Indian and Oriental Architecture, and the Works of Renowned Architects

Practice questions (18)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

1. A Bronze Age city has a raised citadel and a lower town on a rectilinear grid of streets, standardised baked bricks and covered street drains. It is most likely a city of the

   1. Indus (Harappan) civilisation, such as Mohenjo-daro
   2. Mauryan empire, built of polished sandstone around a timber palisade
   3. Vijayanagara empire, laid out round a great stone chariot street and temples
   4. Delhi Sultanate, enclosed by battered walls and entered through arched gateways
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   Answer: A — Indus (Harappan) civilisation, such as Mohenjo-daro

   The citadel and lower town, the grid, the standard baked brick and the covered drains are the hallmarks of the Harappan cities. The later empires named in the other choices built very differently: the Mauryas used timber and polished stone, Vijayanagara has stone temple streets, and the Sultanate has arcuated, battered-wall forts.

2. An early Buddhist rock-cut hall has a nave and aisles divided by a colonnade, an apsidal end with a small stupa, a ribbed barrel-vaulted roof and a horseshoe-shaped window over the entrance. It is a

   1. vihara, the residence of monks, with cells opening off a hall
   2. stupa, a solid relic mound that is not entered
   3. chaitya hall, the prayer hall of the rock-cut tradition
   4. mandapa, the pillared hall in front of a Hindu sanctum
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   Answer: C — chaitya hall, the prayer hall of the rock-cut tradition

   An apsidal hall with a colonnade, a stupa at the end and a horseshoe window is a chaitya hall, as at Karla. The vihara is the monks’ dwelling with cells, the stupa is the solid mound itself, and the mandapa is Hindu.

3. A temple stands in a walled enclosure with tall gateway towers, a tank and pillared corridors, and its sanctum is capped by a pyramidal tower of diminishing storeys. The style is

   1. Nagara, because the tower over the sanctum is a curvilinear shikhara
   2. Dravida, because it has a pyramidal vimana and a gateway-towered court
   3. Indo-Islamic, because it rests on an arcuated plinth with minarets
   4. Rajput, because it is a hill fort with jharokhas and chhatris
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   Answer: B — Dravida, because it has a pyramidal vimana and a gateway-towered court

   The pyramidal vimana and the gopuram-gated walled court with a tank are the signature of the Dravida style of the south. Nagara temples have curvilinear shikharas and no great gateway towers.

4. A twelfth-century temple in Karnataka is built of soapstone, stands on a platform with a path round it, and has a star-shaped plan with lathe-turned pillars. Which of the three classical temple traditions best labels it?

   1. Nagara, since a north Indian shikhara is always set on a high platform with a path round it
   2. Dravida, since every Dravida shrine stands in a walled court and is built of soapstone
   3. Indo-Islamic, since the star plan arrived in the south with the Delhi Sultanate
   4. Vesara, the Deccan blend, of which the Hoysala star-shaped temple is the clearest case
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   Answer: D — Vesara, the Deccan blend, of which the Hoysala star-shaped temple is the clearest case

   A soapstone, star-plan temple on a jagati with lathe-turned pillars is the Hoysala type of Karnataka, the usual example of the Deccan blend called Vesara. It is not Nagara or Dravida in the strict sense; the other choices each attach a false reason to a familiar name.

5. Which structural advance over the earlier corbelled work is classically shown by the Alai Darwaza of 1311 at the Qutb complex?

   1. The pointed ribbed vault carried by flying buttresses
   2. The corbelled arch of overlapping horizontal courses
   3. The true arch and true dome of wedge-shaped voussoirs
   4. The trabeated hypostyle hall with a raised central nave
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   Answer: C — The true arch and true dome of wedge-shaped voussoirs

   The Alai Darwaza of Alauddin Khalji is the classic early Indian example of the true arch and dome built of voussoirs. The corbelled arch is the earlier, false arch that the true arch came to replace; the ribbed vault with flying buttresses is Gothic and the hypostyle hall is Egyptian.

