02 Oct 2019
The Cantonment in Bangalore is unique with its various ‘Towns’ within a city. Richards Town, Frazer Town, Cox Town, Cooke Town, Benson Town … to name a few. A heritage walk through the colonial bylanes of Bengaluru was conducted by School of Architecture REVA University on October 2nd 2018. Colonial architecture is a part of the syllabus for History of Architecture – a four credit soft core elective for third semester B.Arch. students. An introduction to Colonial Architecture and characteristic features of the style was done ahead at the classroom by Ar. Anup Prasad, Faculty member at the School of Architecture The heritage walk was enjoyed by the students and faculty as part of the ‘Learning beyond the classroom’ initiative at the School.
The walk commenced at the Richards Park where a brief history of the area was given. The group then proceeded to observe the Colonial Bungalows in the immediate vicinity of the park. Several typologies were identified in terms of plan, embellishments and detailing. Live sketching and photo documentation were conducted during the walk. Points covered during the walk included Richard’s park-Wheeler’s Pavilion, Bungalows of Richards Town, Holy Ghost church, Mizpah Telugu Church, St. John’s Church, culminating at St Francis Xavier cathedral.
The students got a firsthand experience of British colonial architecture as seen in the Bungalows and churches of the Cantonment area. The walk was further enhanced by brief insights on planning principles, construction techniques and architectural styles explained by the accompanying faculty members. The detailed documentation of the area by the students is to be presented for the End-semester Evaluation of the course.
The walk was led by Ar. Vidya Srikanth and Ar. Shubhi S., Faculty members handling the course at REVA University. Ar. Shama Parween, Ar. Ujjal Halder and Ar. Raghuteja V accompanied the group of a total of 50 students who participated in the walk.
