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COLONIAL PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
Page 7
JEHANGIR KOTHARI PARADE & LADY LLOYD PIER (1920)
Old Pictures
Present
The Jehangir Kothari Parade and the Clifton Pavilion were built from 1919-23. Designed by E. B. Hoare, the pavilion was constructed on land that was gifted by Mr. Jehangir Kothari (an eminent Parsi citizen of Karachi), who gifted it along with a donation of Rs. 300,000 to the Municipality for the recreation of Karachi's citizens. The foundation stone for the parade and pavilion was laid by Sir George Lloyd (Governor of Bombay), on 10th February, 1919 and was formally opened by Lady Lloyd on 5th January 1920. The Lady Lloyd Pier, projecting from the Kothari parade into the sea, was opened on 21st March, 1921.
The Clifton Pavilion at the end of the Kothari Parade is made out of Jodhpur stone, and has a large cupola supported by Doric columns on top of a high platform. This platform, reached by a magnificently carved staircase, has an octagonal seat in the center and used to serve as a Bandstand in yester-years. The pier is 1300 ft long, 15 ft wide and ends in a 70 ft by 50 ft sea-side Pavilion constructed on piles. Gizri limestone and Jodhpur stone were used for its construction. A temple of Shiva lies below the parade.
Originally located at the coast of the sea with the pier projecting into the waves, the Kothari Parade has now been left stranded far from the sea side owing to a retreat of the Karachi coastline over the past couple of decades. Consequently, its recreational value diminished over the years and the heritage monument fell a victim of long decades of neglect and decay. Recently however, the City District Government of Karachi has converted the area into a beautiful park by the name of Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim (Ibn-e-Qasim Gardens). These gardens were completed under the city Nazim, Mustafa Kamal in 2006, and have once again restored and highlighted this beautiful piece of heritage.
Contribution note: Good Pictures of the Ibn-e-Qasim Bagh and the Kothari Parade/Clifton Pavilion are required. Please help the website by contributing them.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Karachi and WW I
With the end of the First World War, the Bombay government started laying emphasis on the development of Karachi. A number of new areas and planning schemes were opened for development, and several large governmental buildings were designed by the Bombay Office of the Consulting Architect for the city. The buildings outlined in the following pages were the ones included in this expansion plan.
The Small Cause Court building was also designed by the Office of the Consulting Architect in Bombay, and it is attributed to George Wittet. Building construction was begun in June 1919 and it was completed in 1922 at a cost of Rs. 327,269. The opening ceremony for the building was performed by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) with a golden lock and key. The royal crests signifying this inauguration can be found in between two central round arches on both sides of the main entrance on the middle floor of the building.
The building is simply designed with a row of arched openings on its ground and middle stories, and rectangular windows on the top floor. The distinguishing character of its architecture however, is the semicircular balconies on the middle floor that are reminiscent of the balconies of the Flagstaff House designed by Moses Somake. The central entrance to the building is defined by a porch and a delicately detailed semicircular opening on the middle floor which is crowned by a semi-circular pediment. The top story of the building appears to have been a later addition, however, it was originally designed to offset the architecture of the lower floors. The building is crowned by a cornice and a pitched roof similar to the Florentine palaces of the Renaissance period, and the whole building was constructed using dressed Gizri sandstone.
(referenced from Lari, 1996)Contribution note: Better pictures of this building are required. Please help the website by contributing them.
CITY COURT BUILDING (Originally, the Revenue Office Karachi, 1922)
(photo credit: Karachi under the Raj, Yasmeen Lari)The Revenue Commissioner's Office Building is an almost exact replica of the Small Cause Court building and was built in the same period of 1922-23. It might have been designed by George Wittet at the same time as the latter building, however, it is much larger in size. Twice as many window openings can be found in the Revenue Office as in the Small Cause court, but there are fewer semicircular balconies. The central entrance portico is topped by an arched opening with a triangular pediment in contrast to the circular one on the Small Cause Court. The royal crests, signifying inauguration performed by Edward VIII, can be found above the central semicircular openings of the middle floor on both sides of the central entrance. The building was probably inaugurated at the same time as the Small Cause Court as well.
Contribution note: Better pictures of this building are required. Please help the website by contributing them.
STATE BANK ANNEXE (Originally, Bank of India, 1923)
The Bank of India building was among the important official buildings that were constructed in Karachi following the first World War. Since it was a bank, it was built in the heart of Karachi's rising mercantile center on the southern side of Mc Leod Road (presently I. I. Chundrigar Road), as opposed to the other governmental buildings that were constructed on Bunder Road (presently M. A. Jinnah Road). The building was finished in 1923 and used a more conservative approach to architecture than the other buildings of its time. Using the Classical style, it relied on a neoclassical portico on a raised podium at the entrance to create effect, however a pediment was replaced by a simple but deep entablature. Influence from the design of Curzon's Victoria Memorial in Calcutta and Lutyen's capital buildings in New Delhi can be felt.
Currently this building serves as the annexe to the State Bank of Pakistan and houses its library. It is in a good state of preservation.
