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DUTCH
COLONIAL
ARCHITECTURE
SUBMITTED TO –
AR. DEEKSHA SHARMA
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Town characteristics of dutch
urban settlement :

• Corners built up first

• Gable end to street
• Tall, narrow elevations
• Stepped gable
• Brick facing
Corner built up

Stepped gable Brick facing

 KOCHI
ABOUT KOCHI
CITY
o Kochi, also known as Cochin, is a major part city on the south-west coast of
India and is part of the district of Ernakulum in the state of Kerala.
o It is often called Ernakulum, which refers to the mainland part of the city.
KOCHI CITY o It is the second largest city in Kerala after Thiruvananthapuram .
around 1630 o Characteristic physical feature – expanse of backwaters and low lying
SOURCE: City wetlands.
Development Plan,
KOCHI o Typical soil strata – alluvial soil laden with fine silt & clay to depths up to
50m.
o Hot humid climate with max. temp of 34 deg & min of 22 deg.
o Average annual rain fall – 3000 mm from two monsoons.
o Relative Humidity – 70 – 87 %
o Kochi also known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, was an important spice
trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century onward, and
maintained a trade network with Arab merchants from the pre-Islamic era.
o Occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European
colonies.
 In colonial India. It remained the main seat of Portuguese India until 1530,
when Goa was chosen instead. The city was later occupied by the Dutch and
the British.
Click icon to add picture  Cochin Port was formed in 1341, when the heavy
floods of that year silted up the mouths of the Musiris
harbor and the surging waters forced a channel past the
present inlet into the sea. The old merchants of Musiris
shifted to Cochin as soon as the new outlet became
more or less stable.
 As the harbour gained prominence, the then ruler of the
region shifted his capital also to Cochin, giving impetus
to the growth of the town.
 The early settlement of Cochin was at Mattancherry,
facing the protected lagoons in the east, which provided
safe anchorage to country crafts in all seasons.
Mattancherry was linked to the entire coastal stretch of
Kerala through this inland waters. Thus gradually it
grew into a busy settlement.

Cochin street  Nicolo Conti recorded that, by 1440, Cochin was a city
5 miles in circumference and that Chinese and Arabs
carried on brick trade with the natives of this town.
 Colonial settlement in Fort Cochin:

•From 16th Century, Cochin witnessed the rapid changes

through the trading and colonizing attempts of European
powers. Portuguese were the first to arrive in Cochin. They
founded Fort Cochin established factories and warehouses,
schools and hospitals and extended their domain in the
political and religious fronts. The fall of the Portuguese in
Cochin came with take over of the Fort by Dutch in 1663.
•The Dutch East India Company tried to persuade the local
rulers into giving them monopoly in pepper trade. In this
attempt, they came across varied interests of other forces viz.
English, French and the Dutch.
•For hundred years therefore Cochin became the center of
political and commercial battle. In 1795, The British took
over Cochin from the Dutch. Fort Cochin thus became
The city of cochin in 1672 British Cochin. It became a Municipality in 1866.
KOCHI IN Kochi was formed due to
flooding in the periyar river.
The early inhabitants of
1500 - 1600 Cochin was at Mattanchery,
facing the protected lagoons
in the east, which provided
safe anchorage to country
crafts in all seasons. Thus
gradually it grew into a
busy settlement.
Kochi was house to most of the
exotic spices. The Arabs had
kept the spice route a secret.
When the Turkish Empire rose
to power, they controlled the
overland trade routes between
the East and the Europeans.
As the goods changed hands
many times, the prices were
exorbitant by the time it
reached Europe. Further, the
Turks who controlled
Constantinople had absurd
conditions for letting cargoes
from the East pass through
their city. This enraged the
Western European merchants
and they decided to set sail to
find their own sea route. This
decision made Columbus and
Vasco Da Gama legendary.
They found a new sea route to
the land of spices, Kerala and
broke the Arab monopoly.
KOCHI Initiation of the idea
of making a great
IN 1870 harbour, out of the
unique lagoons in
kochi.
From 16th Century,
Cochin witnessed
the rapid changes
through the trading
and colonizing
attempts of European
powers.
FORT
COCHIN

SOURCE: CDP, KOCHI

KOCHI
IN 1920
o The Island was
created during
construction of
modern Kochi Port
in 1916 with the
soil dredged out
while deepening
the Vembanad
Lake to
accommodate the WELLINGDON
new Kochi Port. FORT ISLAND
COCHIN

SOURCE: CDP, KOCHI

KOCHI
IN 1940
Road-rail
Connection to the
east from the
island completed

Kochi originated as
a market harbour
town, and gradually
urban expansion FORT
out grew the COCHIN
boundaries of the
city.
The developments
were mainly along
the traffic corridors
leaving small
pockets of
undeveloped areas
in between.
The railway line
divides the city
into two parts.

