Empire Building

The colonial architecture of the 19th century has much to tell us of the history of colonialism and cultural exchange. Yet, these buildings can be read in many ways. Do they stand as witnesses to the rapacity and self-delusion of empire? Are they monuments to a world of lost glory and forgotten convictions? Do they simply represent an architectural style made absurdly incongruous in relocation? This study explains how and why western architecture was exported to the East and how Islamic and Byzantine architectural ideas and styles impacted on the West. It also explores how far racial theory and political and religious agendas guided British architects and how eastern ideas came to influence the West, through writers such as Ruskin and buildings such as the Crystal Palace.