6. The first great garden tomb of the Mughals, set in a charbagh, with a double dome of red sandstone relieved with white marble, designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, is

   1. the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan on the Yamuna at Agra
   2. Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, begun in the 1560s
   3. the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah at Agra, built of white marble
   4. Bibi ka Maqbara at Aurangabad, a smaller echo of the Taj
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   Answer: B — Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, begun in the 1560s

   Humayun’s Tomb is the first great Mughal garden tomb, in red sandstone with white marble, and it is the model for the Taj. The Taj and Itimad-ud-Daulah are white-marble buildings, and the Taj, the tempting answer, comes several decades later; Bibi ka Maqbara is a still later, smaller echo of the Taj.

7. Lutyens’s Viceroy’s House in New Delhi combines a classical composition with a central dome recalling the Buddhist stupa, deep chhajjas, jalis and a column capital hung with bells. Which description fits it best?

   1. A pure Indo-Saracenic building that copies the Mughal forms of Fatehpur Sikri
   2. A Victorian Gothic Revival building with pointed arches and a tall spire
   3. An Art Deco building with zigzag and chevron ornament
   4. A classical building adapted with Indian features, the “Delhi Order”
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   Answer: D — A classical building adapted with Indian features, the “Delhi Order”

   Lutyens kept a classical order and composition and added Indian elements: a stupa-like dome, chhajjas, jalis and bells on the capital. It is not the Indo-Saracenic of earlier colonial buildings, which put Mughal and Gothic motifs onto a Western plan; that label is the tempting error.

8. In Chinese timber architecture the dougong is

   1. a set of interlocking brackets between column and beam that spreads the roof load and carries deep eaves
   2. a ceremonial gate of tiered roofs that marks the entrance to a temple precinct or street
   3. a modular unit of floor area based on the size of a woven straw mat used in Japanese rooms
   4. a many-tiered tower descended from the Indian stupa and used to house relics and scriptures
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   Answer: A — a set of interlocking brackets between column and beam that spreads the roof load and carries deep eaves

   The dougong is the characteristic bracket system that transfers the roof load to the columns and supports the wide, upturned eaves. The tiered gate, the straw-mat module (the Japanese tatami) and the tower (the pagoda) are different things.

9. A brick-and-concrete campus in Ahmedabad, a national assembly in Dhaka and a research institute at La Jolla were designed by an architect who spoke of “served” and “servant” spaces. He is

   1. Le Corbusier, who designed the Mill Owners’ Association Building at Ahmedabad
   2. Louis Kahn, designer of the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad
   3. Mies van der Rohe, who built the Seagram Building in New York
   4. B. V. Doshi, who designed the School of Architecture at CEPT, Ahmedabad
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   Answer: B — Louis Kahn, designer of the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad

   The Salk Institute, the National Assembly at Dhaka and the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad are Louis Kahn’s, and “served and servant spaces” is his idea. Le Corbusier worked in Ahmedabad too, which is why he is the tempting answer, but he did not design these buildings.

10. Low-cost brick buildings in Kerala that use rat-trap bond, filler slabs and brick jalis, such as the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, are associated with

    1. Herbert Baker, who designed the Secretariat blocks of New Delhi
    2. Geoffrey Bawa, the Sri Lankan architect of tropical Modernism
    3. Charles Correa, the planner of Navi Mumbai and designer of Kanchanjunga
    4. Laurie Baker, the British-born architect who made Kerala his home
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    Answer: D — Laurie Baker, the British-born architect who made Kerala his home

    Rat-trap bond, filler slabs and brick jalis at minimum cost are Laurie Baker’s trademarks. Herbert Baker shares the surname but worked on imperial New Delhi; Bawa is Sri Lankan, and Correa is known for Navi Mumbai and open-to-sky planning.

11. A Catalan architect used hanging-chain (catenary) models to find the funicular forms of arches and vaults, and covered surfaces with broken-tile mosaic. He is

    1. Jørn Utzon, who derived the shells of the Sydney Opera House from a sphere
    2. Oscar Niemeyer, the sculptor in reinforced concrete of Brasília
    3. Antoni Gaudí, architect of Casa Milà and the Sagrada Família
    4. Frank Gehry, who modelled the Guggenheim Bilbao digitally
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    Answer: C — Antoni Gaudí, architect of Casa Milà and the Sagrada Família

    Catenary models, where a hanging chain gives the pure compression form when inverted, and trencadís mosaic belong to Gaudí. Utzon’s shells come from a sphere, Niemeyer’s curves are sculptural, and Gehry’s forms are produced with digital modelling.

