Representations of Hegemonic Power: Decorative Oriental Architecture in the UK and Cultural Ideologies of the British Raj Part 2 Dissertation 2024 Amritpal Padda Birmingham City University | UK British colonial ideology and power are encapsulated in the UK's decorative Oriental structures. This paper reveals that architectural forms during the British Raj, spanning from 1858-1947, were not merely aesthetic but symbolic manifestations of Western hegemony and romanticised notions of the ‘Orient’. Utilising postcolonial theories – ‘Cultural Hegemony’, ‘Power and Knowledge’, and ‘Orientalism’ – to deconstruct historical events that shaped Western cultural ideologies and contributed to Western perspectives of the East resulting in terms like exotic, romantic, strange, and backwards, emphasising otherness and inferiority, constructing the ‘Oriental’ identity.Sezincote House and Garden is an example of Oriental decorative architecture in the UK, the research highlights how these European perceptions shaped architectural choices for Sezincote, emphasising issues of authenticity and cultural hegemony. The research aims to contribute to the field by encouraging the exploration of architectural influences in the context of postcolonial theory, which can then be applied to other examples of Oriental decorative architecture in the UK and may also inform similar close readings of buildings within a global context, supporting the surfacing of knowledge that uncovers narratives of power between Empire and the global south. Tutor(s) Jemma Browne