ARC2402 Mid-Semester Essay: Colonialism's Role in Modernity

This essay critically analyzes how various authors situate Colonialism within a broader narrative of Modernity, focusing on its impact on architectural development and urban planning. The analysis draws upon the works of Sibel Bozdogan, Mark Rosenthal, and Penelope Edmonds, each offering distinct perspectives on the relationship between colonial practices and modern architectural forms. Bozdogan addresses the challenges of cross-cultural architectural history and the influence of colonialism on reshaping living environments. Rosenthal examines the urban planning of Sydney as a microcosm of British society, contrasting it with London. Edmonds explores the development of settler-colonial cities, comparing Melbourne and Victoria, and the imposition of colonial order through space and infrastructure. The essay highlights how the authors employ case studies and architectural examples to illustrate the interplay between colonialism and the shaping of modern society, emphasizing the political, social, and cultural dimensions of this complex relationship, as well as the challenges faced in understanding colonial architecture. The essay is based on the ARC2402 course mid-semester essay assignment.

I
COLONIALISM WITHIN A BROADER NARRATIVE OF MODERNITY
Your Name
Date

II
Architecture
History is an outcome of cultural fabrication and development, just like architecture. The
literary sources and documented history reflect the social, economic, political and cultural
situations of an era just like a mirror. The essay makes an analysis of how different authors have
placed Colonialism within a broader narrative of Modernity and how it shaped the society during
the period of Modernity.
Sibel Bozdogan in his article addresses the current challenges faced in the architectural
history as to how to make it more cross-cultural and how to talk about the politics of architecture
Architectural debates of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on the transformation of distant
territories offer insights of postcolonial education of the architect. The political circumstances
and the "battle of styles"1 in England, the decline of empires paved the way for early modern
architecture. The history of the contemporary world is a complex one, intertwined with several
colonial, imperial, and cross-cultural encounters. In European and North American societies
modernity was not due to an indigenous development but resulted from social, technological, and
industrial transformations. They experienced modernization as a political and ideological
program. It is essential to study the connections between the large diffusions of architectural
discourses to express the culture of colonial architecture and urban expressions of modern
identity.
Mark Rosenthal investigates architecture in Sydney under the reforming Governorship of
Lachlan Macquarie and the historical developments affecting London architecture. The author
makes a general observation on how Sydney contrasts with during the early nineteenth-century
1 i el o do an Arc itect ral i tor in Pro e ional d cationS b B z g ., “ h u H s y f ss E u ,” 214.

III
evolution. Sydney witnessed the rise and fall of the empire were seen as a colonial town2. The
urban improvement of Sydney saw buildings with features which were designed for their
landscape. The modern buildings within the grass and trees were familiar to Britain. London
gradually developed into a modern city. Sydney can be seen as a microcosm of British society
and identified as a colonial town as well as the center of a penal colony. He cites the example of”
The Convict Barracks at Sydney” that announces its purpose with its appearance.
Penelope Edmonds in his book compares two colonial cities, Melbourne in Australia and
Victoria in Canada. The author writing sheds light on how British settler colonialism developed
during the 19th century. The settler colonial projects relied on increasingly regulated bodies
aimed to discipline indigenous people and extend the reach of empire. Victoria's Indigenous
people's population as large as compared to the far smaller population of Melbourne. The settler-
colonial cities were not confined to the bush or backwoods. They were still dependent on the
knowledge and labor of indigenous tribes. The mechanism of control and disciple worked in
Britain and its colonies. The imperial procession was a reorganization of space to create private
property. The grid-like structure3 kept the natives confined to the villages and kept them
segregated from the whites. The colonial order established itself with the shared transforming of
white and native space. The lives of Indigenous peoples have been overshadowed in these
urbanizing frontiers, although they helped shape its development.
Comparison
Each author looks at the progress of architecture under colonialism with a different
perspective. For example, Penelope Edmonds discusses how colonial frontier intellectualized
2 Mar o ent al ondon er dnek R s h . “L v sus Sy y,” 203.
3 Penelope dmond T i rand ect ildin To n in ndi eno paceE s. “ h s G Obj : Bu g w s I g us S ,”83.

IV
within a non-urban geographical space out somewhere in the country or borderlands. Edmonds
seeks to explain the settler-colonial cities under colonizing structures by taking an example of
Melbourne in Australia and Victoria in Canada. Her discussions on the dominant structures of
space show how the idealized and orderly spaces of the imaginary colonial structures were
different from the very different in reality. Mark Rosenthal in his discussions looks at the
planning of Sydney as a microcosm of British society and how Sydney contrasted with London.
For the author, regularity and order were essential to modify the irregular terrain and reform its
inhabitants. It is essential to note that Rosenthal and Edmonds refer to town plan on a regular
grid as a symbol of modern architecture. Sibel Bozdogan is of the view that while colonialism
meant conquest of one society by the other, the architecture plays a symbolism role in reshaping
the living environments that are perceived to be modern. In her discussion, she focuses on the
challenges faced by the architectural history, and the need to make it more cross-cultural rather
than political. According to her, the history of the modern world is a history of tangled histories
made of numerous cross-cultural, colonial and imperial encounters. Modernization was
experienced as a political program forced from above and from western developments. The
modernisms were not free of western developments completely neither extensions of them.
Bozdogan is of the view that it would be wrong to say that the native cultures were passive
recipients of dominant colonialism.
The above discussion shows how different authors look at Colonialism within a broader
perspective of Modernity. They argue their perspective taking examples of different case studies,
cities, architecture to illustrate their point.

V
Bibliography
o do an i el "Arc itect ral i tor in Pro e ional d cation e lection on Po tcolonial allen eB z g , S b . h u H s y f ss E u : R f s s Ch g s
tot e Modern r e "h Su v y.
o rnal o Arc itect ral d cation
J u f h u E u (1999):207-215.
dmond Penelope " T i rand ect ildin To n in ndi eno pace in r ani in rontierE s, .. “ h s G Obj : Bu g w s I g us S ” U b s g F s:
ndi eno People and ettler in t ent r Paci ic im itie "I g us s S s 19 h C u y f R C s.
anco er Pre
V uv : UBC ss.
( 2010) :71-89.
o ent al Mar " ondon er dne t e politic o colonial arc itect re "R s h , k. L v sus Sy y, 1815-1823: h s f h u .
n o rnal o
I J u f
i torical eo rap
H s G g hy (2008):191-219.