Noted architect C.N. Raghavendran, who received the Padma Shri award recently, was honoured by the IIT-Kharagpur Alumni Foundation India, Chennai Chapter, and IIT Alumni Club, Chennai, on Sunday for his outstanding contribution to the field of architecture.
Former Annamalai University vice chancellor, P.V. Vaidyanathan, who was Raghavendran's senior in IIT KGP, presented a memento and said the list of great buildings he had designed spoke of the architect's excellent work and contribution.
It includes government offices in Chennai and Bangalore, the Chennai Trade Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium, the Cancer institute, TIDEL and Biopark, offices of IT majors and Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, and the Tamil Nadu pavilion at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
Mr. Raghavendran said recognition from the education institution in which he had studied was an honour.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Trends in green technology', he said, “In the next few years, 68 cities will have a population of more than one million from the present 42 cities. To accommodate the growth in population, India should build 14 New Delhis, 18 Mumbais or 30 Bangalores. The problem can be solved if all the stakeholders devise a norm to achieve sustainability.” Green building is not about getting LEED certification alone, but it is about building ecology, he said
Speakers at the meeting called for use of energy efficiency lamps, different types of renewable energy and construction of green buildings.