Concrete Imitations: The Reinstitution of Architectural Culture in the Post-Colonial World

Abstract

This study aims to underline the importance of reinforced concrete techniques for
appropriating Western architectural theories and practices in the post-colonial world. It
argues that a firmly based notion in Western architectural thought, imitation, infiltrated
step by step into the discourses and practices of the post-colonial world with the help of
this plastic material.
This article tries to show with examples that the post-colonial architects mainly adopted
Auguste Perret’s understanding of imitation as tectonic expression, allowing them to
substitute both their pre-colonial and colonial architectural patrimony for a classical tradition
that Perret intended to modernize and continue with concrete. To demonstrate the
point of this study, a few selected examples were discussed from the works of prominent
architects in Turkey, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.
It is argued that the samples chosen from different countries to represent the architecture
of the post-colonial world prove that the reinforced concrete structure was instrumental for architects to appropriate Western architectural theories and practices. At the
same time, it also allowed them to reinterpret the relevant tectonic culture in their home
countries, with which they reinstituted the architectural culture after many decades that
passed passively under the hegemony of Western powers. Finally, it is claimed that the architectural
culture “resurrected” as such, which facilitated Postmodernism’s global basis,
has given up getting strength from its roots and therefore weakened considerably today.