The Instagram page of ‘Houses of Mylapore’ has shots of doors, windows and façades of old buildings. Curated by a group of architects and volunteers from the city, the ‘Houses of Mylapore’ initiative began in 2015 when they came together to observe the architectural history of the area.
“By studying the architectural styles that dominate the houses here, we hoped to interact with more residents and also initiate conservation efforts. Most of the houses we picked were built 50 years ago or more,” said Tahaer Zoyab, an architect from Chennai, who was a part of the team that catalogued and documented the different houses in the area.
The team behind the initiative has also organised heritage walks in the area and said that it tried to organise walks on a quarterly basis. “As a part of our cataloguing efforts, we have created maps where houses with heritage value have been highlighted. The houses from the 1930s and 1940s in the area are in the Art deco style with distinct geometry. Many houses here also have the ‘Madras Terrace’ and they have small courtyards with a view of the temple there,” Mr. Zoyab said.
Samyuktha Ganesh, an architect and member of the team, said that the houses were all located in smaller spaces and this was an interesting aspect to observe. “The community here is also very close knit and the development here — whether social or infrastructural — has all been very organic,” she pointed out.
The team said it realised the need to step up conservation efforts in the area after a few houses they had seen in their initial walks in the area were slowly being demolished. “Our goal, however, is focussed on documenting these spaces as much as possible. A few of us got to know that an old house was going to be demolished in the area and we went with a group of architecture students and were able to make sketches and study the architectural style of the house,” said Mr. Zoyab.
While the team has released souvenirs such as posters and magnets depicting the interesting architecture of the area, it is hoping to expand this into a ‘Houses of Madras’ initiative.
