Sketches depicting the heritage structures, narrow lanes, religious places and activities at Chalai Market cover the gallery of Alliance Francaise, Vazhuthacaud. They were prepared by the students of Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris la Villette in Paris, who are in the city to document the ancient market.
An Indo- French architectural workshop on ‘Central Market of Chalai’ held at the Alliance Francaise was inaugurated by Dr Bertrand de Hartingh, director of French Institute in India on Monday. The workshop is conducted in association with Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Architecture of Navi Mumbai and College of Architecture Trivandrum.
The sketches were prepared using photographs of the market taken by a team of students from the institute, during their visit in February 2018 and aerial photographs from websites.
On the first day, the students were divided into eleven groups and sent to different parts of the market.
“First, the students were sent to the market to get a feel and idea about it,” said Celia Lebarbey, professor and architect at of Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris la Villette. “Next, they will observe the details, like the lanes, structure, commercial and social activity at Chalai. And the students should come out with an urban design and strategy for the market,” said Celia Lebarbey, professor and architect at of Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris la Villette.
“We know that a Heritage project is proposed for the market and yet to get the details. We may conduct an exhibition or installation of our work and will invite the representatives from municipality and district administration to the event. The expo will include suggestions regarding waste management and space constraints,” added Celia.
Urban market appropriation of the street for human activity, use of space shops extension on the street, the contrast between ancient heritage and modern construction and connection between Chalai architecture and market ecosystem are some of the subjects of the study.
CAT principal J Jayakumar, who is part of the team said that any project needs to focus on sustainability, economic viability and liveability and these factors would be considered in the study.
The other team members include professors and architect Claudio Secci from Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris la Villette, engineer and architect from Paris Samuel Remi and filmmaker Tatiana Poplawski.
Source: TOI
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