Kingsway holds a small, yet significant part of the world's collection of works of Art Deco. This art movement started in northern France in the early 20th century. The end of the First World War in 1911 fuelled construction and aided as a catalyst for the birth this style. It grew tangentially to the manufacture of machinery during the industrial age and was popular in the United States, which houses two famous landmarks of this art movement namely the Empire State and the Chrysler buildings. Its close resemblance to machines results in its being referred to as "streamlined architecture". The contours of aircrafts and steamships are visibly replicated in Art Deco facades.
Also used are the stepped forms, rounded corners, triple striped and decorative elements. Geometric order and simple formats define the design. They mostly comprised of tumbling curves and interlaced lattices. The Art Deco movement percolated freely into other disciplines of art such as painting, furniture or interiors and touched lifestyle elements too. The popular colored terrazzo flooring with oxides is a product of this movement. The three art styles that greatly affected Art Deco can be classified as Cubism, Constructivism and Futurism. Art Nouveau, a movement that sprung up in conjunction propagated the use of intricate organic patterns instead of the Art Deco's simple geometric patterns.
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History has been taught through architecture from time immemorial |
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A drive down Secunderbad's famed Kingsway (now known as R.P.Road) brings one face to face with Art Deco works. They span from the early 1930's and fade into Modernism of the 60s. Clearly seen is democratization through style continuity in the seamless ribbon of trading houses flanking both sides of the street. Quantity though does not beat quality in this case. They are truly a treasure in the spectrum of period architecture in the city. Streamlined buildings, geometric patterns for jaalis and railings, triple striped decorative elements are all orchestrated. They are sometimes also blended with the organic patterns of Art Nouveau resulting in a symphony of styles. The symmetric and asymmetric patterns are seen sitting well together. The rounded corners of buildings bear a strong resemblance to the contoured shapes of aircrafts.
Secunderabad underwent a major construction phase in the 1920's. Ranga Ramanujan was a civil engineer in the British Residency in the erstwhile Madras. After the stint in Madras he returned to Secunderabad and started practice in 1929. He was one of the pioneers of Art Deco in Secunderabad. A civil engineer by profession, he learnt the nuances of the art deco style mainly from colleagues and books. His son Narendra, a practicing architect says, "My father used to read Fergusson and would sketch relentlessly to conclude the geometric patterns of the jaali". Moosthiala Laxman Rao reminiscences, "Ramanujan would give us options from which we would pick designs for our house".
The Vysyas who were a wealthy trading community of the city during the thirties mainly patronized this style. Maduri Rajeshwar Rao was one of the earliest pioneers of the style. He traveled abroad extensively and encouraged Ramanujan in his attempts to bring the Art Deco movement to Secunderabad. Boorugu Mahadev and Dundoo Narasimha were also patrons of Art Deco. Among the non-Vysyas, Chamanlal Modi built several structures on Kingsway. Buildings in Koti and Osman Ganj also had similar character. Ramanujan was succeeded by more architects practicing the style, among which architect Premdas was well-known.
Kingsway became Secunderabad's Art Deco architectural gallery in line and lime of the Art Deco style. An interesting observation in the geometry of the railings is the incorporation of initials of the house owners. I wasn't baffled to read "Boorugu Buildings" on one of them with curvaceously set letter 'B' in the railings of a structure and atop its compound wall. Some railings contain a story like the one on the Mandir opposite the Gujarati School. Between the symmetric geometric patterns are often proudly embossed the year of construction. The date is usually incorporated in the terrace parapet wall.
The presence of such details in these buildings adds a rich character and variety to the architecture. Pillars or columns in the elevation are not prominent as in the classical style. They are in the same plane as the building's faÇade rather than seen independently in relief. The facades too look similar in multitude which indicates the presence of a regulatory board. The city improvement trust board (CITB) formed in the late 1930's functioned as an urban arts commission in the area
The remnants after the indiscriminate rebuilding leave only the last sprinkle of the style amongst the ever-surging commercial complexes in the area. Kingsway was created as a commercial district and like all planned commercial zones in a settlement it housed the best works of construction of its time. They brew a story in the architecture of our city and are definitely an asset to the rich collection of architecture in our city.
The symphony is not only crumbling but clearly is being wiped off with absolute no trace. It is very distressing when art and architecture are treated with no reverence. History has been taught through architecture from time immemorial. Conservation is another step closer to keeping the history intact. Says architect Yeshwant Ramamurthy, "Without concerned intervention RP Road may indeed become the R.I.P. road of Secunderabad for the once prominent style symbol of the art deco motif". Taking a leaf out of Mumbai's Marine Drive we can see that when architecture is passionately preserved the result is unparalleled.
Tags: art deco, art noveau, cubism, constructivism, futurism, empire state building, chrysler building, vedasri sidamsetty.
