VERNACULAR

ARCHITECTURE
IN

GOA
101118010- Gautham Kumar
101118022- Manideep Mamidala
101118027- Dinesh Pathiwada
101118028- Jayanth Ponnam
 INTRODUCTION TO GOA
LOCATION:
❖ Goa is Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan
❖ Goa is a former Portuguese colony, the Portuguese overseas territory of
Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961
❖ Renowned for its beaches, places of worship and world heritage architecture
❖ Being in the Tropical zone the climate is warm and humid
❖ Temperatures from 20 c – 35 c
C ❖ Sudden downpours and tropical thunderstorms.

FACTORS AFFECTING ARCHITECTURE OF GOA:

❖ To protect from fierce monsoons
❖ The Goan master builders executed these ideas using local building materials,
making the Goan house a mixture and adaptation of design elements and
influences from all over the world.
❖ The architectural style of Portuguese-built churches
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 02
INDO GOAN
PORTUGESE CHRISTIAN
HOUSES HOUSES
 01
INDO
PORTUGESE
HOUSES
 Portuguese houses:
❖ Style : Indo Portuguese Style
❖ The Catholic houses built or refurbish between the middle of the 18th
and the 20th centuries were more outward looking and ornamental,
with balconies (covered porches) and verandas facing the street.
❖ The traditional pre-Portuguese homes were inward-looking with small
windows; this reflected the secluded role of women.
❖ The houses opened into courtyards, and rarely opened onto streets.
❖ Balconies are commonly found in Goan houses which is a wide
veranda running along the front of the house and occasionally along
its sides and at the back.
❖ These balcoas are bordered by ornamental columns that sometimes continued along the steps and added to the
stature of the house.
❖ The large balconies had built-in seating, open to the street, where men and the women could sit together.
❖ This, together with the plinth, which and usually indicated the status of the owners. The houses of rich landlords
had high plinths with grand staircases just leading to the front door or balcão.
❖ A typical Hindu home is low-scaled with a low plinth, a small seating porch with short bulbous columns and a loft
like upper floor with windows.
❖ The house reveals its beauty only indoors – rooms converge on to the courtyard with ‘Chowkis’
❖ Column and their brackets are pre-Portugese features that depict the progression of the architectural style in
ornateness and refinement.
❖ Internal courtyard with rooms built
❖ Building Materials : Laterite stones, Baked clay tiles
❖ Ancestral Hindu houses in the town are plain, closed structures which
conceal the illustrious tradition of the inhabitants
❖ The goan Hindu Architectural style is different from the Portuguese-
influenced style.
❖ Hindu houses have little colonial influence
❖ Most of the houses are symmetrical
❖ Rectangular in plan
❖ Single storey
❖ A step or two (plinth level) lead into quiet entrances, with small
windows opening out onto the street
❖ Central entrance has a verandah
❖ The rooms are arranged around a central pillared courtyard
WINDOWS
❖ Large ornamental windows with stucco mouldings open onto verandas.
❖ These may appear purely decorative, but have their origins in similar
mouldings in the windows of Portuguese houses.
❖ Windows gradually became more decorative, ornate, and expressive.
❖ Front doors were flanked by columns or pilasters.
❖ Pillars, piers, and colours do not seem to be influenced by any style in
particular; rather they conform to a rather mixed architectural styles.
❖ Railings were the most intricate embellishment in a Goan house.
❖ The interiors have a high ceiling Well Typical rooster motifs on rooftops.
Eavesboards
Eavesboards are the gable ends and eaves of
timber roofs decorated with carved timber
fasclas. These Eaves boards are used on the
verge of gables where the covering of the roof
extended over the wall
The design of the eavesboards In Goa reflects
the character of those of the Gothic Revival
period. It also came under the Rococo style,
which gave them curvilinear patterns. They are
painted in bright colors so as to catch the light
and also present a sharp and strong contrast
against the shadow caused by the roof
projections.
Railings
The 19th century houses had decorated
woodwork used extensively on their facades.
Perhaps the most intricate embellishment in the
