SHIMLA

INTRODUCTION
 Shimla is a new city of Himachal Pradesh and one of the fastest growing town which has
become an urbanized city in a very small period of time.

 Shimla was found by British thus it is one of the fine example of the British Imperial
architecture in India. Mark of British era can be seen in the character of the town.

 As the British conceived Shimla with the idea of work and leisure, its was characterized by
the introduction of the concept of Mall, pedestrianized streets categorized by commercial
and institutional buildings.

 The British had brought along with them in India the inherent features of the Hill towns of
England and had blended it in the Shimla.
 Shimla, the Mountain City of India, at 2100 metres above sea level, extends along a ridge
and its several flanking spurs.

 The prominent relief features of Shimla town are seven hills, these are-

1. Elysium Hill (2257 m)

2. Summer Hill (2070 m)

3. Jakhu(2449 m)

4. Pleasant (2160 m)

5. Prospect Hill (2175 m)

6. Observatory Hill (2135 m)

7. Annandale (1860 m

Seven Hills of Shimla

HISTORY

 Shimla was discovered by the British in

1819 after the Gurkha War. At that time it
was known for the temple of Hindu
Goddess Shyamala Devi.

 It was only in 1819, Lt. Ross built the first

British residence- a wooden one.
 Later Lt. Charles Patt Kennedy followed
him by building a two storey pucca
house named "Kennedy House" in 1825.
 Lord Combermere was the first who
played an important role in the
development of Shimla
 The bridge that bears lord
Combermere’s name was the first step
toward the improvement of Shimla.
CLIMATE

 Shimla, is the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, located in northern
India. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After
independence, the city became the capital of Punjab and was later named the capital of
Himachal Pradesh.
 Geographic and Topographic Aspects: The mean elevation of the town is 2202.00
Meters. Most of the town lies between 2,100 m and 2,300 m
 Climate :
 Summers:
 Minimum: 15 C
 Maximum : 27 C
 Winters:
 Minimum: 0o C
 Maximum: 17 C
 Area: 5,131 km²
 Population: Approx.1.25 million
 Languages Spoken: Himachali (Pahari), Hindi, Punjabi and English.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

First Phase, Before 1815

 In this phase Shimla was described as a small village.

 Initial settlements were located in the south of what is now known as the
ridge area.
 A fire cleared much of the area where the native Indian population lived
(the "Upper Bazaar"), and the planning of the eastern end to become the
Centre of the town forced these to live in the Middle and Lower Bazaars
on the lower terraces descending the steep slopes from the Ridge.

Upper Bazar
Middle Bazar
Lower bazar
Reason of the origin of the settlement on southern slope of the main hills
were
 Site having gentle slope

 Site being fully exposed to the sun

Settlement pattern

Section
AA’
A
’
Second Phase-
 Colonial development started after
1824 when John Kennedy built first
summer residence.
 Buildings came up were basically
residential. Around 60 houses
scattered over the hill top.
 In 1829 mall road was constructed.
 In 1850 Shimla municipality was
established.
 In 1860 mall road was divided into
two parts upper bazaar and lower Town Hall in 1852
bazaar.

Lower
Mall
Bazaar
Road
 COLONIAL AND CIVIC BUILDINGS

BRITISH RESIDENCES

 Distribution of colonial buildings, public building, civic building and british

residences on the mall road
Third phase
In 1864 Shimla became the summer capital of British India. The result of
Shimla announced as the summer capital of India was sudden expansion of
the town. Most of the Important buildings came into this phase. The no. of
house had increased from 100 in 1844 to 1400 in 1863. During this rime there
emerged four distinct areas: Bada Shimla, Chhota Shimla, Western Shimla,
Northern Shimla.
Fourth Phase
 This phase was the time of new technologies arrived in Shimla.

 Development increases due to increase in the requirement of various

urban amenities and institutions.
 In 1903, Railway started in Shimla.

 In 1912, hydroelectric plant was setup for the electricity for the town which
was later replaced by Bhakhra in 1964
Fifth Phase
 During this phase Shimla was an independent town.

 In 1947 Became Capital of Punjab.

 In 1971 Shimla became capital of Himachal Pradesh.

ARCHITECTURE TIMELINE OF SHIMLA

 Architecture of Shimla is dominated by the buildings of two eras :-

 Colonial
 Contemporary Traditional

Colonial Architecture Contemporary Modern contemporary

traditional 1947-
1815-1947 present
COLONIAL ERA 1815-1947

 With the coming of the Britishers, Himachal added another dimension to

its rich architectural heritage. The state capital has some of the world's
finest examples of British colonial architecture. Inspired by the
Renaissance in England.
 The main features of these buildings are the arcades, pitched roofs with
dormers, arches, buttresses, chimneys and ornamental elements such as
cornices.
 Material used was mainly stone masonry along with timber, both available
locally. Along with that there were glass windows and iron frame works.
 Dhajji walls construction technique was also used in many of the
buildings of this era.
NEO GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Neo gothic means the gothic
revival architecture which began
in late 1740s in England
 One of the fundamental
characteristics of gothic
architecture was its height.
 Flying buttresses made possible, Gothic exterior of York Minster in the
setting of great windows into the
walls, allowing a lot of light to
Pointed arch
enter.
 Gothic is known for its
construction in stone.
Flying buttresses

The Light and Airy Interior

The Vaulted Ceiling

Stained glass windows

TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE

The 'Kathkuni' or 'Kathkundi' (Himachal’s traditional construction technique)

A mesh of interlocking horizontal cedar (locally, deodar) sleepers is created - and in this
dressed or raw stone is packed. A singular characteristic is the absence of vertical
members. With inherent elasticity, the design has an enormous seismic response houses
and temples in the style are present in the districts of Shimla, Kullu & Kinnaur.

Typical characteristics of
kath khuni buildings

A typical house in Himachal Pradesh is built using kath-khuni construction technique and
is usually two or three storey high. The lower floor is for the cattle and the upper floors
are for residing, storing, and kitchen
 SLATE ROOF
WOODEN PROJECTING
BALCONIES

FLOORS
WOOD AND STONE
WALLS

STONE PLINTH

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE :
A typical house is built using kath khuni
construction technique . The space use is as
below-
• Lower floor : Cattle
• Upper floor : Residing , Storing and Kitchen