SOURCE: CDP, KOCHI

KOCHI IN POST
INDEPENDENCE
1947 onwards
Post independence
development in economic
activities and urbanisation

FORT
COCHIN

SOURCE: CDP, KOCHI

1950-2000

FORT
COCHIN
 Market Town- Mattancherry

•Mattancherry, meanwhile, had developed as a

typical oriental market town, with commercial
activities distributed along the waterfronts.
•The agricultural produce from the vast hinterland
flowed to its markets to be sold or exchanged for
textiles, metals, and other products of European
Countries. Jews and Muslims had their settlements
here.
•The trading communities from Gujarat and the
emigrants from Goa too established themselves in
Mattancherry along with the native Hindus and early
Christians. As far as the rulers were concerned, this
helped to strike a balance of economic power with the
Market town of mattancherry European traders.
 Administrative Centre – Ernakulam

•By 1840, Mattanchery was so much crowded

that the Cochin rulers shifted their capital to
Ernakulam on the eastern side of the
backwaters. Public buildings and educational
institutions were set up in Ernakulam befitting
the splendor of Maharajas. Roads were laid
out. Markets were established. Temples were
renovated.
•Railways came to Ernakulam in 1905. Ernakulam
thus gradually started developing as an
administrative town. Mattancherry rose to the status
of Municipality in 1912 and was followed by
Ernakulam in 1913.
Ernakulam veiw
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 Development of Cochin Port
•In those decades the existence of a sand bar in the sea mouth prevented
large ships from entering safely into the backwaters of Cochin. With
industrialization in the west there came the revolution in overseas trade
with the wrought iron ships of greater draught and the consequent need for
deeper and safer harbours and stronger moorings. The opening of Suez
Canal in 1869 further emphasized the importance of this port as a coaling
station for this route. The idea of making great harbour, out of the unique
lagoons in Cochin was thus originated as early as 1870. But Cochin
presented a case for dredged channel leading to the inland harbour,
unfortunately the science and art of dredging was not fully developed in
this period.
•Hence it was only in 1920 that the port works were initiated. Under the
direction of Sir Robert Bristo, the sand bar at sea mouth was cut open and
a deep shipping channel was dredged to the backwaters.
•The spoils of the dredging was used to the reclaim Wellington Island from
the backwaters. Road connection to the main land on the west and road-rail
connection to the east from the island was completed in 1940 when Cochin
was declared as a major port by the Government of India. Wellington Island
Cochin Port
developed with its wharfs, quays and other infrastructure as terminal
complex of transportation.
 Genesis of Cochin Corporation

•The industrialization in turn resulted in population increase

and consequent urban growth. Cochin thus witnessed
unprecedented trends of urbanization during the past four
decades.
•The growth of population and activities has necessitated
efforts to tackle urban problems, to regulate city building and
to guide future development.
•While the Municipal Govt.s of Fort Cochin, Mattanchery and
Ernakulam were able to exercise their powers and evolve
schemes in their respective areas of jurisdiction, they were not
in aposition to perceive the problems of urban growth as a
whole and to plan for it.
•In order to streamline the municipal administration, the Cochin
Corporation was formed in 1967, incorporating the three
Cochin aerial view
Municipalities (Fort Cochin, Mattanchery and Ernakulam).
Wellington Island and few surrounding areas in the suburbs.
 Jewish Synagogue – Mattancherry
 Built in 1568 AD. This building houses some ancient
articles like the Great Scrolls of the Old Testament, the
copper plates with royal inscriptions issued to the
colonists by the ruling Maharaja of Cochin State, and
the exquisite Chinese hand-painter tiles.

Jewish Synagogue elevation Interior views

Parade Ground
Surrounded by impressive century old trees, the Parade
Ground was used by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British
to conduct military drills and parades. It is situated in the heart
of Fort Kochi and you can see some of the fine old buildings
surrounding it. These buildings accommodated the
administration of the colonial powers. Today it is the largest
open space in Fort Cochin and serves as a public sports ground.

Parade ground views

 Koder House
This magnificent building constructed by Samuel S.
Koder of The Cochin Electrical Company in 1808 is a
supreme example of the transition from colonial to Indo
European architecture. Features like verandah seats at
the entrance, floor tiles set in a chess board pattern, red
colored brick like façade, carved wood furniture and a
wooden bridge connecting to a separate structure across
the street are all unique to this bungalow.
Koder House elevation

Interior views
Thank you
S U B M I T T E D BY-
M I S H U L G U P TA
75186008
B . A RC H , 4 T H S E M .
References
 https://www.slideshare.net/rohitsurekh/development-of-colonial-architecture-in-india
 https://www.slideshare.net/rajatrmr/british-colonial-architecture
 http://
www.arch.ttu.edu/people/faculty/ellis_c/arch5319/Lectures/10%20Dutch_German%20Colonial.pdf
 https://www.gettyimages.com/
 https://www.slideshare.net/kens14803/dutch-colonial-revival-architecture
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