Karl Damschen (born 15 July 1942 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany) is an architect working in Switzerland and mainly in Kerala, India. His buildings are grounded in the climatic and historico-cultural conditions of each place, and they are significant for the recognition of the great architectural resources of India.
In 1963, Damschen began his studies at the Staatliche Ingenieurschule für Bauwesen Kassel (now University of Kassel), which he completed as a grad. Engineer. After studying with Paul Friedrich Posenenske at the State College of Arts Kassel (now University of Kassel), Damschen obtained his diploma as Architect HbK in 1970. He then moved to Switzerland, and he worked from 1971 to 1981 as a department head in the Helfer Architekten AG office in Bern. [1]
In 1982 he founded his own company, Architektur Atelier Damschen in Bern, Switzerland. It was here that he worked on the Ascom office building in Bern. [2] In 1985, upon winning a competition for the State College of Technology and Architecture Fribourg (Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Freiburg) [3] [4] in Switzerland, he, along with his partner Daniel Herren, founded their office Herren + Damschen Architects + Planners AG in Bern. [5] Here they worked on several competitions including the urban planning of Löwenplatz in Luzern [6] and urban planning of Thörishaus in Switzerland for which they were conferred the highest Award. [7] [8]
In 1976, Damschen embarked on a significant one-year trip by caravan to India and Sri Lanka where he explored the architecture of these countries in detail. This marked the beginning of a lasting relationship with India. [9] From then on, he spent several months each year in Kerala, the southern state of India where he studied first hand, the traditional construction technologies of highly skilled local carpenters. He stated this in an interview with Indian Architecture & Builder Magazine (IA&B): [10]
"IA&B: What is your comment on the traditional architecture of Kerala?...
KD: I am now talking about Kerala’s traditional wooden architecture with its most important building, the Padmanabhapuram palace. This kind of architecture was not designed and built by architects but by master carpenters (Acharis)..."
His fascination with India led to his decision to work as a consultant architect in Kerala in 1995. The first hotel project designed by Damschen in Kerala, was the Surya Samudra Beach Garden [11] (Kovalam) in the 1980s, consisting of several traditional wooden houses carefully dismantled and reassembled on site. Karl Damschen earned his reputation as an architect-conservator in India by converting several heritage and colonial buildings in South India, especially in the old port city of Kochi, where the Portuguese established their first trading post in India as early as 1502. A good example of this is the renovation and reconstruction of the Old Harbour House, an approximately 300-year-old house built by the Dutch. [12] [13] [14]
Another Dutch building once used for the spice trade in Jew Town, Kochi, was converted into the Ethnic Passage. [15] The restoration of the Kashi Art Gallery in Fort Kochi is another example. [16]
These projects became a paradigm for several hoteliers and property owners and resulted in many of the remarkable heritage houses being saved from destruction. His work has also been significant in the country's recognition of its great architectural resources. Asked about his favorite projects of classical Indian architecture, Karl Damschen said: [17]
"Certainly the wooden Padmanabhapuram palace because of its subtle adaptation to the location. It also takes account of all climatic and cultural circumstances. Its richness of detail and the dealing with the inner and outer spaces make this building so unique and special.“
In 2001, he was appointed as Conservation Architect to the World Monuments Fund, New York for the restoration of the clock tower of the 450 year old Paradesi Synagogue in the historic Jew Town of Kochi. [18]
Since 2013 he has been working in a partnership with the young Indian architect Krishnan Varma. [19]
While in Switzerland, Damschen was inspired by master architect Le Corbusier, whose principles of proportion and scale were adopted into his projects. In his view, architecture that uses the same language universally and neglects reference to its context, leads to an enormous architectural impoverishment in cities. In an interview [10] the architect said:
„While working on the wooden houses and renovating the Jewish Synagogue in Kochi, I realized – like Charles Correa and Geoffrey Bawa – that our so-called modern architecture leads to a visual impoverishment of our cities. To oppose this tendency, architecture must find its roots in a counties culture itself without running the risk of becoming a kind of Disney Land. What I aim at is a kind of timeless architecture which does not pay heed to contemporary trends, as they might not survive."
