Reviving the past at Amber Haveli

Even as vernacular style of building  fast goes out of favour in most of the developing world,  an awareness of reutilizing the past   is witnessed every now and  then.  Taking a view that traditional architecture is the more logical and rational way to build.  That using local resources and knowledge bases  creates un-superflous structures  meeting the needs of the location best, engages local populations of  builders, craftsmen and artisans and preserves inherited wisdom in the process of creating rich living spaces.
An example of such a project awaits visitors in the shadow of the 11th century Amber fort at the outskirts of Jaipur.
Surrounded by a cluster of  old homes, many in a state of crumble, stands the meticulously renovated 14 th century traditional Rajasthani haveli known to the locals as the `Chanwar Palkiwalon ki Haveli'.
 John and Faith Singh- promoters of the textile label Anokhi-  bought the old ruinous structure in the early 80s.  Following some thought and the help of designer duo Nimish Patel and Parul Zaveri, the structure was  restored using traditional methods and local artisans.  
Today the haveli  stands amidst fast fading buildings of  Amber village  as a proud testimony to  the age old skill and knowledge base of  Rajasthani craftsmanship. In  re-creating the space such the architects have not only brought a crumbling structure back to life but have managed to reconcile the past with the present  in a meaningful way : the haveli might have housed palanquin bearers at one time in the distant past, but in its refurbished avatar  it is a museum dedicated to the  history of hand printing in India.

Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing  documents the centuries old craft of hand printing  in India with particular emphasis on  the   revival of the traditional practice in the latter part of the 20th century. A refurbished building thus becomes a repository of stories of another renewal. 

The various indigenous techniques and methods of printing and their different process  -   the tools of the trade, printing and block making - are elaborately detailed.  The museum houses a delightful collection of garments created  with  hand printed fabric.  The museum also organizes day long printing and block making workshops by appointment.  

 The workshop and a visit to the museum when it did happen  has to be  rated as the high point of my trip to Jaipur. Not only is a day spent printing fabric a most fulfilling way to engage with a local tradition, but an exploration of the museum interiors with its many elaborate jharokhas (Windows) wall niches and arches   is a wonderful way of understanding the various elements of local architecture too.

A cool central courtyard or Aangan leading from elaborate wooden doors of Amber haveli  offers welcome escape from the bright sunlight outside. The  building is painted in delicate peachy-pink tones- an ode to  the pink city of Jaipur that houses it.  The facade with  elaborate balconies on the first and second floors  is decorated in wall niche shaped pattern in plaster relief. The  niches- faux and real, recur as a motif throughout the building.

High walls of the haveli shade the courtyard. Dark blue green columns that frame beautiful arches  lead into a chequered marble centre of the haveli. 

This typical feature of  traditional Indian house : An open to sky, central courtyard, is a  device that effectively introduces the outdoors right into the middle of the house without compromising the safety or privacy  of the residents.  In extreme desert climate of Rajasthan the aangan acts like a thermostat for the house, regulating the flow of fresh air  and temperature in the house. Sunlight filtering  into the house through the aangan ensures  adequate light  within the house as well. Here in the Amber haveli,  the aangan is covered with a specially made canvas  jaali or mesh to filter  dust  debris and birds from  the house.

The museum exhibits  are spread over  the three levels starting from the inner chambers of the ground floor leading to the workshop and block making area created on the topmost floor of the building.

The interiors of the museum in keeping with its purpose are kept purposely bare, such that the emphasis through out  a visit remains on the exhibits.  The minimal approach draws the eye and attention to intricate details of the  building effectively.  Elaborate niches decorate walls across all floors  of the haveli.  In a typical Indian haveli these niches or Taankh,  serve various practical purposes of  storing and displaying stuff.

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The  smooth shiny finish of the walls and interiors of the building is thanks to an ancient technique used in these parts.  Aaraish - a traditional mixture created  by soaking  crushed shells   with  yogurt and sugar in earthenware pots for over a year  mixed with  stucco  is plastered on to the walls to give a smooth shiny finish  and interiors that remain cool  on harshest of summer days. Yogurt  mixed with stucco? who would have thought ?!
 

