BArch students give lift to battered park

For the past two weeks, over 12 students from SRM School of Architecture have been working on lifting the appearance of the park by taking up work such as building a seating area inside the garden, rearranging placement of benches, painting the walls, prepping the area by recycled industrial waste, planting saplings in tyres and coconut shells to transform the park into an attractive urban space.

“We are doing this as part of an annual competition for architecture students across India. We wanted to reclaim an urban space, and we had come across the TOI report which highlighted the pitiable condition of this park that was facing neglect despite the number of visitors it gets,” said Prachi Jain, a student involved in the project. Kids from the area are also lending a helping hand to these students.

The students got permissions from the civic body, and also garnered support from residents, corporate companies and the Corporation itself. “We have begun painting the walls with art, in a manner that would bifurcate the park for senior citizens and the kids. In the senior citizen part, we have used a different kind of art from that on the kids’ side which is mostly cartoons and dinosaurs. Near the seats, we have painted exercises that senior citizens can do while sitting,” Jain continued.

To promote the concept of recycling and reuse, the students are using old tyres, discarded coconut shells to make the park premises beautiful. “The Corporation has provided dustbins as the park was always found to be littered. They have agreed to help in planting playing equipment across the park,” she added.