VERNACULARARCHITECTURE

PLANNING OF COCHINCITY
AND PONDICHERY
CLIMATE:
-Hot and Humid climate
-stormy winds in evenings
-Moderate rainfall
-Rainfall from North-West Monsoon

ARCHITECTURE:
-The Architecture here is highly influenced by the culture of the place.
-The city is divided into 2 quarters.while one is French sectors and other is tamil
section.
French sector is known as “ville blanche”
Tamil quarter known as “Ville Nogar”.
-There are also some excellent structures here that represent the fusion of the two
dominant architectural
styles of this place.These houses belong to the Franco-Tamil category.
-In the tamil section of the city a visitor can notice houses with thalavaram and
thinnais.
-the thalavarams are street verandas with a leanjng roof which is supported by wooden
posts.vertical columns and
pillars with ornamented Parapets are characteristic features of typical tamil style of
houses.
-The thinnais are public verandas with masonry seats for guests and visitors.

-The interiors of the houses in the French quarter are more embellished than the
exteriors.
-French architectural influences are marked by the tall arched windows and door along
with the high ceilings.
-the French houses were generally built with street frontage.
-the window shades were generally made of wood or light metals.
Road plan: A typical French style;Grid plan where the streets meet each other at right angles.

This is known as great divide, as it

separates the French and tamil
Sections.
Tamil houses French houses
 LOCATION, GEOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATIC
CONDITIONS:

Cochin – Biggest urban

conglomeration in Kerala. Location –
9deg 55’ N & 76deg15’ East.
Characteristic physical feature –
expanse of backwaters and low
lying wetlands.
Typical soil strata – alluvial soil laden
with fine silt & clay to depths up to
50m.
Hot humid climate with max. temp
of 34 deg &min of 22 deg.
Average annual rain fall – 3000mm
from two monsoons.
Relative Humidity – 70 – 87 %
IMAGE OFPORTOFCOCHIN
HISTORIC AREAS OF THECITY:
EarlyHistory:

•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 thesea. 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 Mattanchery, facing the
protected lagoons in the east, which provided safe anchorage to country
crafts in all seasons. Mattanchery was linked to the entire coastal stretch
of Kerala through this inland waters. Thusgradually it grew into a busy
settlement.
•Nicolo Conti recorded that, by 1440, Cochin was a city 5 miles in
circumference and that Chinese and Arabs carried on brisk trade with
the natives ofthis town.
Colonial settlement in FortCochin:

•From 16th Century, Cochin witnessed the rapid changesthrough 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, Frenchand 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 British Cochin. Itbecame a
•Municipality in1866.
Maps – showing growth of
settlements in Cochin
Market Town-Mattanchery
•Mattanchery, 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 Mattanchery along with the native Hindus and early Christians. As faras the rulers were
concerned, this helped to strike a balance of economic power with the 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. Roadswere laid out. Markets
were established. Temples wererenovated.
•Railways came to Ernakulam in 1905. Ernakulam thus gradually started developingas an
administrative town. Mattanchery rose to the status of Municipality in 1912 and was
followed by Ernakulam in 1913.
Development of CochinPort
•In those decades the existence of a sand bar in the sea mouth prevented large shipsfrom 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 ofdredging was not fully
developed in thisperiod.
•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 developed withits
wharfs, quays and other infrastructure as terminal complex of transportation.
•Cochin port gradually became the focus of the city. Centered around the port facility grew large
number of business and commercial establishments providing the economic base to the city and the
environs.
Genesis of CochinCorporation

•The industrialization in turn resulted in population increase and

consequent urban growth. Cochin thus witnessedunprecedented trends
of urbanization during the past four decades.
•The growth of population and activities has necessitated effortsto tackle
urban problems, to regulate city buildingand to
•guide future development.
•While the Municipal Govt.s of Fort Cochin, Mattanchery and Ernakulam
were able to exercise their powers and evolve schemesin their respective
areas of jurisdiction, they were not in aposition to perceive the problems
of urban growth as a whole and toplan for it.
•In order to streamline the municipal administration, the Cochin
Corporation was formed in 1967, incorporating the three Municipalities
(Fort Cochin, Mattanchery and Ernakulam).Wellington Island and few
surrounding areas in thesuburbs.
 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.

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.
 These huge cantilevered fishing nets are the legacy
from the ancient visitors to the Malabar coast.
Built in the 14th century AD by traders from the
court of Kublai Khan, these ingenious contraptions
were made from locally available teak wood and
bamboo poles. The best place to watch the nets
being lowered into the sea and raised with the
catch isthe Vasco da Gama Square, a paved
promenade that runs along the beach.

This mansion used to be the busy office of

Pierce Leslie & Co. Who traded in coffee and
other produce from Kerala from the year
1862 onwards till recently. A prominent
colonial bungalow in Fort Cochin, it
combines Portuguese, Dutch and also local
style of architecture. Characteristic features
are wooden panels that for a false ceiling to
the ground floor halls, arched doorways,
carved doors and sprawling rooms.
Waterfront verandahs add to the glamour of
the edifice.
 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
Mattancherry Palace (Dutch Palace) to this bungalow.
Built by the Portuguese and presented to
the Raja (King) of Cochin in 1557 AD, it
acquired the present name after 1663
when the Dutch carried out extension and
renovation in the Palace. Its interiors are
decorated with murals from the epic
Ramayana. Also there are exhibits of some
royal costumes and palanquins used by the
Rajas for travel.
Indo-Portuguese Museum /Bishop’s House
Standing on a gentle hillock near the Parade Ground, the Bishop’s House boasts a facade
having large gothic arches. Originally build in 1506 AD for the residence of the Portuguese
Governor; it was the turn of the Dutch to occupy it from 1663 AD.After the British
conquest in 1795 the property came into the possession of the Vernedes family. From them
it moved into the hands of Dom Jose Gomes Ferreira, the 27th Bishop of Cochin, whose
jurisdiction extended over to Burma, Malaya and Ceylon, in addition to the whole of
Southern and Eastern India.
Today, a Museum depicting Indo-Portuguese history is functioning in a newly built hall.
St. Francis Church
Considered as India’s oldest European
Church, it was originally Roman Catholic
Church during the Portuguese period from
1503 till 1663 Ad, then Dutch Reformist till
1804, and Anglican till 1947. Today it is part
of the Church of South India. The Original
timber structure was demolished and
reconstructed using stone masonry during
the 16th century.

Fort Immanuel
Built in 1503, Fort Immanuel was a
symbol of the strategic alliance
between the Rajah of Cochin and
Monarch of Portugal, after whom it
was named. The Fort was strengthened
in 1538, but after the Dutch conquest
in 1663 it deteriorated to a third of its
original size. In 1806 the British
brought down the huge walls of the
Fort and most of the bastions. Now its
remains can still be traced along the
beach, some under water.