Architecture, Migration and Constructions of Home in Kolkata

A defining topic of the current age, research has only recently begun to pose questions around the role that migration plays in the formation of the architecture and urbanism of cities and regions. In dialogue with important recent scholarship on migration in the humanities and social sciences, this chapter uses Kolkata as a laboratory to explore how migration has shaped key aspects of the city’s urbanism, domestic space and dwelling practices across its history. Drawing on a range of sources including urban planning documents, architectural drawings and cultural representations, the discussion is based on a detailed study of the spaces and domestic cultures associated with certain significant migrant communities that have inhabited the city. In undertaking an empirical investigation of a particular geography that is notable in the global history of migration, it seeks to contribute to an emergent field of scholarship on the topic that seeks to understand migration from a spatial discipline perspective.