The colonial British architect of great repute Robert Fellowes Chisholm had made a permanent niche for himself in Chennai, Vadadora (formerly Baroda), GJ and other places. In these cities the colonial buildings designed by him stand as part for his innovative and exotic design, an amalgamation of Hindu, Muslim and European style of design which Chisholm handled carefully without comporting on their charm and aesthetics. Further, Chisholm, who was professionally moving up the ladder when the age of revival was on, naturally he became a trend setter - a maverick. Thus he broke the old tradition of monotonously following ''Exclusive European style'' of construction in a conservative foreign land and tried to blend carefully the native styles prevalent in India then.
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| Senate House, Madras Univ, Chennai. |
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| Senate House, Madras Univ, Chennai. thehansindia.com |
Above images: Madras University, Senate House. It was planned by the then Gov. Napier and designed by Robert Chisholm. He took five years to complete it in 1879. There are beautiful domes on each corner of Senate House which are intricately designed and colored. In the place where the Senate House now stands, it is mentioned, a saluting battery was present then. Until the Senate House was built, the university convocations were held in the Banqueting Hall (now known as Rajaji Hall). Chisholm added some elements in this structure upon his brief work on the Madurai Nayaker Mahal.......
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| British architect Robert Chisholm. colonial India.thehindu.com |
Unlike other colonies, in a vast country like India with diverse culture, tradition and building design styles, there arose a plenty of opportunities for the British architects between 1860 to 1910 to grow professionally. Choices galore, there was ample space for energetic person like Chisholm and architects like George Wittet for new innovative and structural design style.
He thought his 'hither-to-untried building design style' would add new dimension and construction dynamics to the proposed new structures and improve the beauty of the cityscape. It is often said, the mixing of Hindoo or Muslim architectural features on government and public buildings would please the natives and make them repose trust in new colonial rule under the Crown. ''Natives won't feel alien in their homeland''.
Chisholm was no nonsense design engineer. endowed with trail blazing instinct he was keen to take a new design approach not tried before. The colonial buildings till then were influenced by purely European architectural styles - Greek and Gothic. The former - mostly government buildings dominated by tall columns and symmetry, etc., and the latter - mostly churches with vaulted arches and some public buildings dominated by pointed arches, colored windows, flying buttress, etc. These styles were exclusively European in character and out of sync with local design styles.
It had been in practice in those days that many government and public buildings under the English company were designed by engineers like G. G. Scott, William Burgess and others in London offices. The strange thing is they had never set their foot on the Indian soil. Nor had they had any on-the-spot practical exposure to exotic various Indian styles evolved through centuries.
Having joined the English company in Calcutta as an engineer (Kolkata) in 1859 and gained considerable work experience, his arrival in Madras (Chennai) was purely an unexpected turn of event in his professional life that took him to the dizzy heights.
When the then Madras government under Gov. Lord Napier invited nation wide architectural design competition for the proposed University and Madras Senate to surpass the splendor of Bombay university’s Gothic architecture, Chisholm won the competition on merit and moved over to Madras on transfer. It was a turning point in his life and apart this posting gave him a rare chance to have lasting friendship with Gov. Lord Napier, the new Governor of Madras.
Upon Lord Napier's advice, he travelled over to Madurai and studied in detail the design styles of the Madurai Nayak Mahal. His later study tour of Kerala and Bijapur (now in Karnataka) gave him an insight into the richness and a vast treasure trove of typical Indian design style of different regions that was in sync with the land and local terrain. The onion shaped domes of mausoleums, the tiled sloping roof of Kerala buildings and richly decorative Hindu temples with shrinking Shikara/ gopura left a lasting impression on Chisholm and played a part in his pioneering designs. So were the features like Rajasthan chhatris and lattice windows. He somehow developed an uncanny expertise to blend the native features with those of European elements in a diligent way without showing the dominance of one over the other and, at the same time, maintaining the quality of architectural finesse..
Architect Chisholm did not shy away from blending rich native design elements with prominent European features resolutely sticking to visual effects on grandiose building. This Indo-European classical style called ‘Indo-Saracenic’ gave unique expression to a new aesthetic and exotic stately design style that slowly evolved in new construction projects and it took the architects globally by storm. This fascinating style with strong European elements and superimposed Indian design no doubt caught the eye of other famous architects. Chisholm experimented this unique and delightful style for the first time with Chepauk palace - Amir Mahal in Triplicane, Chennai the residence of Arcot Nawab. The design included onion shaped domes, minarets, kalasams atop the building and classic British staples and windows. etc. No doubt a confluence of different architectural elements. Lord Napier became his friend and in 1877, Chisholm was also appointed the Superintendent of the Government School of Industrial Arts (now the College of Arts and Crafts). He retired in 1889 and soon settled in Baroda (Gujarat) to work on many projects for the Maharajah of Baroda -Sayaji Gaekwad.
The cityscape of Chennai has numerous building bearing Chisholm's stamp of Indo-Saracenic style. He is called the father of Indo-Saracenic architecture. Robert Chisholm who worked between the years 1860 to 1910 became an proponent of Indo-Saracenic style. His initial phase of works in the Madras Presidency attracted Maharajahs like Sayajirao Gaekwad and in the erstwhile Princely State of Baroda, now Vadodara his monumental works are subject of discussion and research among scholars. Chisholm, the man who added charm to the skyline of Madras (Chennai) died in London on May 28, 1915, but he is an immortal figure in Chennai, Vadadora and Thiruvananthapuram where his buildings stand apart.
https://www.thehindu.com/madras375/the-man-who-chiselled-the-citys-skyline/article6335554.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Chisholm_(architect)
https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/chisholm/index.html
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