Heritage homes
A. SRIVATHSAN
HISTORIC RESIDENCES OF CHENNAI — Chennaiyin Varalaru Padaitha Illangal: V. Sriram; Published by Chandra Sankar, 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai-600086. Price not mentioned.
A city’s architectural history is often narrated through its monuments. Structures of everyday life neither serve as a datum to describe the history nor do they find it easy to be recognised as a constituent element of a city’s heritage. Chennai is no different. Chennai’s heritage and history has been hitherto constructed through its public buildings, while its old houses have not received much attention. This book is an attempt to redress this gap and it focuses on the old residences of Chennai.
Bilingual format
The format of this bilingual book is simple and straight forward. The author has chosen 50 houses, provided biographical information of its inhabitants and illustrated the houses with interesting pencil sketches (sketches by V.Vijaykumar). The houses included in the books range from traditional South Indian houses to bungalows to garden houses. The period in consideration too varies from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. The book reads like a compilation of who was who in Madras then. Residences of well-known lawyers such as Alladi Krishnaswami, musicians such as “Veena” Dhanam and historian K.A.Nilakanta Sastri are well documented. The book is a welcome and useful addition to the collection on the history of Chennai. But for those who may want to know more about the architectural history and analysis of old residences in Chennai, this book will be inadequate. Though it carries references to Art deco style and brief descriptions about terrace houses, the book is essentially about people who lived in the old houses and not about the houses themselves. The book has to be read for its interesting accounts of people and not as an architectural history book as the title may mistakenly suggest.
The effort deserves appreciation for its documentation value and for its plausible role as a reference book to those who may want to do further research. A city map indicating the location of these houses would have helped heritage enthusiasts to visit them. In addition, photographs of the present condition of the houses would have provided a glimpse of their urban context.
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