Ebba Koch
Encyclopedia
Ebba Koch is an architectural historian
, an art historian, who defines and discusses cultural issues of interest to political, social and economic historians. Presently she is a professor at the Institute of Art History in Vienna
, Austria
and a senior researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She completed her doctorate in philosophy
and her Habilitation
at Vienna University.
Koch has spent much of her professional life studying the architecture, art, and culture of the Mughal Empire
, and is considered a leading authority on Mughal architecture
. In 2001 she became the architectural advisor to the Taj Mahal
Conservation Collaborative.
of Shah Jahan
, reconstructed the Mughal city of Agra
, and produced the first, comprehensive documentation of the Taj Mahal
. Through this work, Koch has developed one of the largest archives of photographs and measured drawings of the Islamic architecture
of the Indian subcontinent.
She has also contributed to recording Mughal painting
and applied art
s, the artistic connections between Europe
and Mughal India, and imperial symbolism
.
s, and like language and literature
, they represent vital clues in the study of cultural and political history.
In her work with the Mughal Empire, informed by the written sources, she utilises the art historian’s technique of formal analysis
: utilising elements of the aesthetics of art, architectural form, building type, garden and urban design to form an understanding of the period. This approach has uncovered aspects of the Mughal culture which were never recorded, but expressed only in architecture and the arts.
1998: Hagop Kevorkian Lectureship in Near Eastern Art and Civilization, New York University.
1998: Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Department of Arabic Studies of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University in Cairo.
2002: Fellowship of the Aga Khan Program for the Study of Islamic Architecture at Harvard University.
2005-2009 Austrian delegate to the Management Committee of the COST
Action A36 of the European Commission, "Network of Comparative Empires : Tributary Empires Compared : Romans, Mughals and Ottomans in the Pre-Industrial World from Antiquity till the Transition to Modernity".
2008: Visiting Professor, Khalili Centre, Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford University
2008-09: Visiting Professor (fall term), Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
2009-2012: FWF Austrian Science Funds, project "Mughal palaces"
Dara Shikoh Shooting Nilgai: Hunt and Landscape in Mughal Painting., Freer Occasional Paper, New Series 1. Washington D. C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 1998.
Mughal Architecture: An Outline if Its History and Development, München: Prestel, 1991; 2nd ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
with Milo C. Beach and Wheeler Thackston, King of the World: The Padshahnama, an Imperial Mughal Manuscript from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, London: Azimuth Editions und Washington DC: Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution 1997
Mughal Art and Imperial Ideology, New Delhi: Oxford University Press 2001.
The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra, London: Thames and Hudson 2006.
Prof. Koch has published numerous papers in journals and collectaneous volumes on Indian and Islamic architecture and painting and she has contributed several articles to the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam.
Architectural History
Architectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
, an art historian, who defines and discusses cultural issues of interest to political, social and economic historians. Presently she is a professor at the Institute of Art History in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and a senior researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She completed her doctorate in philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
and her Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
at Vienna University.
Koch has spent much of her professional life studying the architecture, art, and culture of the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
, and is considered a leading authority on Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
. In 2001 she became the architectural advisor to the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
Conservation Collaborative.
Early Modern India
Koch's work has made considerable contributions to the historical understanding of early modern India. In collaboration with the Indian architect Richard A. Barraud she conducted major surveys of the palaces and gardensShah Jahan period architecture
Shah Jahan period architecture is an Indian building style that flourished during the time of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor. The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India is a prime example of this type of architecture...
of Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) (Full title: His Imperial Majesty Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan...
, reconstructed the Mughal city of Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
, and produced the first, comprehensive documentation of the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
. Through this work, Koch has developed one of the largest archives of photographs and measured drawings of the Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
of the Indian subcontinent.
She has also contributed to recording Mughal painting
Mughal painting
Mughal painting is a particular style of South Asian painting, generally confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums, which emerged from Persian miniature painting, with Indian Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist influences, and developed largely in the court...
and applied art
Applied art
Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or...
s, the artistic connections between Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Mughal India, and imperial symbolism
Political symbolism
Political symbolism is symbolism that is used to represent a political standpoint. The symbolism can occur in various media including banners, acronyms, pictures, flags, mottos, and countless more. For example, Red flags have traditionally been flown by socialists, left-wing radicals, and...
