White & Black - Hardback, 20x25 Cm, Glossy Paper, Black | Historical Images, Calcutta History, Imperial Architecture, High-resolution Prints

Globalisation has made a dramatic if belated foray into Calcutta, once considered the Second City of the Raj and India's cultural capital. The most visible of its impacts has
been a rapid change in the city's skyline. The outlines of the Victoria Memorial Hall, Howrah Bridge and the Ochterlony Monument (today's Sahid Minar) that once ruled Calcutta's horizon, have been fast overshadowed by the jagged contours of high-rise and mid-rise buildings and towersa masses of aesthetically-dead concrete. By contrast, the city's built heritage inherited from pre-Independence times may be in
the last stages of ruination but the buildings bear traces of the glamour that once won Calcutta the sobriquet of a City of Palacesa . Although often conceived by European architects, without the skill and fine workmanship of local artisans, they would never have turned into brick-and-mortar realities. Regal and awe-inspiring in their youth, the old buildings have had their grace enhanced by age. Dalhousie Square at the centre
of the British Empire's proudest city is one of the last
redoubts of imperialistic architecture, its hauteur mellowed down to quiet dignity. White & Black: Journey to the centre
of Imperial Calcutta does not see Dalhousie Square, or
BBD Bag as it has been rechristened, and its architectural heritage through the haze of nostalgia. It takes a clear-eyed view of the changing face of Calcutta's power centre from the tumultuous days of its establishment to our sad times. Dusty and disf