Government architecture and British imperialism: Patronage and imperial policy in London, Pretoria, and New Delhi, 1900-193

This study explores the relationship between British state architectural patronage, imperialism, and concepts of political authority. It is a political history which compares how four politicians worked with eminent Edwardian architects on three monumental architecture and town planning schemes in England, South Africa, and India. Through a comparative analysis of the planning, production, and reception of these projects--the Victoria Memorial and Mall in the heart of royal London by Aston Webb and Thomas Brock; the Union Buildings in Pretoria by Herbert Baker with the help of Edwin Lutyens; and New Delhi by Lutyens and Baker--I demonstrate how these schemes were intertwined with the politics of imperialism and colonial nationalism.;Local crises of government authority prompted politicians to make substantial changes to existing urban symbolism. Architects re-imagined classical architectural traditions to transform existing urban spaces into elaborate ritual complexes with imposing government buildings at the center. These complexes functioned as impressive backdrops for the glitter of state sponsored ceremonies, inviting viewers to revel in lavish displays of government power and cultural control. Here, viewers were encouraged to imagine themselves as loyal subjects of the British Crown.;Even as patrons intended these projects to underscore authority, such symbolism could be appropriated by a variety of social groups with their own political agendas, ranging from agitation aimed at increasing or decreasing the scope of imperial power and policy to Indian and Afrikaner nationalist demands for the total dissolution of such power.