Faces on Oriental Buildings

I was taking a wander around the Fort area of Mumbai, one of my favourite spots for Gothic architecture.  I stopped off to say "hello" to the Flora Fountain.

Nearby, sits the impressive Oriental Buildings, originally a school and fully armed with spires, intricate carved borders and arched windows,

It has three carvings of Dead White Men which I zoomed in on to get a closer look.

The centre one looks Shakespearean but I have no idea, and can't find out, who the other two are.  Any ideas out there?

Gothic corners

The weather is changing now but,we've had three weeks or more of too hot weather.  Relentlessly still, humid and sunny.  Fantastic for sitting in a cool cafe with an equally cool drink but exhausting for anything else.

Wandering around Mumbai with my camera, a target for every tout and taxi driver in the city, I found myself seeking out leafy and shaded streets and enjoying the gothic side of the city.

Like all Colonial architecture there is an incongruity to it that can make it seem out of place yet, in the use of local materials and some adaptation of ornamentation it leans towards local traditions too.  At least that how it seems to me.  Here are some pictures of what I've been looking at:

Rajbai Clock Tower, the Mumbai cousin of Big Ben

 Gated gardens with lovely wrought iron work. 

 Guarding the Garden

 More elaborate architecture in Fort with a "raven" for added effect

In the last week the breezes have started blowing, the clouds billowing and as I wrote this one of our first sprinkles of rain fell.  Things are cooling down just as work winds down for the summer and my thoughts are on monsoon travels.

Colonnades

There are some lovely buildings in Mumbai in various states of repair and most of them are very photogenic.  I'd somehow got through nearly two years here without going out with the express intention of photographing buildings.   I'm taking steps to amend that error and in recognition of that, here's a colonnade:

I like colonnades, my absolute favourite types are the SE Asian shophouse covered walkways complete with clashing tiles and and goods spillling out onto the streets. That said, there's a lot to be said for a nice British colonial colonnade too and this one with the Salvation Army shields and colours is amongst my favourites in Mumbai

The weekend

Sometimes I wrack my brain trying to think of a theme to hang around the pictures I post. Not this time. Here are some unrelated pictures I took last weekend around where I live.

Aarey Milk Colony, grass being harvested to feed the buffalo which provide the milk that gives the place its name. I don't usually get this view from above as my flat is at a more oblique angle.


A short stroll away from where I live is Sai Baba Complex, older style flats set around streets shaded by mature trees. Washing is generally dried at, or just outside windows. The grills provide security, ventilation and decoration and are cunningly designed at just about the right width to stop pigeons getting in.


I get roped into taking pictures of all sorts of things, this particular weekend it was swimming.

Bagan, Myanmar

It's all about stuppas:

Thousands of them









and Buddhas of course







And some goats.

Amazing and exhausting and well worth visiting.

French Architecture, Central Saigon

I think this is the Party Headquarters in District 1. I know I've never been able to take pictures of it before because there are always armed guards outside looking sternly at me but I managed to grab this image from a taxi.

I love the slightly debauched and louche face surrounded by hair and roses and I'll have to try to take more stealth snaps of the building in future.

Suburban Saigon

What do you do when you get to build your own house and are limited only by the size of your plot?

Well this is an option:



Something a little more deco?


Fulfill your Barbie House fantasies?


Use up all the end of line paint in the shop?



Or go wild with stars, stripes and blocks of yellow:



Mine is a very restrained grey and white but maybe I could talk the landlord into a paint job. Tangerine and torquoise perhaps?