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This page is about Architecture in Mauritius. For more information, see Mauritius. For other uses, see Culture of Mauritius.

Main articles: Architecture and Mauritius

Mauritian architecture is inspired by the island nation's history as a colonial trade base connecting Europe with the east. The Dutch, French and British settlers introduced styles and forms mixed with certain influences from East Africa and India from the seventeenth century onwards. This resulted in a unique architecture of international, artistic, social and historic significance. At present, there are only two World Heritage Sites that can be found in Mauritius. The first one was proclaimed in 2006 and is known as the Aapravasi Ghat. Few years down the lane, Le Morne Cultural Landscape was added to the list.

Mauritian structures prove to be unique to the country by presenting a plethora of materials, designs and decorative elements that also inform the historical context of the European colonialism and Indian Ocean.

History

Since the colonial times, houses were built way differently than they are nowadays. Houses then were constructed mainly with rocks as the base and wood and some metal as the main structure. As time passed, evolution brought by concrete which is considered to be way safer, less costly and more durable and little by little these colonial or creole houses of the French and British colonization were slowly replaced by newer ones.

Creole styled house.

Mauritius was occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch, French and Arabs before it became a British colony in 1810. The French left a very good impact on the country, which was then called Ile De France after administering it from 1715 to 1810. Mauritius was known as the "Star and Key" of the Indian Ocean because of its strategic position. It was under British Colonial possession from 1810-1968, which was until its independence.

As the existing settlers were allowed to keep their respective land and property by the British, the influence of the French remained in the daily life of the country. Workers were brought in from India to work in the fields following the abolition of slavery, followed by the migration of people from other countries as well. The Mauritians today are multi-ethnic, multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious

The early French settlers used their acquired skills and experience to adapt designs that would suit the sub-tropical and humid climate of Mauritius and hence were the ones who influenced most of the Mauritian Architecture. The buildings were kept cool and dry by implementing elements like large verandas and vaulted ceilings. This can often be seen on the sugar estates in many of the stylish and big plantation islands across the island.

Use of intricate and detailed iron work in Port Louis Market.

Older towns like Port Louis and Curepipe have a lot of intricately decorated balconies with detailed wrought iron balustrades adorning government buildings and large private houses a bit like in the former colonies. There were a lot more simple one storey houses called “ La Case Creole” or “Maison Coloniale” which were mostly the place of habitation of the less fortunate settlers and workers. Though most of them are nowhere to be seen anymore. Most of them were covered with corrugated metal sheets and made with timber.

A charming feature of the simple dwellings and grand colonial mansions is the metal fringes that adorn the roof and the carved wood which shows traces of Creole architecture.However, now the examples of colonial architecture in older monuments and buildings can barely seen due to all the modern developments surrounding them.

Routine destruction of Mauritian architectural heritage has been caused by decades of social. Economic and political change. The campagnes also known as the historic homes of the island’s high grounds disappeared at alarming rates between 1960 and 1980. The demolition of plantations, residences, and civic buildings have been witnessed by the recent years as they have been cleared or drastically renovated for new developments to serve an expanding tourism industry. The capital city of Port Louis now reflects the irreversible damage that has been inflicted on its built heritage, although it remained relatively unchanged until the mid 1990’s. Rising land values are pitted against the cultural value of historic structures in Mauritius, while the prohibitive costs of maintenance and the steady decline in traditional building skills make it harder to invest in preservation .

Panoramic view of Port Louis.

Economic Developments over the last fifty years has brought about a lot of changes in the architecture of new buildings as this has now been influenced by climatic conditions and new standards of living.

Contemporary Architecture

Residential Buildings

Buildings are now mainly constructed with the help of steel and concrete which reduced the importance of older materials like thatched and metal roofs and timber, which offered little resistance to cyclonic winds due to the unruly technique by which they were assembled. The houses primarily consist of artificial air-conditioning as natural ventilation is slowly being emphasized onto less and block walls along with concrete roofs.

Mauritians now prefer to live in high rise apartments instead of stand alone houses. This is due to the high cost of land, especially in the touristic regions along the coast. Another factor that has influenced this shift is the possibility of a cyclone which could cause heavy destruction to life and property as it has in the past in 1960.

The first modern complex was the Harbour View Flats in Port Louis which was built in the seventies by the Mauritius Housing Corporation.The flats were made with the idea that they were meant for the middle class population. This was brought into play by regrouping approximately one hundred units along with a playground for children and parking spots.

The Harbour View Flats turned out to be a leading point that popularised the idea of living in high rise complexes in modern Mauritius and hence facilitated the construction of many such similar buildings all across the island.

Infinity edge pool in a hotel complex in Mauritius

A more unique form of housing has also come to form in the past two decades. These are the houses built for IRS, RES and PDS projects that are usually within gated communities. Such establishments often consist of luxurious facilities such as swimming pools, boat houses, golf courses and tennis courts.

