Architecture of Chennai
From ancient Tamil temples built by the Pallavas, to the Indo-Saracenic style (pioneered in Madras) of the colonial era, to 20th-century steel and chrome of skyscrapers.
Chennai, being the first major British settlement in the Indian subcontinent, witnessed several of the earliest constructions built in these styles.
The initial structures were utilitarian warehouses and walled trading posts, giving way to fortified towns along the coastline.
Unlike Europe, these buildings were built mostly of brick and stuccoed with lime, with "facades" sometimes incised to resemble stones.
New materials like concrete, glass, wrought and cast iron were being increasingly used in construction, which opened up new architectural possibilities.
Victorian in essence, it borrowed heavily from the Islamic style of Mughal and Afghan rulers, and was primarily a hybrid style that combined diverse architectural elements of Hindu and Mughal with gothic cusped arches, domes, spires, tracery, minarets and stained glass.
F. S. Growse, Sir Swinton Jacob, R. F. Chisholm and H. Irwin were the pioneers of this style of architecture, of whom the latter two designed several buildings in Chennai.
Other outstanding examples of this style of architecture include the Law Courts, Victoria Memorial Hall, Presidency College and the Senate House of the University of Madras.
After the Indo-Saracenic, the Art Deco was the next great design movement to impact the city's skyline and it made way for the international and modern styles.
The stretch between the fort and the port is occupied mostly by the High Court buildings and several clubs, some of which have existed since the British era.
George Town is now a bustling commercial centre, but its architecture is significantly different from areas closer to the fort, with narrower roads and tightly packed buildings.
Southern Railway headquarters, Ripon Building, the Victoria Public Hall, and the Madras Medical College's anatomy block are examples of Indo-Saracenic-style structures found in Park Town.
Structures such as Bharat Insurance Building, Agurchand Mansion and the Poombhuhar Showroom are found along the Anna Salai, and Amir Mahal is in Triplicane.
St. George's School Chapel and the Southern Railway Offices in Aminjikarai are other examples of the Indo-Saracenic structures in the city.
[6] In the early 20th century, several major modern institutions such as banking and commerce, railways, press and education were established in the city, mostly through colonial rule.
[7] Art Deco, a popular international design movement that flourished between the 1920s and 1940s, was adapted by cities such as Bombay and Madras almost immediately.
Externally, the stylistic devices such as stepped motifs and sweeping curves used in areas like grilles, parapet walls along with vertically proportioned windows impart a coherent appearance.
Situated at one of the corners of Armenian Street, it imposes delicately with its chattri (domed pavilion) and projecting ornamented balconies.
Also along Mount Road and adjoining areas are other types of Art Deco buildings, The Hindu office with its stepped form and Connemara Hotel built between 1934 and 1937 are city landmarks.
[7] Some residential areas like Tiruvallikeni (Triplicane) and Mylapore have several houses dating from the early 20th century, especially those far removed from arterial roads.
[8] Many of them were built in the traditional Tamil style, with four wings surrounding a square courtyard, and tiled sloping roofs.
The architecture is distinctive with Madras terraces, country tile roofing, Burma teak rafters and lime plastering.
[12] The presence of the weather radar at the Chennai Port, however, prohibited the construction of buildings taller than 60 m around a radius of 10 km.
On the contrary, the peripheral regions, especially on the southern and south-western sides, are experiencing vertical growth with the construction of buildings up to 50 floors.
The Government Museum (designed by Henry Irwin and completed in 1896), the Senate House of the Madras University and the College of Engineering, Guindy are some more examples of the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture.
Current urban development efforts are concentrated along the southern and western suburbs, largely seeking to benefit from the growing IT corridor in the southeast and the new ring roads in the west.