Roam  onto the roof level and yet another decorative yet functional device catches the eye.  Elaborately carved Jaali's or meshes. The Jaali's at Amber haveli have been carved using different materials such as  metal (above) and wood.  The intricate geometric Islamic patterns are a clever means of ensuring ample light and ventilation into a space without giving up on privacy.
The Jaali windows cast mesmerizing shadows on  walls  in narrow spaces of passages and stairwells everywhere.  The space is dedicated to the the block making and printing workshop that the museum offers as a means of encouraging visitor participation.

Apart from being a handsome example of  what is possible to achieve with a little help from our own past,  Amber haveli also serves to highlight the plight of our `modern' choices. Among Indians of all strata to  build and develop necessarily means a departure from the past. Most  residential architecture prefers styles of buildings that are disconnected with our needs and sensibilities but are not necessarily as livable and generous as their  vernacular counterparts. At Amber haveli, the architects and owners take  a different direction altogether and yet arrive at sumptuous spaces, without  compromising  either functionality or aesthetics. Some thing to take back home from an erstwhile home in Amber village, Jaipur, and I do.

A visit to the museum has been on my wish list for a long time. Particularly attractive was the prospect of spending a full day printing a fabric with my own hands!  The experience and pictures from the workshop are a matter of a whole new post.. Keep reading !

The city in focus : Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla Mumbai

Situated in a pool of green, thanks to a classically planned botanical garden, surrounded by the bustling streets of Byculla and its  warren of empty crumbling textile mills, stands a building steeped in the city's rich architectural heritage and history.

With its collection of the industrial arts, economic products of the 19th century and a vast exquisite collection of local artifacts, the 134 years old Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum (erstwhile the Victoria and Albert Museum)  was conceived as  a keeper and narrator of Mumbai's history.



Today however, the institution has a brand new story to tell.. One of painstaking renewal and a meticulous conservation that has restored the structure, interior and contents- all to its original, glitter and sparkle.

To walk into the glittering,  freshly painted interiors  of this Palladian structure built in the renaissance renewal style ( the only one of its kind in the city), it is hard to imagine the state of dereliction it had fallen to in the years after independence.

The original colours and details had been effaced from the, delicate stucco and stencil work was badly damaged,  Iron pillars everywhere had separated from the walls and many of the etched glass panes were broken.  And as is the case with most heritage buildings in Mumbai, haphazard and badly conceived electrification was conspicuous all over the building.

The museum was reopened to the public in 2008, following a seven year long, renovation and renewal project that resurrected 

both- the building and its collection,  from hugely diminished and deteriorated conditions. Led by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage- INTACH, supported by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation, the project has received various accolades and widespread recognition.

The unassuming green and white structure from the outside, does not quite give away the magnificent interiors  that await one. Even the entry fee into the museum is a humble Rs 10!

But one push past an old railway style turnstile lies a stunning interior. Soaring two storey high walls and a intricately painted ceiling, held in place by handsome cast iron pillars,  intricate red and gold grilles and a delicate celadon green that adorns the wall - lend a matchless grandeur to the space. 

Walking on cool check board tiles, taking in the collection artistically displayed in  re polished and restored wooden cabinets that stand in rows in the central atrium, one arrives at the grand staircase- clearly the high point of the experience. The monumental staircase, with its intricately patterned encaustic Minton tiles lends gravity and beauty to the building, its colours patterns and texture demanding a lot of attention.

As the story goes, the original planner and architects of the museum ran out of money half way through the laying of the tiles..! hence only the stair case and the upper story of the building are laid with the imported tiles, while the rest of the space was finished with locally sourced chekerboard tiles.

Restoration of the priceless collection of rare books in the Museum library is in 

With a frequently updated exhibition schedule, workshops targeting children, adults and teachers and a full fledged year long course in Indian Art History, the museum has much to offer the community. On a much needed break from a hot humid Mumbai day, its cool interiors  have become a favourite haunt for me to spend a few hours engaging with the interiors. It is also one of the few places I am able to take my kids who love the museum's collection. One only wishes there were a small coffee shop besides the existing souvenir shop,  to help extend visits and make it a meeting point of sorts- a kid of hangout Mumbai so desperately needs!

