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Kolkata is a heritage city founded in
1690 by Job Charnock by merging 3
villages of Sutanati , Gobindapore,
Kalikata . It is also called city of joy .
CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION
The famous landmarks of
Kolkata are the Victoria Memorial
made in Indo Saracenic style ,
Rabindra setu which is a
cantilever bridge , Kalighat
Temple which is one of the shakti
peeth’s of India.
Most of the old architecture
surviving is of old Jain and Hindu
temples of 17th century in Bishnupur
and Islamic architecture of 13th
century.
Bishnupur temple
Kolkata was never a planned city
like New Delhi. Now as we see the
northern Kolkata is pretty
developed as compared to
middle and southern Kolkata .
The state of West Bengal has an unusual geographical
profile, resembling the geography of India. It is a
longitudinally spreading region, consisting of snow-capped
mountains in the north, swampy rainforests in the centre,
and sea on the south. It can therefore be called a
representation of the Indian subcontinent

Map of West Bengal

Climate- Located in the coastal region and Ganga

and Brahmaputra flowing through it.
Has hot and humid climate most time of year with annual rainfall
of about 110-140mm.
So the soil found is mostly alluvial and laterite to some extent.
This soil is used for construction and also agriculture showing
farming as main source of livelihood.
People make houses south facing as the wind comes from the
southern hemisphere and the primary concern of the building
process is to avoid the hot summer sun
Benefits of orienting the house
east – west . If the house is
oriented North- South
Only 7.5% of the house is
constantly shaded from the heat
from the roof but if we
orient it in east –west direction the
shaded portion is 34%
Introduction- Bengal is the region lying along the
eastern end of the Indian peninsula. Here we will
be looking at Southern Bengal which is the
riverine area which developed their distinct roof
style architecture called as “chalas” in local
language
Chala type roof
Materials- Alluvial soil, bamboo, thatch were
available as main building materials.
Roof is framed by bamboo members and is
covered by various kinds of thatch like jute sticks,
rice straw, chhon, ulu, reed, bamboo matting and
leaves (like gol pata, cocoanut leave or palm leaf,
etc.).
Jute sticks, reeds, various leaves (Gol pata,
Coconut leaf, palm leaf, etc.) are used for
walling.
In today’s time we some majority made using
tiles as roof and walls of mud or GI sheet are
used.
Tiled roof with GI sheet walls Thatch roof with mud walls
Form- The huts are distinguished as “ek
chala”(single pitched) (rectangular in plan
with humped bamboo roof coming out as
a projection which helps in draining of
rain water and act as shade),”do
chala”(double pitched) or “char
chala”(hipped roof).
EKCHALA CHARCHALA DOCHALA

Plan- Rectangular shaped houses range in size from
10’x15’ to 15’x25’. In some cases, a veranda is added, width
not more than 5 to 6 feet. The size of the house varies with
the economic ability and social status of the occupants.
Traditional Home Pattern-
Plinth-creating a homestead starts with the raising of a
mound, a mud platform (1’-2’ high) that demarcates a
place for the house from the surrounding landscape. This
is called vita or plinth. The ditches created for plinth are
used for water storage and drainage.
Courtyard or Uthan-. The owner of the house, usually the
farmer or his eldest son, is given the best location beside
the uthan. This is usually the northern structure, which faces
south. According to age and position in the family, each
person is assigned other huts. It is a place to dry clothes or
crops, a play area for children, a location for elders to
converse, an arena for story-telling and other events.
Development of courtyard
Socio Cultural Aspect- According to a famous astrologer
and philosopher “Khana” the orientation of things around
the main house was prescribed by her.
Duck in East- Khana preferred east side for farming
the poultry.
Bamboo in West- Cluster of bamboo trees planted in
west. This treatment is to protect from the west sun and
keep the house and entire courtyard cool, providing calm
shades and shadows.
Banana in North-. Profitable trees like banana could be
planted in north as its height is small and do not obstruct
the passing of winds of south-north orientation. Again,
north is the source of defused light.
Left empty in South- let the south-north wind flow to
penetrate the homestead and define this cardinal as an
entry.
Khana’s prescriptions Courtyard planning according to
prescriptions main house
highlighted