Goan Architecture

About Goa
 Goa is India’s smallest state in terms of area and
the fourth smallest in terms of population.
 Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the
Konkan.
 The historic city of Margao still exhibits the cultural influence of
the Portuguese, who first landed in the early 16th century as
merchants and conquered it soon thereafter.
 Renowned for its beaches, places of worship
and world heritage architecture.
 ARCHITECTURE OF GOA
 The architecture of Goa is a combination of Indian, Islamic and
Portuguese styles.
 Since the Portuguese ruled for four centuries, many churches
and houses bear a striking element of the Portuguese style of
architecture.
 Goan Hindu houses do not show any Portuguese influence,
though the modern temple architecture is an
amalgam of original Goan temple style with
Dravidian,Hemadpanthi, Islamic, and
Portuguese architecture
PORTUGUESE INFLUENCE
 DESIGN INFLUENCES
 Protecting oneself from the fierce monsoons
was the basis of architectural form.
 Portuguese rule allowed Goans to travel
abroad; when they returned they brought
with them ideas and influences from other
countries.
 The Goan master builders executed these ideas using local building
materials, making the Goan house a mixture and adaptation of
design elements and influences from all over the world.
 The resulting cultural fusion affected the house design. 
 Features
 The traditional pre-Portuguese homes were inward-looking with
small windows; this reflected the secluded role of women
 The houses opened into courtyards, and rarely
opened onto streets
 The Catholic houses built or refurbish between
the middle of the 18th and the 20th centuries
were more outward looking and ornamental,
with balcões (covered porches) and verandas
facing the street.
 These balcoes are bordered by ornamental
columns that sometimes continued along the steps and added to
the stature of the house
 Continued…
 This, together with the plinth, which usually
indicated the social status of the owners.
 The houses of rich landlords had high plinths
with grand staircases leading to the front door
or the balcao.
 The large balcões had built-in seating, which
open to the street, where men and women
could sit together, ‘see and be seen’,
chat with their neighbours,
just enjoy the evening breeze. 
 BALCAOS
 Balcoes are porches with seats built into the sides.
 Balcaos are commonly found in Goan houses and generally
understood to be dating from the time Goa came under Portuguese
rule, and in the years after.
 It is a wide veranda running along the front of the house and
occasionally along its sides and at the back; seats are built into the
sides where the front entrance opens out on the street outside.
BALCAOS
  WINDOWS
 Large ornamental windows with stucco
mouldings open onto verandas.
 These may appear purely decorative,
but have their origins in similar mouldings in the windows of
Portuguese houses.
 The design is therefore an import but serves a similar purpose in
Goa to help construct the identity of the home
 Windows gradually became more decorative,
ornate, and expressive. 
WINDOWS
 More features
 Front doors were flanked by columns or pilasters.
 Railings were the most intricate embellishment in a
Goan house.
 Pillars, piers, and colours do not seem to be influenced
by any style in particular; rather they conform to a rather
mixed architectural styles.
 The interiors have a high ceiling
GOAN HINDU HOUSES GOAN CHRISTIAN HOUSES
 Indo Portuguese Style   Porch (Balcao)
  Internal courtyard with rooms  Tall European style columns
built around it.
 Materials :Baked Clay tiles,  Building Materials : Laterite
Laterite stones, Local bricks &
 Windows With Wooden Mangalore tiles.
Frames 
TRADITIONAL HINDU HOUSE
 Rectangular in plan
 Single storey
 Central courtyard with tulsi maadam
 Central entrance has a verandah
 The rooms are arranged around a central pillared
courtyard
 A typical Hindu home is low-scaled with a
low plinth, a small seating porch with short bulbous
columns and loft like upper floor with
windows.
 General Features
 A courtyard called as Rajangan, where a Tulsi
Vrindavan is seen.
 Chowki- space next to the courtyard, where family
activities take place – internal verandah
 Deva kood - a place for prayers and ther rituals.
 A hall specially meant for celebrating Ganeshotsav.
 Raanchi kood - a kitchen with a door which is called
Magil daar
 Soppo -space used for relaxing.
 Saal - a hall
 Continued…
 Balantin kood -A room special for pregnant and nursing mothers
 Kothar - store room.
 Vasri - Dining Hall
 Manne - Bathrooms located next to the well.
 Gotho - Goshala 
 USE OF COLOUR CORNICES
 Dramatic and startling colour initially achieved with vegetable and
natural dyes plays an important role in Goan architecture
 Colour was decorative and used purely to create a sensation
 Interiors
 Painting on walls
 Walls up to dado height finished with glazed tiles
 Floral pattern below the cornice
 Floral painted tiles adorn the doorways to the houses
  CHRISTIAN HOUSES
 The Portuguese imprint on the already strong
architectural identity of Goa created a unique
amalgam, unmatched in edifices across the world.
 The arrival of the Portuguese brought foreign
influences and opportunities for Goans to travel.
 The contours and colours of the houses began to
change.
 Houses acquired ‘balcaos’ (sit-outs facing the
street) with built-in seating at the entrance of
the houses. 
 Features – Christian houses
 Only churches and chapels were allowed to remain white,
and the law required other buildings to sport a colour
 The houses thus were painted deep ochre, sapphire and claret.
 Windows gradually become more decorative ornate and expressive
 Almost all Goan houses have a false ceiling of wood.
 The Kitchen was at fartherest end of the house.
 The facade of most houses was symmetrical with
the entrance door occupying the place of honour.
 Conclusion
 The broad elements of Goan houses result form a mixture of Indian
and Portuguese styles.
 Homes that are Portuguese in origin are usually two-storeyed and
façade oriented; Whereas those of Indian origin are single-storeyed
with a traditional courtyard based orientation.
 Between the two also, there is wonderful mixing and marrying of
ideas, resulting in nuanced, hybrid architecture that is both
impressive and inspiring- for example the two- storeyed house in
which the top story is functional while the ground floor is merely
ornamental.
 It was Portuguese custom to segregate the lower storey of the
house for the household staff and retainers.