The Royal Pavilion

In the 15th century, the search for the trade route between Europe and Asia led to the Age of Discovery, a rise in global trade, in which European empires were exploring oversea lands and expanding Western European influence. This was the starting point of European colonial empires that followed for the next six centuries. Eventually, it was believed that without proper knowledge of the people they ruled, the colonial rulers were at a disadvantage, which led to the study of the Orient and the creation of Orientalism. (Said 1979) As the conquerors of India "sought to control its subject people more fully [...] they proclaimed themselves an Indian empire" (Metcalf 2002, 439) eventually creating the Indo-Saracenic style architecture which supported …show more content…
(Roberts 1939, 88) Although the Royal Pavilion looks very oriental from both the inside and the outside view, the Pavilion itself stays true to its Western roots. In fact, both Nash and Repton have never been to India and instead drew inspiration from Thomas Daniell 's "Oriental Scenery" (Roberts 1939, 90) Presence of numerous minarets as well as "opposed curves of Chinese pagoda roofs and Moghul domes" (Morley 1984, 71) give the building an obvious Oriental atmosphere. But despite the exotic narrative of the Pavilion, the core of the minarets are composed of cast-iron while the towers carrying smaller cupolas are constructed of timber and iron plates. (Morley 1984, 71) Furthermore, some details look Gothic such as "the battlements [and] the diaper pattern of the detail screen [...]" (Morley 1984) as well as the chimney behind the central dome which is supported by "flying buttresses, stucco on timber and is flanked by battlemented turrets. " (Morley 1984) Finally, found on either side of the central dome, two towers are "perhaps the most overtly Gothic feature of the building." (Morley 1984, 75) Another example would be the Royal Stables and Riding House. Despite the Oriental style of the interior, the Stables roof was composed of both glass and stucco with the whole "surrounded by ventilating lanterns in the form of a coronet." (Roberts …show more content…
The professor from Columbia University, most famous for his book Orientalism, writes about the Orient being the result of the cultural conception by the Occident and “had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes.” (Said 1979, 18) It is then drawn to the attention of the reader that the Occident created the notion of the Orient to “[gain] in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self.” (Said 1979, 20) In other words, the Western was suppressing the cultures of the East into one homogeneous cultural entity in which the “Orientalists [...] conceive of humanity either in large collective terms or in abstract generalities [and] are neither interested in nor capable of discussing individuals.” (Said 1979, 154) For example, use of Japanese furniture in Chinese decors, as well as the presence of Chinese pagoda roofs on the proclaimed Indian style exterior, demonstrate the lack of cultural sensitivity. It is also demonstrated in Repton 's uncertainty in differencing Oriental style of architecture as he later declares "under the name of Indian Architecture may be included Hindustan, Gentoo, Chinese or Turkish, which latter is a mixture of the other three." (Musgrave 1951, 53) Another important point in Said 's Orientalism was the relation