Interior stories from Goa

Posting today, a  feature about the Goan residential architecture and interiors appeared in the Nov 28, 2011 issue of India Today Homes.  For the original article go to: 

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/old-homes-goa-margao-furniture-menezes-braganza-beaches-konkan-coastal/1/160222.html

A typical Goan single-storeyed home in Margao

For the smallest state of India-merely a tiny strip of land on its western coast, Goa has inherited history incommensurate to size. Shaped by long years of Portuguese colonialism and the Konkan coastal experience, the old homes of the state are keepers of its chequered past.

A quest for the quintessential Goan home brings me to the sleepy old village of Chandor. The erstwhile capital of the state reached the heights of its glory in the 11th and 13th centuries under the Kadamba rulers of Karnataka. The torpid monsoon afternoon is uncomfortably hot. I am looking forward to my appointment with 80-year-old Sara Fernandez, resident and owner of Casa Grande or Vodelem Ghor in Konkani.

I have been told much about the old homes of the village, however nothing has prepared me for what I encounter. 

Casa Grande is a two-storeyed structure seemingly Portuguese in style; a long facade divided by interminable file of windows laid with mother of pearl. Only once inside does the existence of a courtyard, in resonance with Hindu-style homes, become apparent. 

Casa Grande

It is an old house, predating the Portuguese, built in the Kadamba era.  Time drips from every wall and shell-lined window of the house. Mrs. Fernandez mutters, ``disorder, disorder’’ as she walks me through fading corridors which have seen much in years.

Only for one who has just been offered a glimpse into the innards of a 400-year-old house, living and breathing with supreme grace- I am too transfixed, to notice. The decay, crumble and chaos spills silent stories, and history seems to have settled in coils and layers around the house. Walking around dimly lit hallways attics and sooty secret passages, I keep looking for a portal, a way into the fabric of one of the oldest homes of Chandor. 

Goa has a rich tapestry of old homes and mansions with long eventful lives.  These are spaces where the traditions of the east and west coalesce resulting in delightfully syncretic architecture and aesthetics.

Casa Grande houses a veritable museum of sorts at the ground level. Artifacts-some dating back centuries, connected with the house- Shiva lingams and old agricultural implements are displayed aside precious vestments worn to church by the priests from the house including one particular garment with fine Chinese embroidery dated 1664. 

A planters chair resting in the hindu-style quadrangle of the  Fernandez home

The house has an armoury of swords and sheathed daggers, trap doors that lead to secret hideouts and escape routes, their walls perforated with gun holes to shoot at unsuspecting invaders.The past intertwines with the present as the later Christian, Portuguese elements become apparent sitting aside contemporary paraphernalia with grace and indifference; plastic toys are strewn on a 200-year-old love seat, a black and white television set sits propped against a powder blue lime wall. 

                                         

Of particular note is an old cabinet made of gleaming rosewood. Choked with vintage China from Macau and plastic tableware, its glass panels are interestingly laid with old fading prints of art. "We keep changing the pictures inside as they fade'' explains Fernandez. The result is a quirky pastiche of renaissance art, old advertisements and bazaar prints. An apt testimony to the years of evolution the house itself has seen.

The rosewood picture cabinet at the Fernandez home

                                    

Old houses like Casa Grande are expensive to maintain. Homeowners complain about a growing shortage of craftsmen who retain quality skills to help maintain the structures. Many among the younger generation find it challenging to carry forward the demanding legacy of the past.  `` I am tired,’’ says Mrs. Fernandez bracing her body against a white washed pillar, her laboured, asthmatic breathing filling up  the silence of the house. ``I have tried to keep this place the best I could, I don’t know if my children will be interested’’,  she says heavily. The  fact makes the efforts of those committed to their histories and personal stories remarkable.

Living room of the Pereira Braganza's 

Not very far from Casa Grande, is a painstakingly renovated home. The stately Braganza house owned by two sides of the same family: Pereira Braganza and Menezes Braganza. In the interest of preserving the space, the homeowners have segregated the living areas from those rarely in use.It is impossible to miss the elaborate 28-window tripartite facade of this Portuguese style mansion sprawled over 10,000 sq m of space. 

The dance hall ( Perieira Braganza)

More sumptuous interiors, one will not see. The homes are divided into massive rooms with soaring ceilings laid out in intersecting sections. At the far end of the Pereira Braganza house sits the family's private chapel, an ornately carved and vaulted affair.The centrepiece of the mansion is a large ballroom. Its flooring made of Italian marble, Belgian crystal and Venetian glass chandeliers and mirrors encased in gold and silver, lends a priceless sparkle and patina to the room. 

