ABSTRACT
The reach of Art Deco in the Indian subcontinent was extraordinary. Art Deco became popular during British colonial rule but lasted beyond the demise of the British empire, well into the 1960s, long after it had exhausted its popularity in Europe and North America. This chapter presents a distinction between the architecture of empire and imperialist architecture. In India, the complexity of the architecture of empire may be ascribed primarily to several reasons. First, the rich and diverse traditions of monumental and vernacular architecture in the subcontinent predating British colonial rule provided the framework for colonial buildings. Second, the architectural patronage of the Indian upper and middle classes played a large role in defining the built landscape during colonial rule. The notion of architecture and empire brings to mind monumental buildings built by imperial authority that share a “concern for political effect”. Art Deco spread across the British empire in India largely outside the circuits of imperial governance.
