publishers)Ltd, 1985.
*''The Indian Metropolis'', Evenson, Norma. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1989.
[[Category: Occupations]]
