Every time I come back to Chennai, it has always been an exciting wait right from getting the boarding pass to reaching my house in Chennai. The view of the expansive urban fabric through the clouds from the flight window with miniature-sized houses, stripe-like roads and the canopies of trees peeping out, has always been an exciting and blissful sight to watch. It also reminds me of the site model we did in our urban design semester during my architecture college days, where the entire class would contribute to the site model. The excitement after landing in Chennai cannot be described in words. What makes Chennai so
special and close to one’s heart? Is it the memories we create when we are here or the special affinity we have towards the place; is it the rich history of the place or the happening urban atmosphere; is it our favourite hangout spots or our favourite food items to try or is it everything put together?
Viewing through an urban designing lens, my current favourite places in Chennai are, the Namma Chennai sculptor spot (image 1) in Marina Beach for the message it carries and it is also a good example of creative placemaking (using art or sculptor to strengthen the
the connection between people and the place); I always admire the expansive streetscape of Mount Road; the Chennai airport area with the three modes of transport air, road and rail meeting together to form an important node in the city; the Mahatma Gandhi statue gallery
(image 2) in Marina for the multipurpose use of the space; the Chennai lighthouse area in Marina (images 3 & 4) for being an example of juxtapose (two opposite settings happening beside one another), a transition between the calming beach waters and the busy and bustling fish market and housing blocks takes place; the pedestrian-friendly walkways in Pondy Bazaar; Semmozhi Poonga for emphasising the green heritage of Chennai; the Kathipara flyover for its magnificent cloverleaf structure and user experience and the entire city itself because its Namma Chennai city.
Image 1: Namma Chennai sculptor spot, an example of creative placemaking
Image 2: Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Marina Beach
Image 3: View of the calming and relaxing beach from one side of the Chennai lighthouse
Image 4: View of the busy and bustling fish market and housing blocks from the other side of the Chennai lighthouse.
This time I travelled in the month of August, very close to Madras Day. As August 22 marks the founding day of Madras and is celebrated as Madras Day every year, I have always pondered during this month every year to the fact that even after 385 years since its foundation, the name Madras has always been etched in our minds and hearts. While the name Chennai gives a modern and contemporary feeling, the name Madras gives a historical and classical feeling. The name Madras has also turned out to be a striking name that comes to mind to associate anything with the city like Madras cloth, Madras checks, Madras Terrace Roof, Madras coffee etc. So many things have been named after Madras, songs sung praising Madras, articles and poems written about Madras, and artworks done depicting the richness of Madras. There is always a sense of affinity, liking and belonging to the name Madras.
As discussed by Barlow in the book The Story of Madras, around 300 years ago Madras was known as ‘Madraspatnam’ and it was a small village with neighbouring villages such as Triplicane, Egmore and Vepery, there was also a small town with Portuguese settlement in Mylapore. But now each precinct in the city has something special about it. The morphology of Madras has immensely changed over time. Madras has also undergone a drastic change in terms of Infrastructure, Transportation, Housing, Landscape, Healthcare, Economic Development etc and now it is one of the busiest cities in India. Madras was named Chennai in 1996 and 28 years have passed but still, there is a touch of Madras everywhere and the name Madras remains a classic and timeless name for Chennai.
Reference
Barlow, G. (2022). The Story of Madras. DigiCat.
About the Author:
Krithikaa is a budding Architect and Urban Researcher. She completed her
Master's degree in Urban Planning in Singapore. She is fond of research and
writing about urban-related topics. Having been born and brought up in Chennai she
has always had many aspirations for the city since her childhood.
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