Goan house is seen in the design of its railings.
Intricately carved wooden railings are present
both in Hindu as well as Catholic houses and
reflect the fine tuned artistic caliber most Goans
present
The local carpenter who worked with various
motifs made most of these railings. Cast Iron
railings were direct Imports from British India.
Floral, geometric designs and patterns taken
from elements of nature were the common
motifs.
Balcao
The balcao is common feature of the Goan
House. It could be described as a colonnaded
porch with seats build into the sides, a kind of
open hall accordant with the ideas of decorum.
It is the Goan house's device for
opening up to the world.
The balcaos are mainly Influenced by the
Baroque style. The end of the 19th century saw
the final evolution of the Goan house or the
Indo- Portuguese house. The climatic conditions
in Goa alded the metamorphosis of the balcao
Into a wide veranda running all along the front
and sometimes the sides of the house.
Gate-Houses and Gateposts
The Gateposts and the Gate-ways that crave
attention are architectural features that perform
an ambiguous function, that of drawing your
attention to the house within and intimidating
you from entering without permission. The early
examples of Goan Gateways have a very strong
Hindu Influence. Gateways & compound wall
had to be lime plastered and simply white
washed in accordance to the color specifications
during the Portuguese rule.
The most distinctive of all Goan Gateposts are
the ones with animal forms perched on top of
the gateposts. The lions In particular are well
detailed and quite remarkable.
Pillars and Columns
A stylistic analysis of the pillars, plers and
columns In Goan houses show that they do not
seem to be influenced by any style in particular
and are instead a rather mixed bag of
architectural styles. No other feature exhibits a
much singular exuberance and Individuality as
the columns do In a Goan house.
Columns range from simple masonry to
elaborate works of art that display Goa's
Indigenous craftsmanship. From plane wooden
ones to elaborate display of Rococo features,
the pillars give Goan houses an unsurpassed
distinction.
Pilasters and Cornices
The Indo-Portuguese houses use Italian
Classical features in the planning of the facade.
A vertical emphasis on the building was
achieved by the use of the pilasters. The
repetitive use of this column-like projection
along with the windows, which were placed flush
with the wall surface, divided the wall into bays.
The Inclusion of the cornices in the design of the
facade of the houses was the striving for
excellence in the design. The top of the laterite
masonry wall in the house is crowned with a
molded projection or the cornices. The cornices
more importantly also support the projections of
the root.
Goan traditional Hindu houses have the
following features:
❖ A courtyard called as Rajangan, where a Tulsi Vrindavan is
seen
❖ Chowki- space next to the courtyard, where family activities
take place – internal verandah
❖ Deva kood - a place for prayers and their rituals.
❖ A hall specially meant for celebrating Ganeshotsav
❖ Ranchi kood - a kitchen with a door
❖ Soppo -space used for relaxing. called Magil daar
❖ Saal - a hall
❖ Balantin kood -A room special for pregnant and nursing
mothers
❖ Kothar - store room
❖ Vasri - Dining Hall
❖ Manne - Bathrooms located next to the well
❖ Gotho - Goshala
ELEMENTS IN A HOUSE
 USE OF COLOUR
❖ Dramatic and startling colour initially achieved with vegetable and natural dyes—plays an
important role.
❖ The effect achieved is aesthetically pleasing, giving the roof projection.
❖ Colour was decorative and used solid, moulded appearance purely to create a sensation
❖ With a colour wash, the house looked "dressed" and therefore displayed the economic
well-being of the family that lived in it. Here art in architecture performed a social function.
❖ The walls were made of mud and then later of laterite stone; they were usually plastered
then painted.
❖ Very few buildings are coloured exactly alike and solid colours are used for front facades;
interiors are usually in paler colours/white with solid color highlights.
CORNICES
❖ Country tiles used as a corbel are a feature peculiar to Goa.
❖ The effect achieved is aesthetically pleasing, giving the roof projection a solid, moulded appearance.

