An Architecture that changes cities

Robert 'Fellowes' Chisholm & The History of Baroda City

Robert 'Fellowes' Chisholm's Buildings in Baroda City

Baroda a state of conquest, remarkable reminisces, legacy and memory. A district that has had the opportunity to be layered by a new urban renaissance in the late 1800. The climatically sensitive and experimental urban icons introduced then have had a phenomenal bearing on the architectural vocabulary of the city. Each building is a monument; the sheer scale and the proportion of the built spaces vis-a-vis the open space have a critical dialogue with its audience, which exposes them to the supremacy of the capital city which was Baroda state. The contrasting mix of the British authoritarian eclectic architecture and old city ruled by the Gaikwads demarks the intention and power ratios that the British established.

Robert “Fellowes” Chisholm was one of the major architects and icon of that time who revolutionalised the city of Baroda with his insightful architecture and thoughtful urban schemes. He channelised the organically growing Baroda city to a more structured metropolis. These dedicated spaces for the administrative, recreational and educational purposes made the city a more functional and usable for the masses. Today the more urbanised city of Baroda has quadrupled in population and is crippling. As it has defaulted on implementing new infrastructural and public improvement schemes. The city of grandeur and power is awaiting a new wave of urban measures to revitalize its memory and win back the charm of a capital city.

The documentary is an academic attempt to capture this evolutionary essence of the Baroda city. Starting from the old city of the Gaikwads to Robert ‘Fellowes’ Chisholm’s contribution in restructuring the city and to the city as is. Architect Sanjeev Joshi takes us through the steadily shifting attitudes and powers that have sculpted the city of Baroda overtime.