His buildings are based on the climatic, historical and socio-cultural conditions of the place. He was influenced by its rich culture of India and introduced carefully selected ornamentation into his architecture. All his projects are planned as an architectural unit that includes the interior and landscape design to ensure overall homogeneity: [20]
„Karl Damschen, the German-Swiss architect of the Brunton Boatyard Hotel, treated history and the town’s current appearance as a spur for developing his design along these historical lines. Damschen, who has been commuting between Bern and Cochin with his wife since 1981, has internalised the genius loci, the spirit of the place and found it a very satisfying task to preserve historical stock and to conduct urban repair. He sees his hotel design as a project of this kind, closing a gap in the town's development, and at the same time criticises the unthinking removal of old buildings in favour of new buildings of absolutely no merit. He wanted to express the "value of the old in a new building" (Damschen).“
| Building | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971–1973 | Helfer Office Building | Bern, Switzerland | Helfer Architekten AG |
| 1981–1985 | Ascom Office Building | Bern, Switzerland | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 1985–1996 | Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Freiburg [3] [4] | Freiburg, Switzerland | Herren + Damschen, Architects and Planners AG |
| 2005–2006 | Indian Forum (Culture Centre) | Schwäbisch Hall, Germany | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 1982–2000 | Surya Samudra Beach Garden (now Niraamaya Retreats) | Kovalam, Kerala, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 1996–1999 | The Brunton Boatyard [21] [22] (Luxushotel) | Kochi, Kerala,India | In cooperation with A K Prasanth ( Prasanth & associates Architects), Stapati Architects (Tony Joseph) |
| 2002–2004 | Taj Garden Retreat | Kumarakom, Kerala, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2001–2005 | Restoration of the Clock Tower of Paradesi Synagogue for the World Monuments Fund, New York | Jew Town, Kochi, Kerala, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2004–2006 | Restoration of Old Harbour Hotel [23] [24] [25] [26] (Boutique Hotel) | Kochi, Kerala,India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2005–2007 | Restoration of Visalam Palace (Boutique Hotel) | Kanadukathan, Karaikudy, Tamil Nadu, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2006–2009 | Ethnic Passage [27] (Boutique Shopping-Mall mit Kunstgalerie und Cafè) | Kochi, Kerala, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2010–2012 | Vismaya House (serviced pool villa) | Cherthala, Kerala, India (at Chenganda on Vembanad Lake) | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2012–2014 | Upgrading of the Kashi Art Cafe | Fort Kochi, Kerala, India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2013–2014 | Restoration of Nadulu Hotel – Meriya Heritage (Heritage-Hotel) | Kaipamangalam, near Guruvayoor, Kerala, India | In collaboration with Architect Krishnan Varma [19] |
| 2011–2015 | Restoration of the Cochin Club (sport club with swimming pool) | Fort Kochi, Kerala,India | Architektur Atelier Damschen |
| 2014–2017 | Baymaas Lake House (serviced pool villa) [28] | Ernakulam, Kerala India (Cheppanam Island, at Vembanadu Lake) | In collaboration with Architect Krishnan Varma |
| since 2015 | Restoration of The Delta Study School | Fort Kochi, Kerala,India | In collaboration with Architect Krishnan Varma |
Ernakulam is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, and takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part of the state, spans an area of about 2,924 square kilometres (1,129 sq mi), and is home to over 9% of Kerala's population. Its headquarters are located at Kakkanad. The district includes Kochi, also known as the commercial capital of Kerala, which is famous for its ancient churches, Hindu temples, synagogues and mosques.
Cochin Jews are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots that are claimed to date back to the time of King Solomon. The Cochin Jews settled in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the present-day state of Kerala. As early as the 12th century, mention is made of the Jews in southern India by Benjamin of Tudela.
Justus Dahinden was a Swiss architect, teacher and writer about architecture.
The Paradesi Synagogue aka Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue is a synagogue located in Mattancherry Jew Town, a suburb of the city of Kochi, Kerala, in India. It was built in 1568 A.D. by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Paradesi Jewish community in Kochi. Cochin Jews were composed mainly of the much older Malabari Jews and the newly arrived Sephardic refugees from the Portuguese religious persecution of Jews in Spain and Portugal. It is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was built by Sephardic or Portuguese-speaking Jews, some of them from families exiled in Aleppo, Safed and other West Asian localities.