Chinoiserie love at the Menezes Braganza home

                               
In the adjoining wing of the Menezes Braganza, it takes a retinue of six full time caretakers to ensure day-to-day upkeep. Gleaming silver, oriental vases and hand crocheted lace mix with the Portuguese love for Chinoiserie.

A sun filled bay at the Menezes Braganza home

                               

Gleaming silverware at the Menezes Braganza home

                                

In Margao, Ninette Pinto and Charles Rodrigues have just moved into a new, smaller home. They are still unpacking as I knock at their door. The interiors here are scaled down versions of what I have seen in Chandor, yet typically Goan. Intricately carved chairs in dark woods are arranged in circular arrangements on brightly patterned tiles and there is still more china and silver lovingly displayed.

Ninette and Charles Rodrigues home in Margao

Ninette's China

                  

The Figueiredo home, also in Margao, has striking Chinoiserie inspired exteriors. Jade coloured window shutters contrast strikingly with bright yellow exteriors. 

Red blue and buff at the Figueiredo home in Margao

                                 

"We keep changing the colours of the structure both inside and outside," says Figueiredo. "It helps us maintain the façade from the elements, besides changing things around a bit routinely,'' he adds. The tropical nature of Goan weather accelerates weathering of structures.  

Yet another family in Cansaulim, the Carvalhos have set aside a few well-preserved rooms. A newly painted bedroom with richly carved four poster bed covered in hand crocheted lace and a rosewood wash stand displaying an old Chinese basin and jug serves as a serene link to the family's faded past.

The restored bedroom at the Carvahlo residence, Cansaulim

The efforts to preserve and conserve are driven mostly by individual homeowners, efforts that are not only heartfelt and challenging, but will decide what the Goan legacy is going to mean in times to come.

Elements of the Goan home

An article appeared in the discover India section of online design and style magazine Prismma. 

Startling colours of an exterior wall and window from a Margao house. 

Dream like, yet elemental, Goan homes preside over a lush green paradise. The warm and humid climate blurs the distinction between indoors and the outdoors.  Shaping in response to the fecund tropical conditions and long years of colonial rule,   Goan domestic architecture is enriched by the European experience, yet rooted deeply in the local culture.

Ranging from simple mud houses, to grand mansions displaying an agglomeration of Mannerist, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classical and Neo-Gothic influences, Goan homes are a palimpsest of architectural styles and influences.

In home after home, one will encounter delightfully syncretic architecture and elaborate interiors that blend pre-existing Hindu and Maratha motifs with European styles introduced by the colonizing Portuguese in the 16^th Century.

The broad elements of Goan houses result form a mixture of Indian and Portuguese styles. Homes that are Portuguese in origin are usually two-storeyed and façade oriented. Whereas those of Indian origin are single-storeyed with a traditional courtyard based orientation.

Between the two also, there is wonderful mixing and marrying of ideas, resulting in nuanced, hybrid architecture that is both impressive and inspiring- for example the two-storeyed house in which the top story is functional while the ground floor is merely ornamental. It was Portuguese custom to segregate the lower storey of the house for the household staff and retainers.  Since in the Hindu home the servant quarters were typically located at the back of the house, this bottom storey became shorter, until it reduced to an ornamental high-platform in time,  adorned with decorative arches, pilasters and colonettes.

For a better understanding of the Goan eclectic idiom of house building one may firstly, look at ways in which the local population adopted styles and precedents set by the Portuguese. And secondly, the ways in which the local identity asserted itself in shaping and adapting the influences passed on by the colonial masters.

As they grew in power and rank within the Portuguese administration, the upper class Goan aristocrats sought to emulate and even surpass the grandeur of the residences of their Portuguese counterparts: The examples of this trend are many- The practice of building grand staircases in the entrance halls, many windowed facades- like at the Braganza home in Chandor- busts of classical Renaissance figures in the pediments of façade windows, grand dance halls as a focal point of the home.

