Sruthi and Prathyaksha make up a portion of the city’s young brigade of enthusiasts fighting to save the city’s heritage. Interestingly, while Art Deco has seen several changes - from bold geometric forms and bright colours to becoming more subdued, it has a very local flavour to it,” she details.
#Telugu character artist krishnaveni windows#
While the interiors of the building have changed over time, making way to modernity, the characteristics like the curved porches, grills, unique ceilings, geometric line, projecting staircases lined with windows have remained. “I live in an Art Deco building and this helped me relate to the minute elements. The old Nalli showroom, Hotel Sudhara, Kamaraja Illam and Krishnaveni Theatre are some notable places that have made it to Sruthi’s illustrative list. While it helped me see things from a different perspective and make comparisons on the architecture here and how it was interpreted to local sensibilities, the lack of research and documentation was glaring,” tells Sruthi, who has been turning her research into illustrations. Most books and their context of information were based on the changes that took place during the movement in France and Britain. “I couldn’t find libraries which had books specific to Art Deco in Madras. Sruthi Rao, an architect, who has been studying the neighbourhood of T Nagar, documenting its evolution concurs how researching the locality’s Art Deco buildings was a task. Unless there are subsidies for private owners to take care of heritage buildings, it becomes difficult to keep the doors open for too long,” she shares. It is important to bring heritage buildings under THE government’s list to protect them. With several of these buildings (Pilot Theatre, Oceanic Hotel, Dasaprakash Hotel) torn down, a lot of research is being done based on the few existing structures and anecdotal information. “Unfortunately, this bridge is somewhere lost in time and negligence.
I want to bring a certain depth to the documentation process of Art Deco in Chennai through my initiative,” she shares.Īrt Deco, in the 1900s, bridged the structural gap in the city. While cities like Mumbai have been proactive in preserving this rich heritage, we have lagged. Art Deco in particular is a design movement that had its impact on all walks of life - from furniture and fashion to architecture. Several such buildings that were standing testimonies for the global influences that the city housed have been either torn down or have been faced with negligence, especially the private structures. “The Dasaprakash Hotel, an Art Deco building, used to be one of my favourite haunts until it made way to a new complex. The architect who was earlier part of Art Deco Mumbai, the first exclusive Art Deco collective in the country, says that she aims to make conversations on Art Deco conservation more mainstream. The NSC Bose Road, Royapettah and Poonamalee High Road are among localities in the city which house buildings that are Art Deco in nature,” shares urban conservation architect and founder of Art Deco Madras, Prathyaksha Krishna Prasad. “Unlike Mumbai, which has a skyline of more uniform Art Deco structures, the edifices in Chennai are scattered. While the future for the city’s heritage remains uncertain, it is the enthusiasm and relentless work of individuals and private organisations that have given relief from the apparent chaos that built heritage faces.įor instance, with structures that embraced the Art Deco an eclectic architectural style from France made popular in Madras in the 1930s slowly vanishing from the city’s landscape, conversations about the style and its influences, through art and creative dialogues have helped redraw focus on the once-thriving art movement.
With nobody questioning the Government on matters concerning conservation, arbitrary rules and regulations and contravening decisions are the order of the day…’ he had penned in the article for Madras Musings. Certainly, there are no records of its proceedings in the public domain… It also has a Heritage Conservation Committee though as to what it does and how often it meets are all matters of conjecture. ‘.It is not as though there are no laws in place. Earlier this year, V Sriram, historian and editor of Madras Musings, had, in his column, written about how another hazy year had ended for heritage in the city.
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