Colonial Lighting

As the name suggests, Colonial Architecture is an architectural form that settlers incorporated into the buildings of the lands they colonized. Such elements embarked on the cultural aspects of the settlers’ mother country. But at times, they were intermixed with the native country’s natural and traditional elements to form an architectural hybrid that are now visual icons.

For instance, consider the British Colonial Architecture which can be seen in several instances of South Asia. But the colonial style architecture goes way beyond to the early colonized settlements of German, Italian and Spanish colonies.

Colonial architecture is a definite example of influence and power that the colonizers reserved primarily for their political affiliations as well as the elite members of society. Every type of colonial architecture holds importance in their now independent nations as a rich memoir of heritage and status. Colonial architecture is also expressed by true ambiguity and has its roots embedded in various art forms.

For instance, French Colonial Architecture is largely seen in many parts of South America such as Brazil whereas the Dutch Colonial Architecture is highly characteristic of buildings in Sri Lanka and several parts of Southeast Asia. From Art Nouveau to Neoclassicism inspired art forms that attributed to conformity with the colonized land’s cultural traditions, colonial architecture is cherished all across the globe. Most buildings stand tall as churches, museums and political or governing houses to prevent people from forgetting the colonized heritage.