The Hindu 16.12.2010
1,000 architecture students to document heritage buildings
Aloysius Xavier Lopez
“The reason for using the students for the documentation is that they will not have any bias”
Students have been asked to collect all details of the structures. In
picture the Triplicane Police Station building.
CHENNAI: A total of 1,000 students of architecture from 10 colleges
will start documentation of heritage buildings and precincts in the
Chennai Metropolitan Area shortly.
The students, in groups of four, will visit all localities in the
area to assess and evaluate structures and precincts with historic,
cultural, architectural and archaeological value, according to Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) Vice-Chairperson Susan Mathew.
The CMDA would pay Rs.250 a day to each of the students undertaking
documentation. The documents would be submitted to the CMDA for
preparing a comprehensive list of the heritage buildings after proper
verification.
“The reason for using the students for the documentation is that they
will not have any bias,” said A.N. Sachithanandan, president of the
Institute of Town Planners India.
Initially, the assessment would be done in the Chennai Corporation
limits. The city has been divided into 10 divisions, including George
Town, Triplicane, Purasawalkam and Mylapore, for the documentation.
The assessment would be made according to the criterion for listing the heritage buildings and precincts.
The students have been asked to look for aspects such as the date and
period of construction for determining the historic significance of a
building. They would take photographs of each of the structures and
collect details from records available with owners of the heritage
buildings, said an official of CMDA.
Social, economic or political trends exhibited by the building,
events or persons associated with the building, artistic merits such as
design, style and community context of the building would be recorded by
the students.