The city has grown over the years with a number of different styles of buildings, but the work of English architects like Paul Benfield, John Goldingham, Thomas de Havilland and T.J. Smith have had a huge impact on the city’s skyline, according to historian V. Sriram.
“Indian contractors helped these architects build the churches, public structures and residential bungalows of the city. Among them were T. Namperumal Chetty, Neyveli Pattabhi Raman, A.K. Ranganatha Iyer and Swaminathan Pillai,” he said, speaking at a symposium on the Architecture of Colonial Madras on Saturday.
S. Muthiah, who inaugurated the symposium, stressed the need to protect our traditional architecture. Nanditha Krishna spoke of the new architecture of colonial Madras, tracing the architectural styles introduced in the city in the colonial period.
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The symposium stressed the urgent need to preserve our colonial Architecture and buildings, and a resolution was passed and a petition signed requesting the State to enforce the Heritage Act .