In an assertion of the local Goan identity, the erection of a columned porch with seats built into its two sides, called bollcaum, also became commonplace in the 19^th century. In time the bollcaum was extended to include the façade of the entire house effectively screening it from rain and the hottest midday sun.  Where on the one hand the covered porch with built in seating confirmed to the Indian ideas of decorum, it did so by extending the house into the public space- adapting to ` open-minded’ western mores. It is an interesting vantage point to observe life go by the house, a feature used frequently by the lady of the house.

Other interesting and unique aspects of the houses one will encounter in the state are the use of locally available building material such as laterite stone in place of brick and lime plaster, which make for sturdy and durable structures.  Additionally, in many homes, readily available mother-of-pearl is used to line window shutters.

The window shutters are particularly enchanting. The shiny iridescent patina of the shell lends luminosity to the spaces that glass shutters – used to replace shell increasingly- are not able to replicate.

Something has to be said about the bright colouring and unabashed love for pigment here.  In the early days of Portuguese rule, only churches and other religious structures were permitted to use white to color their exteriors. The domestic residential structures automatically adopted bold and sensational colors subsequently achieved with the use of vegetable and natural dyes in the past.

A corridor linking two different parts of the house at the Braganza home in Chandor, which seamlessly introduces the outdoors into the house.

Baroque style staircase at the Braganza and Menezes family home in Chandor.

Hindu style Jaali motifs beautifying the exteriors of newer  bunglow style homes in Candolim.

House with a high-seat, Abade Faria Road, Margao

The  Bollocum.

Window shutters lined with pearlescent  capiz shells.

About homes: Stories from Goa.

Houses carry the imprint of their dwellers on them. People say a lot by the choices they make about their immediate surroundings, the way they live. History is threaded together with the shards of pottery and digs of crumbling structures dating back millennia. Located in their particular place and time, homes are a repository of people’s priorities, world views, histories and personalities. In a sense becoming a mirror of society itself.

An abiding interest in spaces, and how people live’ was what initially got me blogging about home in the first place.

I intended to say through pictures, stories, what the spaces I have personally experienced or even just merely passed through mean to me. At least from time to time, if not always.

All is well with intention; only one needs to actually get down to doing it too! Disappointingly I have not really started saying what I intended to say with this blog- barring a few posts which I link here and here (only cuz they were blogged so long ago).

I remained satisfied with what was easy, around me and full of me at the same time- my own home.

Now a tad tired with all the self obsession and self love (I have to say it, the blog in its current state does not leave me completely happy) I want to slowly get back to the original inspiration.

Was a trip to Goa recently that triggered the desire to revisit the germ of the blog. The houses that dot this lush piece of heaven on the west coast of India, bright, colorful, old and new alike, villages and Vaddos full of them, rich or poor -lend an instant personality to the territory.

Where only the churches were allowed to be white, the homes embraced colours in all shades, whole-heartedly and without any reservations. These structures dating back to each time and epoch in Goa’s chequered history, speak of stories and a complete way of life quintessentially Goan. Informing and inspiring the work of master artists like FN Souza, cartoonist Mario Miranda, photographer Dayanita Singh - just a few talents Goa's fecund soil has nurtured.

Monsoons are a beautiful time to be in Goa. It is enchantingly lush, verdant and quite. A season of soft, sun interspersed showers. Drawn by the welcoming homes dotting the landscape and a also following a chance encounter, seeking shelter from sudden rain one afternoon, I found myself seeking more and more homes and the people behind them. Over the few days I spent there, I had seen as much Goa from inside these homes as from the outside.

Posting a series of stories from Goan homes then… Saying as much is needed to be said and letting the houses do much of their talking.

Stylistically, Goan residential architecture, has resulted form extensive inter-mixing of pre-existing Hindu styles of home building with heavy Italianate, Baroque and Rococo influences introduced by the Portuguese upon their arrival on the Malabar coast, As opposed to the rest of the country, the Portuguese tastes entrenched themselves fast and quick on the Goan landscape, allowing very limited say to other influences, read english influences on house building styles in subsequent years also. A fact that sets Goa and its many homes apart from the rest of the country.

Have posted a few pictures of facades that caught my fancy. Will talk at some length over subsequent posts.

Mine has come to be called a `décor / design blog. As such some of you esteemed readers might find me digressing. I might as well shun that tag, because it is infinitely more interesting to observe people and how they add meaning to their surroundings.

Do talk about it guys... And come back here for more, because the journey was delectably long and leisured and my explorations many!