Hotel Complexes

With the rise of the tourism industry and development of the national airways (Air Mauritius) in Mauritius in the seventies, there came the need to construct more and more beach houses along the coast.

More importance was given to constructing buildings in a way by which they had modern elements that were similar to tropical islands and also blended harmoniously into their natural settings. However, even with rising developments of hotels around the coast, more emphasis is being laid on keeping buildings lower than the surrounding trees and having low plot coverage.

Thus even though many of the new hotel buildings may have a modern and sleek look, visitors are still given the impression of staying in traditional vacation houses surrounded by the sea and a lot of trees and greenery.

A mosque as seen in Port Louis

Religious Buildings

With the arrival of the French settlers to Mauritius, a lot of the churches built by them in the area resembled in style and structure regardless of the local climate, to those found in the regions they were originated from. This was also seen later on when structures were built by the Chinese and the Indians in a similar manner.

It is also seen that the Temples, Mosques, Churches and Pagodas are often found next to one another or in close vicinity in the different localities of Mauritius.

Architectural Studies in Mauritius

There were no rigid rules up till the nineties where anyone could draw up a few architectural drawings and be called Architects. However, changes were brought about after the pronouncement of the Professional Architects Council Act after which only only professionals registered by the council could work as architects in Mauritius.

A few years ago the University of Mauritius as well as the Mauritius University of Technology offered a three-year Diploma Course in Architectural Studies but this has since been discontinued.

A new development took place in 2016 when the French Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Nantes opened a branch in the Medine Educational village in Mauritius known as ENSA Nantes Mauritius who's first courses started in 2016 and has elaborate plans to take in approximately 50 students into its program each year.

The Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Architecture de Nantes is also known as the 'National School of Architecture of Nantes' and is a public research and higher education institution that prepares students for the State Diploma of Architecture.
The school’s programme and modules revolve around a series of cross competences, with the sole objective of equipping Mauritian as well as African students with the best tools and practices to meet the urban and architectural challenges of their respective countries.

Notable Structures

There are currently 179 national monuments in Mauritius which are protected by the National Heritage Fund Act of 2003, nearly half of them are found in Port Louis. They now form part of the cultural heritage of the country and its history and are mostly built by indentured laborers or slaves and their descendants during the British and French colonial rules.

In April 2016, Mauritius’s Council of Ministers designated twelve religious and cultural sites places of national heritage.

Aapravasi Ghat Museum.

Aapravasi Ghat

The Aapravasi Ghat is found in the Port Area of Trou Fanfaron in Port Louis. Aapravasi Ghat is alternatively  known as Coolie Ghat and literally means Immigration Depot. This was where the Indian laborers first touched land in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to work in Mauritius when they disembarked from the ships which brought them from the Indian subcontinent.

More than 350,000 indentured laborers passed through it between 1849 and 1912. Less than 50% of the original buildings survived even though it played a very important role in the history of Mauritius. These now form part of the National Monuments and are protected by the law in Mauritius.

The 2nd of November had been declared as a national public holiday in memory of the indentured laborers and an official commemoration of the arrival of these laborers is held there on that day every single year.

Le Morne Cultural Landscape

The Le Morne Cultural Landscape, which is not an architectural site became a World Heritage site in 2008. It includes the Le Morne Brabant and is found in the extreme south west of Mauritius.

The runaway slaves also known as “maroons” used it as a hiding place in the 18th and 19th centuries. The slaves could stay in nearly invisible caves or form small settlements which would be almost inaccessible on the summit because of the way the mountains were vertically sloped. The mountain has since become a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom.

An official commemoration is held at this site every year on this date, after the 1st. of February was proclaimed a national public holiday in memory of the abolishment of slavery in Mauritius.

The Champ de Mars Racecourse

Champ de Mars Racecourse

Built initially as a training ground for the military troops, Champ de Mars racecourse is now known to be the oldest horse racing club in the Southern Hemisphere and the second oldest in the world. The main aim behind setting up a horse racing club was essentially to unite the English administration and the French settlers who had spent several years fighting in the Indian Ocean. The founders of the Mauritian Turf Club thought that the idea of horse racing could possibly establish harmony and peace between these communities.

The Champ de Mars today has tens of thousands of people frolicking towards it from the city and also from abroad during the racing season in Mauritius. The track has also facilitated horse racing as the most famous form of entertainment and sport amongst the locals.

Notable royal visits include that of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret and William Duke of Cambridge.

The other significant structures of particular importance include:

The Government House

• Baie de l'Arsenal
• La Route du The
• The Government House
• St. Aubin House
• Beau Plan Sugar Mill
• Champ de Mars Racecourse
• Martello Tower
• Eureka House
• Le Morne ( UNESCO World Heritage)
• Matthew Flinders Monument
• Citadel Fort