Fort Kochi, also known by its former name Fort Cochin is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European fort on Indian soil, controlled by the Portuguese East Indies. This is part of a handful of water-bound islands and islets toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Cochin or West Cochin. Adjacent to this is the locality of Mattancherry. In 1967, these three municipalities along with a few adjoining areas, were amalgamated to form the Kochi Municipal Corporation.
There are many synagogues in the Indian subcontinent, although many no longer function as such and today vary in their levels of preservation. These buildings dating from the mid-sixteenth through the mid-20th century once served the country's three distinct Jewish groups—the ancient Cochin Jews, and Bene Israel communities as well as the more recent Baghdadi Jews.
Abraham ben Barak Salem was an Indian nationalist and Zionist, a lawyer and politician, and one of the most prominent Cochin Jews of the twentieth century. Popularly known by his epithet of "Jewish Gandhi", he was known as "Salem Kocha" to the resident Jewish community of Cochin. A descendant of meshuchrarim, he was the first Cochin Jew to become an attorney. He practised in Ernakulam, where he eventually used satyagraha to fight the discrimination among Paradesis Jews against Malabari Jews. An activist in the trade union and Indian national causes, he later was attracted to Zionism. After visiting Palestine in the 1930s, he later helped arrange the migration of most Cochin Jews to Israel by 1955. He stayed in Kochi for the remainder of his life.
Rundbogenstil is a nineteenth-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particular stylistic motifs. It forms a German branch of Romanesque Revival architecture sometimes used in other countries.
The Mala Synagogue is one of the oldest extant synagogues in India and was built by the historic Malabar Jews of Kerala. It is located at Mala, a small town in Thrissur district of Kerala state in south India.
Carl Moritz was a German architect and real-estate entrepreneur. Based in Cologne, he built the Cologne Opera House of 1902, and various banks, theatres and churches in Germany. Some of his buildings were destroyed during the last two years of his life in World War II.
The Kochangadi Synagogue, or Misro Synagogue was a historic synagogue located in Kochangadi, south of Jew Town in Kochi, in the coastal state of Kerala. It was built in 1344 A.D by the Malabari Jews after fleeing from Cranganore, making it the oldest synagogue in India in recorded history. It was lost and never rebuilt. The subsequent Kadavumbhagam Synagogue and Thekkumbhagam Synagogue were built after this congregation was established. The name "Kochangadi" is an abbreviation of "Kocha Angadi" or "Jew Market", as jews were addressed as Kocha in colloquial Malayalam.
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Old Harbour House is a building in the center of Fort Kochi, part of the city of Kochi in the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala (India). It was built during the Portuguese colonial period, almost completely rebuilt by the Dutch in the 17th century, and later modified by the British. In 2006, it was carefully restored by German architect Karl Damschen with many references to its colonial origins. Today the building contains the boutique hotel Old Harbour Hotel.
The Thekkumbhagam MattancherrySynagogue aka Thekkumbhagam Synagogue was a synagogue located in Mattancherry Jew Town, a suburb of Kochi, Kerala, in South India. It was built in 1647 AD. by the Malabar Jews, on land donated by the Maharajah of Cochin and was one of the oldest known synagogues in India. It was the fourth to be built in Mattancherry after they fled to Cochin from Muziris and it was one of three in the area, the others being the Kadavumbhagam Mattancherry Synagogue and the Paradesi Synagogue of the Paradesi Jews of Cochin.
Kadavumbhagam Mattancherry Synagogue aka Kadavumbhagam Synagogue is a Jewish synagogue located in Mattancherry, a locality in Kochi, in the coastal state of Kerala. It is one of the oldest extant synagogues in India, built in 1544 A.D. It was built by the Malabar Jews who are the oldest jewish settlers in India, believed to have arrived as traders in the ancient port city of Muziris. It was the second to be built in Mattancherry, after the Kochangadi Palli in 1344 A. D., and is one of three synagogues in the area. The others being the Thekkumbhagam Mattancherry Synagogue (extinct) and the Paradesi Synagogue of the Paradesi jews of Cochin.
The Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam Synagogue in Kerala, India, is the restored oldest synagogue of the Malabar Jews with a Sefer Torah scroll and offering occasional services. It was established in 1200 CE and restored several times through the centuries on the same site. It is modeled on the earliest synagogue of the Malabar Jews at Muziris, which dated from the time of ancient sea trade between the Mediterranean and Kerala.