Reclaiming Colonial Architecture

Edited by: Tania Sengupta, Associate Professor and Co-Director, Architectural and Urban History and Theory PhD and Dr Stuart King, Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne

Our world is full of lands, cities, buildings and artefacts, many of which are deposits and residues of colonial times and, more pervasively, colonial processes. Reclaiming Colonial Architecture unpacks the built inheritances of colonialism and rethinks how we might understand, narrate, intervene in or act upon them as architects.

Offering historical background, unpacking key concepts and presenting thematically organised and multi-scalar urban and architectural case studies, this accessible publication showcases how legacies of colonialism are being dealt with in real-world instances. Case studies involve works and actions by built environment professionals such as architects and heritage practitioners, as well as community initiatives and activism.

The book charts a historical background of colonialism, its present-day continuities and ensuing inequities, its built environmental and material forms, and the demands for justice arising in relation to these in recent times. Thematically organised, the work spans landscapes, urban contexts, buildings and material culture, presenting contributions covering global geographies of critical responses to colonialism’s material presences.

The book aims to build confidence in practitioners, students and communities grappling with a seemingly vast and complex terrain of debates and approaches around colonial landscapes, urban areas, buildings, monuments and material culture. Speaking to students, academics and practitioners, it seeks to bring clarity to the vast and complex debates and approaches around colonially inherited material environments.

Dr Sengupta teaches and researches architectural history and theory, specialising in colonial architecture and urban spatial history, especially of South Asia, with particular focus on architectures of governance, bureaucracy and domesticity in British India. She is also a tutor and thesis supervisor on the Architecture MArch and Architectural History MA programmes.

About the publication Reclaiming Colonial Architecture is published by RIBA Publications (2024). The book represents a key intervention in decolonising architectural education and practice, addressing the built environment’s historical connections with colonialism and global capitalism whilst critically examining resulting inequities.

• Purchase the book from RIBA Publishing