The Archbishop's Palace

Archbishop's Palace. Taken: February 14th 2016.

The origin of the title Archbishop’s Palace is more or less self-explanatory. Built in 1903 by the fifth Archbishop of Port-of-Spain, Patrick Vincent Flood, the Archbishop’s Palace was to be a palatial residence, designed by an Irish architect who favoured Indian design elements and constructed by Trinidad Trading Company’s George Brown. One of the Magnificent Seven that is currently still occupied, it exists today as residence of the tenth Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris.

In the early 20^th century, restoration work was undertaken to preserve some of the authenticity of the Palace’s original design. However, the renovation work during 1968 and 1969 in particular resulted in a loss of a lot of the historical features, including a complete remodeling of the ground floor, a switch out from wooden paneled walls to concrete walls with aluminium windows and removal of the original double wooden doors on the ground floor to be replaced with more modern aluminium sliding doors and the removal of several walls (which limited the amount of natural light reaching the interior of the building). These changes are a truly unfortunate destruction of the original aesthetic of the building. Other changes include construction of a Chancery, and the demolition of a summer house and stables to be replaced by apartments. Areas such as the sacristy and the chapel fortunately remain stuck in their period, retaining their original state, if not for some ageing with time.

Indian architecture has evolved through the centuries, influenced by both geographic and socio-economic conditions which are reflected in the differences in expression over space and time.

(sSide View) Humayun’s Tomb is situated in east Nizamuddin of
New Delhi city near Nizamuddin Dargah
Source: IndiaOngo. Humayun's Tomb Timing, Facts, History and Information.
Accessed March 29th 2016 

One particular feature, which is clearly distinguishable and which arose solely because of the Indian design influence, is the presence of numerous ornate arches. Compared to the Indian temple featured above, the Archbishop's Palace shares several design elements which add to its uniqueness and beauty. This is especially impressive and intriguing considering the primary influence of building at the time was from French-Creole estate owners.

Types of arches in Indian architecture.
 Source: Tumblr user Archi/Maps. accessed March 29th