12. The three circular terraces at the top of Borobudur carry perforated stupas in three concentric rings, 72 in all. If the outer ring has 32 and the inner ring has 16, the number in the middle ring is ____.

    Numerical answer — type the value.

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    Answer: 24

    Middle ring = 72 − 32 − 16 = 24. The three rings of 32, 24 and 16 follow the diminishing circumference of the terraces; a check, 32 + 24 + 16 = 72.

13. A Japanese tatami mat measures 0.9 m by 1.8 m. The floor area of an 8-mat room, in square metres and correct to two decimal places, is ____.

    Numerical answer — type the value.

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    Answer: 12.96

    One mat = 0.9 × 1.8 = 1.62 m². Eight mats = 8 × 1.62 = 12.96 m². Check: 0.9 × 1.8 × 8 = 0.9 × 14.4 = 12.96 m².

14. A Chandigarh sector is a neighbourhood of 800 m by 1200 m. Assume it is planned at a gross density of 150 persons per hectare. The population it houses is ____.

    Numerical answer — type the value.

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    Answer: 14400

    Area = 800 × 1200 = 960,000 m² = 96 ha (1 ha = 10,000 m²). Population = 96 × 150 = 14,400. Check: 100 ha would hold 15,000, and 4 ha fewer is 600 persons fewer, giving 14,400.

15. Which of the following are typical of Mughal architecture?

    1. A charbagh garden plan around a tomb
    2. Gopuram gateway towers on a walled enclosure
    3. Pietra dura inlay in white marble
    4. A curvilinear shikhara over the sanctum
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    Answer: A — A charbagh garden plan around a tomb; C — Pietra dura inlay in white marble

    The charbagh and pietra dura inlay are Mughal signatures, with double domes. The gopuram belongs to Dravida temples and the curvilinear shikhara to Nagara temples.

16. Which of the following building–architect pairs are correct?

    1. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus), Mumbai: F. W. Stevens
    2. Gateway of India, Mumbai: George Wittet
    3. Victoria Memorial, Kolkata: Edwin Lutyens
    4. Secretariat blocks, New Delhi: Laurie Baker
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    Answer: A — Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus), Mumbai: F. W. Stevens; B — Gateway of India, Mumbai: George Wittet

    Stevens designed the Victoria Terminus and Wittet the Gateway of India. The Victoria Memorial is by William Emerson, and the New Delhi Secretariat is by Herbert Baker, not Laurie Baker, who worked in Kerala.

17. Which of the following statements about Oriental architecture are correct?

    1. In Chinese timber buildings the walls do not carry the roof, which rests on a post-and-beam frame
    2. The Ise shrines in Japan are rebuilt at regular intervals, traditionally every twenty years
    3. Borobudur is a Hindu temple-mountain built by the Khmer king Suryavarman II
    4. The pagoda is generally traced back to the Indian stupa
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    Answer: A — In Chinese timber buildings the walls do not carry the roof, which rests on a post-and-beam frame; B — The Ise shrines in Japan are rebuilt at regular intervals, traditionally every twenty years; D — The pagoda is generally traced back to the Indian stupa

    The timber frame with non-load-bearing walls, the periodic rebuilding of Ise and the stupa origin of the pagoda are sound. Borobudur is a Buddhist monument in Java, built under the Shailendra dynasty; the Khmer Hindu temple-mountain built by Suryavarman II is Angkor Wat.

18. Which of the following architect–work pairs are correct?

    1. Zaha Hadid: the Sydney Opera House
    2. Frank Gehry: the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
    3. Norman Foster: the Salk Institute, La Jolla
    4. Renzo Piano with Richard Rogers: the Centre Pompidou, Paris
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    Answer: B — Frank Gehry: the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; D — Renzo Piano with Richard Rogers: the Centre Pompidou, Paris

    Gehry designed the Bilbao Guggenheim, and Piano with Rogers designed the Centre Pompidou. The Sydney Opera House is by Jørn Utzon, and the Salk Institute is by Louis Kahn, not Foster.