For most of my life growing up in #bangalore, I remember quickly walking past this building without giving it a second glance. Standing at the junction of Brigade Road and Resicency road this #building was in a largely disheveled condition through most of the 80s and 90s; and known for shady activities (it was used as a theater to play B-grade movies at one point).
This is the Bangalore #operahouse built in the 1930s, for the colonial residents of the British Bangalore cantonment. In the early years it was used as a theater, opera and also a space where boxing matches were held between troops who arrived during #ww2.
One of the few #colonial Goth buildings of Bangalore that hasn't been razed to the ground, thanks to a court order, this building has been painstakingly restored by the Korean electronic company - #samsung.
@NehaKhazanchi what is the name of this place?
@Vishsai that's the Bangalore Opera House (originally) now turned Samsung Experience Center on Brigade Road.
@NehaKhazanchi it's beautiful. Thank you for sharing
@NehaKhazanchi The building was restored by the owner, not by Samsung.
@hurrynot you can read through the end of the article, last 2 paragraphs.
Restoration of a heritage building like this can be quite an expensive affair. The owner leased it out on the condition that it won't be demolished and the original structure will be retained.
@NehaKhazanchi I don't think it contradicts what I said. The owner told me (in casual conversation) that he sorted out the cases and painstakingly restored the building.
FWIW, the article doesn't mention how Samsung contributed, nor did the owner.
@NehaKhazanchi that is a fantastic #TIL of my city. great photos. thanks for sharing
@NehaKhazanchi Wow. Thanks for the post. Had no clue about this. Used to think Samsung had made this!
From what I've read, the original stone columns and woodwork have been retained and the walls painted with lime scale, as they would have been in the early 20th century. Some parts, which I didn't manage to capture, had wooden flooring, which I read somewhere was also the original flooring that had been #restored.
The viewing galleries are now balcony corridors leading to various rooms within the #samsung experience center.
This place is definitely worth a visit, especially considering how very few #colonial buildings in #bangalore are actually restored with this painstaking detail!
#mastindia #architecture #history #india