.
Methodology
Koch supports establishing art as an historical source, believing that an integrative approach can provide the key to the political and ideological concepts of the historical period being studied. Architecture and art emerge as a means of communication, through a topos of symbolSymbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
s, and like language and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, they represent vital clues in the study of cultural and political history.
In her work with the Mughal Empire, informed by the written sources, she utilises the art historian’s technique of formal analysis
Formal analysis
A formal analysis is an established method for analyzing works of art. First introduced by Roger de Piles , in his book the Principles of Painting, the technique of formal analysis is more fully developed by Roger Fry in Vision and Design .For a particular work of art, a formal analysis consists of...
: utilising elements of the aesthetics of art, architectural form, building type, garden and urban design to form an understanding of the period. This approach has uncovered aspects of the Mughal culture which were never recorded, but expressed only in architecture and the arts.
Honours
Research grants for major surveys of Mughal architecture in the Indian Subcontinent:- Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank: 1982, 1994, 1997, 1999
- Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung: 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989
- des Bundesministeriums für Wissenschaft und Forschung: 1992
- des Bundesministeriums für Unterricht und kulturelle Angelegenheiten: 1997.
1998: Hagop Kevorkian Lectureship in Near Eastern Art and Civilization, New York University.
1998: Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Department of Arabic Studies of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University in Cairo.
2002: Fellowship of the Aga Khan Program for the Study of Islamic Architecture at Harvard University.
2005-2009 Austrian delegate to the Management Committee of the COST
Cost
In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this...
Action A36 of the European Commission, "Network of Comparative Empires : Tributary Empires Compared : Romans, Mughals and Ottomans in the Pre-Industrial World from Antiquity till the Transition to Modernity".
2008: Visiting Professor, Khalili Centre, Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford University
2008-09: Visiting Professor (fall term), Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
2009-2012: FWF Austrian Science Funds, project "Mughal palaces"
Selected publications
Shah Jahan and Orpheus: The Pietre Dure Decoration and the Programme of the Throne in the Hall of Public Audiences at the Red Fort of Delhi, Graz, Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1988Dara Shikoh Shooting Nilgai: Hunt and Landscape in Mughal Painting., Freer Occasional Paper, New Series 1. Washington D. C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 1998.
Mughal Architecture: An Outline if Its History and Development, München: Prestel, 1991; 2nd ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
with Milo C. Beach and Wheeler Thackston, King of the World: The Padshahnama, an Imperial Mughal Manuscript from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, London: Azimuth Editions und Washington DC: Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution 1997
Mughal Art and Imperial Ideology, New Delhi: Oxford University Press 2001.
The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra, London: Thames and Hudson 2006.
Prof. Koch has published numerous papers in journals and collectaneous volumes on Indian and Islamic architecture and painting and she has contributed several articles to the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam.
External links
- Ebba Kochs Homepage at University of Vienna
- Diwan-i 'Amm and Chihil Sutun: The Audience Halls of Shah Jahan.
- Mughal Palace Gardens from Babur to Shah Jahan,
- The Mughal Waterfront Garden
- The Zahara Bagh (Bagh-i-Jahanara) at Agra
- Diwan-i 'Amm and Chihil Sutun: The Audience Halls of Shah Jahan
- Virtuelles Museum Islamischer Kunst
- 'The Man Of Marble' - Outlook India
- derStandard Review of 'The Complete Taj Mahal'
- India eNews.com 'Love is fine, but Taj a monument of power as well'
- The Sunday Tribune 'Design Devine'
- The Hindu Review 'Ethereal beauty'
- HighBeam Encyclopedia The Complete Taj Mahal Review 'Paradisiacal House of the Queen'
- The Times Higher Education Supplement 'Memories are made of this'
- The New York Review of Books 'The Most Magnificent Muslims' November 22, 2007.
- AKPIA newsletter 2008-09