"Houses of Goa", a unique museum by reputed architect Gerard da Cunha, encapsulates for posterity the phenomenal outcome of the amalgamation of eastern and western architectural styles.
We in Goa have a strange but novel history and that is, we are part of the first sustained encounter between the East and the West.Though we have a long and rich history from times immemorial and much before the arrival of the portuguese,this encounter produced a culture and architecture which is unique.This museum showcases the houses which were the prime expression of the goan identity.
The museum is built as a traffic island in Torda,Salvador-do-Mundo,Goa.Strangely enough it is in the shape of a triangle and resembles a ship.Viewed from the outside it is a mystery,but as you begin your visit,it slowly unfolds its charms.
The highly creative architect claims that it is “our own Goan style. Goans, who were people who were converted, were looking for a new identity, and thus embarked on the experiment in architecture, to produce something unique and unseen anywhere in the world”.