INTERIORS
❖ Painting on walls.
❖ Walls up to dado height finished with glazed tiles.
❖ Floral pattern below the cornice.
❖ Floral painted tiles adorn the doorways to the houses.
❖ Country tiles used as a corbel are a peculiar feature.
❖ Corbel are a initially achieved effect which is
aesthetically pleasing, giving the roof projection a solid,
moulded appearance.
 02
GOAN
CHRISTIAN
HOUSES
 GOAN CHRISTIAN HOUSES
❖ Porch (balcao),
❖ Tall European style columns around
❖ Materials :Baked Clay tiles, Laterite Local bricks & Mangalore tiles.
❖ The arrival of the Portuguese brought foreign influences and opportunities for Goans to travel.
❖ The contours and colours of the houses began to change
❖ Goans who embraced Christianity sought new identities, and their houses were one facet of cultural expression.
❖ Houses acquired ‘balcaos’ (sit-outs facing the street) with built-in seating at the entrance of the houses.
❖ Columns line the balcaos, and large, ornamental windows with varying helped sailors spot their houses as
they sailed into port.
❖ Gateways to the houses were lofty and elegant in the 18th century later they designs were replaced by
towering gateways.
❖ Railings were the most intricate embellishment in a Goan house.
❖ The rich tropical colours of these edifices add a wealth of character to goan architecture.
❖ Pillars, piers and colours do not seem to be influenced by any style in particular.
❖ Only churches and chapels were allowed to remain white, and the law required other buildings to sport a
colour.
❖ Windows gradually become more decorative, ornate and
expressive
❖ Almost all Goan houses have a false colour. ceiling of
wood
❖ The houses thus were painted deep ochre, sapphire and
claret.
❖ The Kitchen in Goan house was at the farthest end of
the house.
❖ The facade of most houses was symmetrical with the
entrance door occupying the place of honour.
❖ The broad elements of Goan houses result form a mixture of Indian and Portuguese styles.
❖ Homes that are Portuguese in origin are usually two-storeyed and façade oriented; Whereas those of Indian origin are
single-storeyed with a traditional courtyard based orientation.
❖ Between the two also, there is wonderful mixing and marrying of ideas, resulting in nuanced, hybrid architecture that is
both impressive and inspiring- for example the two- storeyed house in which the top story is functional while the
ground floor is merely ornamental
❖ It was Portuguese custom to segregate the lower storey of the house for the household staff and retainers.

❖ Since in the Hindu home the servant quarters were typically

located at the back of the house, this bottom storey became
shorter, until it reduced to an ornamental high- platform in time,
adorned with decorative arches, pilasters and colonettes.
❖ The upper class Goan aristocrats sought to emulate and even
surpass the grandeur of the residences of their Portuguese
counterparts.
❖ The practice of building grand staircases in the entrance halls,
many windowed facades; busts of classical Renaissance figures
in the pediments of façade windows, grand dance halls as a
focal point of the Baroque style staircase home.
 INTERIORS
❖ Most houses are symmetrical with the entrance door occupying the place of honour.
❖ Typically this front door leads to a foyer which then either leads to the sala (the main hall for entertaining a
large number of guests) or the sala de visita (a smaller hall for entertaining a small number of guests) and in
some cases the chapel in the house.
❖ From here one can also directly enter the rest of the house, which usually revolved around a courtyard.
❖ Typically the master bedroom opens into the sala or is close to it.
❖ The dining room is usually perpendicular to these rooms; the bedrooms flank the courtyard, and the kitchens
and service areas are at the rear of the house.
❖ In the case of two-story houses, a staircase, either from the foyer or the dining room, leads to more
bedrooms.
❖ Consisting of humble burnt earth plastered over with cow dung and hay, or with elaborate patterns made
with tiles imported from Europe, the floors in Goan houses have been both workplaces and statements.
❖ Almost all Goan houses have a false ceiling of wood.
 THANKS!
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